Power generation company to invest $1.7B to strengthen US electricity infrastructure

Invenergy said Wednesday it had awarded a combined $1.7 billion to a pair of companies as part of its project to construct its Grain Belt Express electric transmission line. 

The contractor awards went to infrastructure company Quanta Services and construction company Kiewit Energy Group, according to Invenergy. 

CEO Michael Polsky told "Mornings with Maria" host Maria Bartiromo that the Grain Belt Express will be a "highway system for the electrons for electricity to move from where it’s produced to where it’s needed to power AI, data centers, industries, much-needed electricity in this country, to really unleash American energy, domestic energy, to be able to power our businesses, particularly with manufacturing and AI emphasis here now in the United States."

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The Grain Belt Express transmission line, meant to provide 5,000 megawatts of additional energy delivery capacity, will go through Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, Invenergy said. In total, it will be 800 miles long. 

The first phase of the Grain Belt Express’ construction is anticipated to start next year. It will focus on the portion "connecting Kansas and Missouri," according to the power generation company. 

Invenergy said Quanta and Kiewit "expect to source raw materials locally in Kansas and Missouri when possible."

Polsky said during his appearance on "Mornings with Maria" that building the entire 800-mile transmission line "will take about 36 months, three years" with plans to "be in operation sometime late in 2029."

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The Grain Belt Express project overall will cost about $11 billion, according to the Invenergy CEO. He said it will "create 22,000 jobs along the way between transmission and generation." 

"I would say this is the largest electricity infrastructure project right now in the United States," Polsky said.

Bartiromo asked him why Invenergy is doing this now. 

"Because I think clearly what President [Trump] said in his executive order, that it’s basically an energy emergency, electricity emergency," Polsky told her. "We need electricity, and we need electricity now." 

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"So what we try to do, and we need domestic sources, and we need to reduce costs, and we need energy independence, so this line or this project exactly fulfill president ambition or president statement," he continued. "We will be unleashing American energy. We will be lowering the cost. We will be creating energy independence in a way, so this project is really what is really needed currently in the United States. Without electricity, we cannot do AI, we cannot increase domestic production, so electricity is the key now for the economy of the United States."

In December, a report from GridStrategies projected electricity demand in the U.S. will jump by 15.8% by 2029, with data centers, manufacturing and electrification being major contributors to that.

Invenergy estimated the Grain Belt Express will save Americans $52 billion in energy costs over a decade and a half "by unlocking market efficiencies."