Work is moving closer to Allen County on a massive power line project. The line’s route will cross Coffey, Anderson, Allen, Bourbon and Crawford counties in Kansas and Barton and Jasper counties in Missouri.

In October 2021, NextEra Energy Transmission Southwest was awarded a contract to build a new 94-mile, 345-kV transmission line from the Wolf Creek substation in Coffey County to the Blackberry substation in Jasper County, Missouri. The project is part of the 2019 Integrated Transmission Plan (ITP), which addresses the need for a more reliable and cost-effective grid.

The project affects about 25 miles of Allen County, more than any other county. About 220 property owners are affected, about 58 of whom are from Allen County.

The project aims to reduce congestion and create market efficiencies and benefits including lower electricity costs for customers, short and long term employment opportunities, investment in the local economy during construction, improved grid reliability, and supporting public health and safety through access to reliable electricity.

NEXTERA began clearing trees for the project in November 2023. Shortly thereafter, NextEra and the district attorneys drafted a road construction agreement to address the county road improvements required for the new transmission line.

Jeremy Hopkins, Allen County’s director of roads and bridges, said his crews have been busy preparing to move the power line through the county.

“We had to make some improvements to the cross ditches and make them bigger,” he said. Cross ditches, he explained, are the drainage channels that run under the roadway.

Hopkins noted that there were six locations in the county where these drains had to be widened to allow roads to support the weight of heavy equipment. One of these cross drains is on Delaware Road, east of Elsmore.

“We also implemented dust mitigations for residents on the stretches where the line will run, as per the road agreement,” Hopkins said. In addition, county workers widened about 56 intersections to make the project possible. “Everything that needed to be improved was paid for by NextEra,” he added. “None of that was for taxpayers or the county.”

Crews working on the line are still north of Allen County. “They’ve been laying poles, but they haven’t started here yet,” Hopkins said. He added that there is currently no date for when work will begin in Allen County.

NextEra expects the line to be operational in early 2025 and anticipates that they will continue to have a presence in the area to conduct cleanup efforts after the project is completed. Project Manager Nick Fuhr told county commissioners in October 2023 that NextEra will conduct an inventory after construction is complete to determine what damage occurred during the project.

“We will repair what is ours,” he said at the time. “Our goal is to leave the streets in better condition than we found them. We want to be good neighbors because we will be staying in this community for a long time.”

The project calls for a 150-foot wide easement with approximately 110-foot tall above-ground transmission line structures. Monopole structures will be used primarily to minimize tree removal and agricultural impacts.

As part of the project, NextEra secured options for easements from landowners whose land the power line crosses. The developer was granted public utility status in 2022, meaning landowners could be forced to approve the project under expropriation law.

NextEra has promised to work with landowners on an ongoing basis throughout the construction and cleanup phases of the project and beyond. Landowners will be notified prior to use of the right-of-way to conduct scheduled maintenance.