Missouri – Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has started an official investigation into Grain Belt Express, LLC (GBE). He has concerns about what he calls a pattern of false promises and deceptive claims related to the company’s high-voltage transmission line project. The investigation comes after Missouri politicians and landowners became increasingly worried about GBE’s methods of pushing through its controversial project, which has led to over 50 eminent domain lawsuits to take private property.
Last week, Attorney General Bailey said that his office had sent a Civil Investigative Demand (CID) to GBE. This demand forced the company to hand over internal documents and communications that showed how it planned to create jobs, market itself, assess the environmental impact of its projects, and change its goals. The investigation is being conducted under Missouri’s Merchandising Practices Act, a state law designed to prevent deceptive business conduct, fraud, and false advertising.
Along with the CID, Bailey sent a letter to the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) asking them to rethink GBE’s Certificate of Convenience and Necessity, which they had already given them. His letter says that GBE’s original application was based on guesses or false assumptions, like the idea of a carbon tax that isn’t legal in Missouri or the federal government. He says that these statements have confused both regulators and the public.
“Grain Belt Express has repeatedly lied to Missourians about the jobs it would create, the benefits it would deliver, and the land it seeks to take,” said Attorney General Bailey. “We will not allow a private corporation to trample property rights and mislead regulators for a bait and switch that serves out-of-state interests instead of Missourians.”
The Biden administration has given GBE’s project a conditional \$4.9 billion federal loan guarantee. However, concerns are mounting that the project will primarily serve out-of-state data centers, not Missouri families as initially advertised. This has fueled skepticism about whether the transmission line’s economic benefits for the state will ever materialize.
The New York Times called Bailey’s actions “a major setback for Invenergy, the energy company behind the project,” showing how important it is for Missouri to oppose the idea on a national level.
In the letter to the PSC, Bailey also mentioned recent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Orders 1920, 1920-A, and 1920-B. These orders give state commissioners more power to review long-term energy plans and take back project approvals that are no longer in the public interest. Bailey is using these federal directives to push the PSC to use its oversight powers more strongly.
“Our mission is to stand up for Missouri’s farmers, families, and landowners, and that means stopping billion-dollar land grabs disguised as infrastructure,” concluded Attorney General Bailey. “We are launching this investigation to protect landowners and demand accountability from a project built on broken promises. We will not allow a private corporation to trample property rights and mislead regulators just to secure federal subsidies and political favor.”
Through this investigation, Missouri’s top legal office is signaling that any corporation seeking to reshape the state’s landscape must first answer tough questions—and prove that their promises match reality.
The CID served on Grain Belt Express is available here.
The full letter to the Public Service Commission can be read here.
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