The Illinois Commerce Commission is currently reviewing a petition from Rock Island Clean Line LLC to grant a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity of the Public Utilities Act as a Transmission Public Utility. In plain English, this translates, if approved, that this private company will be awarded the power of eminent domain to acquire the land to run their power line across north of Morris.

Clean Line LLC has sold this venture as a way to bring clean renewable wind energy from western Iowa to the Chicago area and help bring down our energy costs. Yet this project is more about Iowa and the energy markets they want to plug into farther to the east of us and always has been.