Illinois Supreme Court Give Key Backing to $11B Grain Belt Express Project | Columbus Ohio Dump Trucks

Developers of the Grain Belt Express, a proposed $11-billion transmission line that would carry wind-generated electricity from western Kansas to Illinois and other Midwest states, notched a legal victory Jan. 23 when the Illinois Supreme Court rejected a challenge led by a state farmers' organization and others to their state permit.

In a 6-0 ruling, the court decided that the project being developed by Chicago-based Invenergy, had met its obligation under the state’s Climate and Equitable Jobs Act to show it could finance the project “without significant adverse financial consequences for the utility or its customers.”

The Illinois Supreme Court "issued a strong decision affirming the validity of Grain Belt Express’ Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity in Illinois," a Grain Belt Express spokesperson said related to the decision.

The ruling comes despite a move by the Trump administration in July 2025 to cancel a $4.9 billion federal loan guarantee approved by the Biden administration in November 2024 to finance the first phase of construction of the power line across Kansas and Missouri.

At that time, Grain Belt said it intended to carry on with the project using private funding. 

Invenergy awarded contracts last May totaling about $1.7 billion to Quanta Services and Kiewit Energy Group Inc. for first-phase project construction of transmission infrastructure and converter stations in Kansas and Missouri with a 2,500-MW capacity, with columbus oh dump truck work set to start this year.

The latest decision reverses a 2024 ruling by the federal appeals court in New Orleans, which said the Illinois Commerce Commission erred when it originally granted the project a permit.

Proof of Grain Belt's "current and present financial capability was not a condition precedent to the issuance of the [certificate]. wrote Supreme Court Justice Mary K. O’Brien. “Instead, evidence of the industry’s method of financing the construction of large-scale energy projects, along with unrefuted evidence that such projects do not generate revenue until regulatory permits are issued and customer contracts are executed, supports the ...decision to issue [a certificate]" to the project.

The project calls for an 800‑mile, 600-kV high-voltage direct current line, designed to carry up to 5 GW of wind and solar power from Kansas through Missouri to Illinois and Indiana. Its first phase, covering 530 miles from western Kansas to central Missouri, was expected to cost $4.4 billion, including converter stations and right-of-way acquisition

In 2018, the state Supreme Court overturned a state decision to grant a permit to build and operate the Illinois portion of the project, saying the Charlotte NC dump trucks company did not meet the state’s definition of a public utility.

In 2021, state lawmakers approved the climate law, which was planned to incentivize development of renewable energy in Illinois, with the goal to transition the state to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045. The law contained a provision specifically designed for Grain Belt that allowed the Illinois to issue permits to a “qualifying direct current applicant,” which the law defines in a way that describes the proposed project and its developers.

After its passage, Grain Belt reapplied for the permit, which the state approved in March 2023.

The Illinois Farm Bureau partnered with several landowners and opponents of the project to challenge the permit on various grounds including the portion of the law that specifically eased the way for the project, contending that it violated the Illinois Constitution’s equal protection and separation of powers clauses as well as its limits on special legislation. 

The Jan. 23 ruling addressed only the challenge to the financing requirements. The remaining challenges were sent back to the lower court for further consideration.

An attorney for the Illinois Farm Bureau did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Annemarie Mannion is editor of ENR Midwest, which covers 11 states. She joined ENR in 2022 and reports from Chicago.