The Grain Belt Express will create over 5,000 construction jobs and $7 Billion in new wind farm investments, spurring economic and renewable energy development in several rural communities.

Spanning the state of Kansas, the new transmission wires will bring electricity from areas abundant with wind to demand centers where that electricity is needed most.

The Grain Belt Express will deliver 3,500 megawatts from wind farms in rural Kansas and Oklahoma to states further east.

Midwest states like Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan will be connected, in addition to states further south and East like Kentucky, Tennessee, Maryland, and New Jersey.

This new transmission project will yield millions of dollars in property tax revenues for communities, while reducing the amount of pollutants in our environment. And it will deliver enough clean energy to annually power 1.4 million homes.

Constructing, installing, and maintaining the wind turbines will employ thousands in western Kansas. Thousands of jobs will also be needed to erect towers and lay cable for the project, creating economic growth in the eastern Midwest.

The Grain Belt Express project is still in the planning stages. Clean Line Energy is securing property rights and meeting with stakeholders for feedback. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2014.

Check out The Center for Rural Affairs’ database to learn more about transmission, and for ways to make your voice heard. You can follow the progress of the Grain Belt Express and other clean transmission developments on our website, www.cfra.org.

Comments or Questions? Contact Paul Mansoor, of the Center for Rural Affairs, at (402) 687-2103 ext 1028, or paulm@cfra.org