Press Releases

Today, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it will not proceed with its proposed designation of the Midwest-Plains National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC) that would go through Kansas, including two counties in the 4th District – Edwards and Pawnee. 
 
"I am committed to protecting private property rights for Kansans and am glad to see the Department of Energy reverse course on their disastrous proposal for the Midwest-Plains NIETC," said Rep. Estes. "This flawed proposal not only showed disregard for private property rights, but the proposal process lacked transparency and failed to engage local stakeholders – not moving forward with this proposal is the common sense choice."
 
Rep. Estes is firmly committed to protecting the property rights of Kansas landowners and was a leader on this issue. In September he helped introduce a bill to prevent a federal land grab from the Midwest-Plains NIETC. The month prior, he sent a letter to Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm detailing how the NIETC project could subject Kansans to federal land grabs and distorts the intent of the private Grain Belt Express transmission line project, before going on to call on the DOE to reopen the comment period to fully address the concerns of Kansans living in the path of this now defunct proposal.