Despite a farmer’s pleas and protests, the biggest power line in American history is about to swallow Kevin Reed’s land. At 800 miles in length, draped across the Midwest from Kansas to Indiana, Grain Belt Express is an $11 billion project boasting abundant green energy capable of powering 50 data centers.
However, Reed is unmoved by renewable energy promises. Under the thumb of eminent domain, his entire 246-acre row crop farm has been taken via permanent easement to the Grain Belt Express power line, with 20 acres slated directly for wires and towers. His property has crashed in value.
“It’s a heist. It’s an abuse. It’s an insult to our Constitution.”
Ironically, as Grain Belt Express initially claimed land across four states, in the name of public good, it barely delivered a drop of power to Reed’s own state.
“Think of the corruption,” he contends. “A private company snatched up private acreage by force from people across Missouri for a 250-mile stretch, just so they could transmit power from Kansas to Indiana and get a higher dollar. And they got away with it.”
“Look no further than Grain Belt Express if you want to see the fall of private property rights, the power of big business, and the political rot of eminent domain.”
Colossal Wire
In the gentle hills of Caldwell County in western Missouri, Reed, 66, grows corn and soybeans on 246 acres on the outskirts of Cowgill, roughly one hour northeast of Kansas City. His rows, worked for generations by his forebears, rub the city limits of the town.
“I grew up in farming and experienced an economy gone to hell. I learned how quickly things can go wrong for a farmer, and I got into construction at a young age and made a good living. But I kept land and bought land, and always farmed on the side. Still do.”
In roughly 2010, Reed caught wind of an incoming power line, Grain Belt Express. Colossal wire. Gargantuan project. The single most massive capacity transmission line in U.S. history.
Proposed by Texas-based Clean Line Energy, and starting in southwest Kansas’ Ford County, the power line would carry watts 800 miles to higher dollar markets to the east, over Missouri and Illinois, and across the Indiana line.
From the get-go, Grain Belt Express was supposed to convey 3,500 megawatts. “Keep in mind, Missouri wasn’t supposed to get any of that power,” Reed says. “We were just supposed to give up our land.”
“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing,” he adds. “A private company from out of state was about to run wires through my state, and force people by eminent domain to give up farmland and pastureland from border to border along Route 36.”
“That has backroom deal written all over it. The politicians all knew there was a stench.”
The Dotted Line
In 2014, Clean Line Energy (soon named Grain Belt Express) touted its power line project at community gatherings in Missouri. In Reed’s geography, meetings were held in Cameron, Carrollton, and Polo. Ear to the ground, he attended all three.
“It was crazy. It was unbelievable. They needed our farms and pastures so they could make big bucks in another state far away. They just wanted our land, end of story. This wasn’t about a local water line or highway improvement. This wasn’t about the public good; it was about private good.”
Roughly two years later, Reed got a phone call from a Grain Belt Express land acquisition agent: Here’s our offer.
Grain Belt Express requested a complete easement over Reed’s 246-acre farm and 20 acres for power line construction, including a 160’ right-of-way.
“I was in shock. No. No. No. First of all, I didn’t want them on my land, period. Second, they offered a pittance of a one-time payment. I met with them and it was a terrible experience.”
“Their right-of-way makes a curve across the front of my farm. It not only impacts the 20 acres, but everything else, too. This is land that touches the city limits, and it’s only about 60 miles from Kansas City, but now the full value is destroyed if I ever would have sold in the future. What buyer wants to find out the power line company controls 100 percent of the land?”
Additionally, Reed’s farming practices would change overnight, he says. “Aerial application would be finished. And in those particular fields, I’m supposed to bring in 120’ booms running over terraces with lines just 30’ to 40’ up? That’s begging for something to go wrong in the long-term.”
Bottom line, Reed was given a choice. Sign on the dotted line or go to court.
“Hell, no. I refused to sign.”
Dog and Pony
In 2018, as Reed attempted to protect his land, Grain Belt Express changed ownership from Clean Line Energy to Invenergy (Chicago-based). The switch went from LLC to LLC.
“It made an obvious mess way messier. No way in hell, according to Missouri law, would a private LLC be able to wield eminent domain. Didn’t matter. On with the show. After all, we’re only talking about the single most powerful electric line in our nation’s history generated by windmills. What could go wrong?”
In increments, Grain Belt Express boosted its capacity projections, and agreed to divert increasing percentages of power to Missouri. By 2019, power line capacity was pegged at 4,000 megawatts, with 12.5% or 500 megawatts set for Missouri.
“They knew that was the only way to get our politicians to join in,” Reed asserts. “They were getting away with it by dumping a token amount of power here in Missouri and pretending it was all about the public good.”
In May 2022, Missouri lawmakers dropped H.B. 2005, a property rights bill, on the desk of Gov. Mike Parson. In June, he signed H.B. 2005, ensuring Grain Belt Express had exemption from new regulations on local energy delivery and from new rules ensuring landowners got at least 150% of market value for property losses. Bottom line: Grain Belt Express was grandfathered in.
Significantly, in July 2022, a month after the bill’s signing, Invenergy expanded the project’s capacity to 5,000 megawatts and announced half the capacity (2,500 megawatts) would be delivered to the Show-Me State. In a snap, Missouri instantly attained a five-fold wattage increase.
“It was a dog-and-pony show,” Reed insists. “Invenergy, in my opinion, realized that public awareness had grown too big in Missouri about what Grain Belt Express was trying to pull. Suddenly, Invenergy was all about helping our state.”
(Via email and phone requests, Agweb asked Invenergy reps: When Grain Belt Express was first proposed in 2010, how much power was supposed to be diverted to Missouri? Invenergy did not answer, instead issuing a statement: “Grain Belt Express has completed voluntary agreements with landowners for over 95% of the project’s first phase, and the project’s landowner protections, including its Code of Conduct, have been recognized by property rights advocates as essential for the respectful and fair treatment of landowners. Following extensive public reviews, Grain Belt Express has been approved in all four route states and project development is moving forward to meet the need for affordable, reliable power across the Midwest and grid regions serving 40% of American households.”)
“Truth is, the cat was outta the bag and they were forced to do something or lose their power line,” Reed says. “Out of the blue, they wanted to gift Missouri a whole boatload of electricity.”
“Things just ramped up from there and got wilder. Next thing you knew, almost magically, Grain Belt Express got $5 billion from the U.S. taxpayer.”
No Cards to Play
On Nov. 25, 2024, among the final acts of the Biden Administration, DOE announced $4.9 billion in government funding for Phase 1 of Grain Belt Express, touting the power line’s “clean, reliable, and affordable power.”
Eight months later, in July 2025, the Trump Administration canceled the funding. DOE pulled the plug. “I don’t even think Grain Belt Express is going with wind-generated power anymore,” Reed posits. “It’s now very unclear where the power is even going to come from, but nobody seems to know anything.”
(Agweb asked Invenergy reps: Is Grain Belt Express still going to be powered by wind turbines? If not, what is the power source? Invenergy did not answer.)
“You can imagine the scrambling and turmoil behind the scenes of all this,” Reed says. “Nevertheless, with investment from Blackstone and others, the project gets CPR and still goes on. I’m still going to lose control of my land no matter what.”
Reed currently stands on the cusp of a jury trial in January 2027. “Basically, I’ve got no cards to play except to find out how much money I do or don’t get. After paying attorney fees and fighting this for going on 16 years, you can be assured I’ve been through a terrible, terrible time. Most landowners within close distance of me say they can’t afford to fight and just take whatever they’re offered. I don’t blame them.”
Across the length of Grain Belt Express, landowners had three choices: accept an offer, negotiate, or litigate. “We’re talking 800 miles. I can’t imagine how many farmers and lifetimes have been hurt by this abuse of eminent domain.”
“I can’t imagine how the some of the landowners in Kansas feel or some of the landowners in Illinois. Most people can see this doesn’t make sense,” Reed adds. “Even Farm Bureau Illinois was against it. When even a big ag organization is willing to speak up, you know something is rotten.”
In March 2025, then Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued a notably blunt press release regarding Grain Belt Express: This so-called renewable energy project is nothing more than a government-sponsored land grab disguised as environmentalism. 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.
Four months later, in July, Bailey stated that Grain Belt Express had “filed nearly 50 eminent domain lawsuits against Missouri landowners to seize property.”
Bailey was then sued by Grain Belt Express to block a civil investigation into the power line. Grain Belt Express’ lead counsel Catherine Hanaway spearheaded the lawsuit. Stunningly, in August 2025, one month after launching the Grain Belt Express lawsuit, Hanaway was appointed by Gov. Mike Kehoe to fill Bailey’s attorney general post, who departed for Washington, D.C., as new co-deputy director of the FBI. Simply, Hanaway replaced Bailey.
“You can’t make this stuff up,” Reed says. “I’ve been dealing with it for 16 years and it’s more tangled than anything from your worst nightmare.”
Man Against La Mancha
Invenergy says Grain Belt Express will provide $52 billion in energy savings over 15 years, create 5,500 jobs, and potentially power 50 data centers, all backed by $11 billion in private investment.
According to Invenergy: “The biggest transmission line in the U.S. history, Grain Belt Express is a solution to one of the top challenges worrying community, business, and economic development leaders across America: increasing energy bills.”
Reed does not buy Grain Belt Express’s pronouncements. “They’ve used lawfare against farmers and landowners in the power line’s way. They bleed your money. They tire you out with, ‘Sign. Sign. Sign.’”
“Some people might look at me and say I’m swinging against windmills like Don Quixote or Man Against La Mancha. No, this is just a hard pill to swallow if you care about private property. I’ve tried my best to reach John Rich and I’m hoping he hears about this situation.”
“I’ll never forget when Grain Belt’s land agents told me I’d get more money if I went down easy. I told them, ‘I’m not signing and it’s illegal for your private company to use eminent domain to take my land for this power line.’”
“They said, ‘Well, your county is sure allowing it.’ I answered, ‘County? What about the Constitution?’”
For more from Chris Bennett (@ChrisBennettMS or cbennett@farmjournal.com or 662-592-1106), see:
Corn and Cocaine: Roger Reaves and the Most Incredible Farm Story Never Told
How the Deep State Tried, and Failed, to Crush an American Farmer
Game of Horns: Iowa Poacher’s Antler Addiction Leads to Historic Bust
Ghost Cattle: $650M Ponzi Rocks Livestock Industry, Money Still Missing
When Conservation Backfires: Landowner Defeats Feds in Mindboggling Private Property Case
