Kan. Gov. Announces Deal On Transmission Lines

House Utility Committee Chairman Carl Dean Holmes, a Republican from Liberal, said the settlement was noteworthy for another reason.

"This may be the first time in Kansas history that companies have competed to building much-needed transmission capacity," said Holmes, who's also chairman of the Kansas Electric Transmission Authority.

Under the settlement, Prairie Wind will build and operate a section from Wichita to Medicine Lodge and then down to the Oklahoma border, where it will join that state's ultra high-voltage line.

ITC's section will start at Spearville, near Dodge City, and go through Comanche County to Medicine Lodge. When completed, the projected will resemble a Y.

The ultra high-voltage line will allow for more electricity to be carried which means less energy loss in transmission and allow for additional electrical power to move from the additional wind farms that will be built in western Kansas.

"We absolutely must have a way to move the great wind energy source that we have in western Kansas to eastern Kansas and beyond," the governor said.

There are other steps that have to be completed before the project can get under way.