The Grain Belt Express, the largest electric transmission project in U.S. history, has announced nearly $1.7 billion in combined contractor awards to infrastructure solutions company Quanta Services and Kiewit Energy Group, a leading engineering, construction, and procurement (EPC) firm.
The Invenergy project, described as an interregional energy superhighway, is an 800-mile transmission line using state-of-the-art high-voltage direct current (HVDC) technology. It spans 4 states, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, which have all approved the open-access line as a project in the public interest. The Grain Belt Express is expected to add 5,000 megawatts (MW) of energy delivery capacity to the region, unlocking market efficiencies that will provide an estimated $52 billion in energy cost savings over 15 years.
“Grain Belt Express is a transformative project that delivers jobs and deepens America’s energy supply chain capabilities in innovative transmission technology,” explained Michael Polsky, founder and CEO of Invenergy. “Interregional transmission is key to unleashing American energy dominance to power our nation’s businesses and strengthen our national security.”
Grain Belt Express Phase 1, the portion of the project connecting Kansas and Missouri, is shooting for starting construction next year.
Quanta Services and Kiewit have strong local presences and expect to source raw materials locally in Kansas and Missouri when possible, including concrete, aggregate, civil materials, conduit, and piping. Main construction, engineering, and procurement offices for Grain Belt Express Phase 1 will be based out of Overland Park and Lenexa, KS.
“Grain Belt Express is an important project that supports the country’s energy dominance priority, manufacturing reshoring, mission to lead the world in artificial intelligence, and secure our grid. The entire Quanta team, including those at our Infrastructure Solutions Group in Kansas City, is ready and looks forward to helping modernize our electric infrastructure and bring much-needed relief to energy consumers across the Midwest,” said Duke Austin, President and CEO of Quanta Services.
“Our extensive EPC experience with complex power delivery projects suits us well, especially using this HVDC technology to connect grid regions to help reliably meet growing energy demand,” added Chad Jessen, EVP of Kiewit Energy Group.
The Grain Belt Express will strengthen U.S. grid security and enhance reliability, enabling deliverability for both new-build generation and more than 8 gigawatts (GW) of existing dispatchable generation near the line’s connections with multiple regional grids. The line’s pro-market merchant business model brings together willing buyers and sellers of electricity, an alternative to central planning where ratepayers shoulder all costs for new transmission lines. Grain Belt Express will help states and regions meet rapidly growing electricity demand driven by data centers and manufacturing, while also powering economic prosperity with direct infrastructure investment in local economies.
Last November, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through its Loan Programs Office (LPO), announced a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $4.9 billion to help finance Grain Belt Express Phase 1. The following month, members of Kansas’ congressional delegation celebrated a federal decision Monday to drop the transmission line route from its National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors, a program offering assistance for power infrastructure projects. The project is still moving forward.
“Kansans working to balance household budgets and run businesses want energy that’s affordable and reliable, and that’s what we are getting with Grain Belt Express, all without ratepayers being forced to pay for it. I look forward to seeing the positive impact of the thousands of jobs and billions in investment that this project will bring to Kansas,” stated Kansas Speaker of the House Daniel Hawkins.
Domestic Energy Supply Chain Investments
The selection of Quanta and Kiewit adds to domestic energy supply chain investments and commercial commitments for Grain Belt Express Phase 1 as the project approaches shovel-in-the-ground status. Others include:
- Prysmian North America: Long-term supply and manufacturing agreement for advanced transmission conductors. The agreement supports a 50,000 square foot factory expansion nearing completion in Williamsport, PA, that is set to double U.S. manufacturing capacity for certain advanced transmission conductors using U.S. aluminum.
- Hubbell: Equipment supply and manufacturing agreement for insulators and transmission assemblies. This agreement will continue to support American jobs across Hubbell’s manufacturing and distribution operations in Centralia, MO, where Hubbell is the largest employer, and its manufacturing facilities in Leeds, AL, and Aiken, SC.
- Siemens Energy: Supply agreement for the HVDC transmission technology for Phase 1 of the project. Siemens Energy will support the engineering, procurement, construction, and final integrated design of the HVDC converter stations in Kansas and Missouri.
- Missouri Public Utility Alliance: Transmission service agreements to provide access to contractual energy cost savings for 39 Missouri municipal utilities.
- 1,500 Landowner Agreements: Over $105 million in executed easement agreements, including $19 million already paid to landowners and an additional $86 million due at construction. Easement agreements allow continued use of the land, and over 95% of Grain Belt Express Phase 1 main line land acquisition is complete.
An Investigation?
In March, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey sent a letter to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its mouthpiece, Elon Musk, calling for an “immediate investigation” into the nearly $5 billion federal loan guarantee the project attracted.
Bailey described the project as “one of the most egregious abuses of taxpayer dollars in recent memory,” and narrowed in on its expected use of eminent domain, even in states that have forbidden it. In the letter, Bailey notes that the GBE project has initiated nearly 40 eminent domain proceedings so far.
“This so-called renewable energy project is nothing more than a government-sponsored land grab disguised as environmentalism,” Bailey said. “Missouri farmers — the backbone of our state and nation — now face the prospect of watching their lands carved apart, all to satisfy the greed of private investors.”
To date, Bailey’s request has been seemingly ignored.
