The Third District Court of Appeals in Ottawa ruled against Rock Island Clean Line’s proposed 500-mile, high-voltage transmission line across northern Illinois. The court sided with Illinois Farm Bureau, ComED and the Illinois Landowners Alliance who filed the joint appeal.

The proposed RICL project, which would move wind power from Iowa to Grundy County, was the first merchant-owned electric transmission line in Illinois. It met heavy opposition from many farmers and landowners in the affected counties, including Rock Island, Whiteside, Henry, Bureau, LaSalle and Grundy.

NO WIND FARMS, NO CUSTOMERS: According to said Laura Harmon, senior counsel for Illinois Farm Bureau, Clean Line Energy Partners, Houston, TX, has several projects similar to the Rock Island Clean Line venture. To date, Clean Line Energy has not built a transmission line, they do not have existing customers and they do not own any wind farms.

“The Rock Island Clean Line case was the first case where the Illinois Farm Bureau intervened and actually opposed a project,” said Laura Harmon, senior counsel for IFB. “And the court agreed with our argument that Rock Island Clean Line did not meet the definition of a public utility.”

Harmon says opposing the project wasn’t about blocking wind energy or infrastructure improvements. The IFB got involved because RICL is a private company, along with its parent and subsidiary companies, has never built a transmission line, and it has no customers, suppliers or transmission assets.

Harmon adds RICL never provided a project proposal to the PJM Regional Transmission Organization, for inclusion in its regional transmission planning process. The RTO analyzes such proposals and if it determines a project is necessary for reliability, operating efficiency or market efficiency then it is included as part of the RTO’s regional transmission planning. Here, PJM conducted some “no harm” studies to determine the impact of the project on the grid but never had the opportunity to assess the need for the project.

“That put it on our radar,” Harmon says. 

The court reversed the Illinois Commerce Commission’s 2012 decision to allow Clean Line Energy Partners to construct, operate and maintain the electric transmission line because the company “has not attained public utility status within the meaning of the Public Utilities Act,” according to the court’s opinion.

“Not only are they not a public utility, they’re not devoting their assets to public use,” Harmon said. "The law requires that they offer these services in a non-discriminatory manner and this project doesn’t designate any part of its use for Illinois.”

According to Harmon, the decision could help IFB’s case against Clean Line Energy Partners’ Grain Belt Express, a proposed 780-mile transmission line across south central Illinois, which is still pending in the Fifth District Court of Appeals. The proposed line would start in Kansas, cut across Missouri, then through Pike, Greene, Macoupin, Montgomery, Christian, Shelby, Cumberland and Clark counties in Illinois, and end at an Indiana power grid.

“Basically, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois would be big extension cords to move electricity across the Midwest to the Eastern Grid,” Harmon explains.

Clean Line Energy Partners can request the Appellate Court reconsider its decision, or request that the Illinois Supreme Court review the Appellate Court’s decision. Harmon said, though both would likely be unsuccessful. The Supreme Court’s decision whether to accept a request to review the decision is discretionary and it only reviews a small number of cases each session.