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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, Clean Line Energy Partners, LLC, plans on | ||||||
| 3 | constructing the Grain Belt Express Line, a 750-mile overhead | ||||||
| 4 | transmission line that would carry electricity produced by | ||||||
| 5 | Kansas wind farms across portions of Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, | ||||||
| 6 | and Illinois; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, The central Illinois portion of the transmission | ||||||
| 8 | line would span the entire width of the State, including | ||||||
| 9 | Macoupin, Montgomery and Christian Counties in the 95th | ||||||
| 10 | Legislative District; and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, The majority of the energy transported along the | ||||||
| 12 | transmission line will benefit consumers on the East Coast and | ||||||
| 13 | will not be used by rate payers in Illinois; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, The transmission line will likely have a | ||||||
| 15 | detrimental impact on landowners in these areas, as the | ||||||
| 16 | transmission towers will decrease the value of their land and | ||||||
| 17 | will make it more difficult for them to farm their property; | ||||||
| 18 | and | ||||||
| 19 | WHEREAS, Clean Line Energy Partners, LLC has, in the past, | ||||||
| 20 | submitted to the United States Department of Energy an | ||||||
| 21 | application for "Federal Siting Authority", which would grant | ||||||
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| 1 | the company the powers of eminent domain; and
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The powers of eminent domain would allow a private | ||||||
| 3 | company to seize land from private landowners that refuse to | ||||||
| 4 | grant easements to their property that would allow construction | ||||||
| 5 | of the transmission line; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, Anything that encroaches upon the property rights | ||||||
| 7 | of individual land owners in Illinois needs to be carefully | ||||||
| 8 | considered before being enacted; and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, On April 10, 2015, Clean Line Energy Partners, LLC | ||||||
| 10 | submitted an application to the Illinois Commerce Commission | ||||||
| 11 | for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity; | ||||||
| 12 | therefore, be it
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| 13 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 14 | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 15 | urge the Illinois Commerce Commission to carefully consider the | ||||||
| 16 | application submitted by Clean Line Energy Partners, LLC for | ||||||
| 17 | its Grain Belt Express Line, and to grant the application only | ||||||
| 18 | if the company identifies clear and substantial benefits to the | ||||||
| 19 | State of Illinois that definitively outweigh any deprivation of | ||||||
| 20 | property rights or land value of the citizens of Illinois; and | ||||||
| 21 | be it further
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| 1 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 2 | delivered to the Illinois Commerce Commission.
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