Marshall Municipal Utilities’ General Manager Jeff Bergstrom was at the meeting of the city council on Monday, May 6, and asked it to approve a resolution opposing House Bill 1062.
Bergstrom said he did attend the hearing in the Senate Commerce Committee last week. He said they were scheduled to vote on the measure on Monday. “If it makes it out of that, it goes on to the full senate.”

Bergstrom said he checked for an update on the voting earlier Monday afternoon.

The resolution says House Bill 1062 would repeal part of the section relating to eminent domain, thus stopping The Grain Belt Express from delivering approximately 500 megawatts of wind power from western Kansas to Missouri. The city of Marshall is a member of the Missouri Joint Electric Municipal Utility Commission, which has contracts in place for cheaper, cleaner and reliable electricity created by the construction of The Grain Belt Express Line. The city of Marshall would benefit with more than $688,000 in annual savings and $13,750,000 in saving over the terms of the contracts. HB 1062 will deny the city of Marshall and its residents access to renewable, clean, reliable and inexpensive electricity.