237 Miles of New Power Lines Are Coming Through Illinois. Here's What That Means If One of Them Is Coming Through Your Land.
In May 2026, a consortium of four utilities — Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois, GridLiance Heartland (a NextEra Energy affiliate), Dairyland Power Cooperative, and Illinois Municipal Electric Agency — was selected by MISO to build two new 765-kilovolt (kV) transmission lines across Illinois. The combined price tag is approximately $1.66 billion. The combined route is approximately 237 miles. Both lines are scheduled to be in service by 2034.
If you own land anywhere in central Illinois between the Iowa border and the Indiana border, there is a reasonable chance someone is going to knock on your door in the next year or two with a survey request, an easement offer, or both.
This post is for you.
What MISO Is and Why This Is Happening
MISO stands for Midcontinent Independent System Operator. It is the regional grid manager for a large chunk of the Midwest and South, and it runs a planning process that periodically identifies where new transmission infrastructure is needed. These projects came out of MISO's Long-Range Transmission Planning process — a multi-year effort to identify upgrades the grid will need as the energy mix shifts toward more renewable generation, particularly wind.
The short version: Illinois sits between a lot of wind power to the west and a lot of load to the east, and the existing grid cannot move enough electricity fast enough. These two lines are designed to fix that.
Project 1 (STIW): Approximately 149 miles, running from the Iowa/Illinois state line in the west to Woodford County in central Illinois. Estimated cost: $940 million.
Project 2 (WIIL): Approximately 88 miles, running from Woodford County east to the Illinois/Indiana state line, including a new 765/345-kV substation. Estimated cost: $718 million.
Together, these projects will form a 765-kV backbone across the state — the same voltage class as the largest transmission infrastructure in North America.
Before Any of This Gets Built, There Is a Regulatory Proceeding
Here is the part that matters most if you are a landowner, a farmer, or a municipality along one of these routes.
Before Ameren, GridLiance, or any of the other consortium members can put a shovel in the ground, they have to obtain a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity — a CPCN — from the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC).
The CPCN process is a formal administrative proceeding. The utilities file an application that describes the project, the route, the need, and the public interest analysis. The ICC then holds hearings, takes testimony, and ultimately issues or denies the certificate. This is not a rubber-stamp process. Substantive issues get litigated: route selection, landowner impact, alternatives that were not considered, conditions on construction, and compensation standards.
Critically, the CPCN proceeding is open to intervenors. That means landowners, municipalities, and other affected parties have a formal legal right to participate — to file testimony, cross-examine witnesses, and propose conditions on the project. You do not have to sit on the sidelines while a billion-dollar utility makes decisions about your land.
The ICC proceedings for these two projects have not been filed yet as of this writing. When they are filed, there will be a statutory notice period before intervention deadlines run. Missing those deadlines can significantly limit your options.
What Utilities Do Before the ICC Proceeding
Utilities typically begin contacting landowners well before they file for a CPCN. They send surveyors. They offer access agreements. They present "proposed routes" that can shift substantially before the final application is filed.
There is nothing inherently wrong with talking to utility representatives. But there are a few things worth understanding before you do.
First, a survey consent is not an easement. Granting access for survey purposes does not mean you have agreed to the project or to any particular compensation. Read anything before you sign it.
Second, route alternatives are real. One of the core issues in any CPCN proceeding is whether the proposed route is the best available option. Utilities sometimes propose routes that are more convenient for them but more damaging for landowners, and the ICC has the authority to require modifications. This is one reason early intervention in the proceeding matters — alternatives are much harder to push after a preferred route has already been selected.
Third, the CPCN proceeding and the easement negotiation are separate processes. Even if the ICC grants the certificate, the utility still has to acquire the easement from each landowner. If they cannot negotiate one voluntarily, they have the power of eminent domain — but eminent domain proceedings in Illinois have their own procedural protections, including the right to a jury trial on compensation. Participating in the CPCN process does not mean you have given up anything in the easement negotiation.
Municipalities Have a Stake Here Too
This is not just a rural landowner issue. Several Illinois municipalities sit along or near the projected corridor. Municipalities can intervene in CPCN proceedings and raise concerns about route siting, aesthetics, property values, emergency access, and other impacts on their residents.
Municipal intervention in ICC proceedings is underutilized. Most municipalities either do not know they can participate or assume it is not worth the effort. In my experience, that assumption is usually wrong. Utilities take municipal intervenors seriously because local government carries weight with the Commission.
If you are a city council member, a mayor, or a municipal attorney in central Illinois, it is worth knowing when these applications are filed and whether your community has an interest in participating.
What We Know About the Route So Far
As of the announcement, neither ATXI nor GridLiance has filed a specific route alignment with the ICC. MISO's selection identifies the general corridor — broadly, a line from the Iowa border through Woodford County and on to the Indiana border — but the exact path through specific townships, sections, and parcels has not been publicly disclosed.
What we know is the general geography. Both projects are designed to traverse central Illinois. Project 1 covers roughly the western half of the state. Project 2 covers roughly the eastern half. If you own land in Mercer, Henderson, Warren, Knox, Stark, Peoria, Woodford, McLean, Livingston, Iroquois, or nearby counties, you are in territory worth paying attention to.
When the utilities begin route development, they typically conduct aerial surveys and ground surveys before settling on a preferred alignment. That process takes months, and the route can change. Landowner input during that phase — even informal input — can influence where the line goes.
The Timeline
The projected in-service date for both projects is 2034. That sounds like a long time away, but the ICC proceeding will need to conclude well before construction begins, and these proceedings take time. A realistic guess: CPCN applications sometime in 2027 or 2028, proceedings lasting one to two years, construction beginning in the early 2030s.
The next two years are the window when routes get set, intervention rights accrue, and landowners who are paying attention can shape outcomes. After the certificate is issued, your leverage drops substantially.
What to Do Right Now
You do not need to do much right now except stay informed. Here is what I would suggest:
If you own land in central Illinois along the general corridor described above: Keep an eye on ICC filings. The ICC maintains a public docket system. When an application for a CPCN on either the STIW or WIIL project is filed, it will appear there. That is when the intervention clock starts.
If a utility representative contacts you for survey access: Read the document carefully before signing. You can consent to a survey without committing to anything else, but make sure the language reflects that.
If you receive any proposed easement documents: Do not sign anything without reviewing it. Easement terms — width, permitted uses, compensation, residual rights — vary significantly, and the first offer is rarely the best one.
If you are a municipality along the route: Talk to your city attorney about whether intervention makes sense. The answer is often yes.
The Bottom Line
A $1.66 billion transmission project crossing 237 miles of Illinois farmland and communities is not a small thing. MISO made the selection. The utilities accepted it. The ICC proceeding has not started yet.
That means there is still time to get organized, get informed, and make sure that if one of these lines is coming through your land or your community, you are not finding out after the decisions have already been made.
I represent landowners in ICC CPCN proceedings, including transmission siting cases. If you have land or interests along this corridor and want to understand your options before the applications are filed, reach out.
Jonathan Phillips is an attorney at Phillips & Bathke, P.C., representing landowners and other parties in Illinois Commerce Commission proceedings and related matters. His office is located at 300 Northeast Perry Avenue, Peoria, Illinois 61603. You can reach him Here.