Bill

HB 2040

Extending the time in which the state corporation commission shall make a final order on a transmission line siting application.

2025-2026 Regular Session

Extends the Kansas KCC final siting order deadline from 120 to 180 days for electric transmission lines, slowing permits to allow route review and more landowner input.

Law effective April 17, 2025

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Bill Summary · HB 2040

Summary — HB 2040 (Kansas, 2025)

Status: Approved by Governor (effective upon publication in the Kansas Register) — Approved April 1, 2025
Introduced: January 23, 2025 | Sponsor: Rep. Tony M. McCombie (requested by Lynn Retz, Executive Director, Kansas Corporation Commission)
Statute amended: K.S.A. 66‑1,178 (existing section repealed and replaced)

Main purpose

HB 2040 extends the statutory deadline by which the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) must issue a final order on an electric transmission line siting permit application — increasing the review period from 120 days to 180 days. The change is intended to give the KCC more time to evaluate route alternatives and allow additional landowner input during the siting process.

Key provisions

Retains existing procedural requirements for siting applications:
- Utilities must obtain a siting permit before beginning site preparation, construction, or exercising eminent domain for high‑voltage transmission lines.
- Applications must specify proposed location, names/addresses of affected landowners (within 660 feet of the proposed centerline), and other required information.
- The KCC must schedule a public hearing not more than 90 days after filing; hearing location must be in a county the line would traverse.
- The KCC may conduct evidentiary hearings as appropriate.
Amends subsection (d) of K.S.A. 66‑1,178 to require the KCC to issue a final order within 180 days (formerly 120 days) after the application filing date.
The act takes effect upon publication in the Kansas Register.

Who is affected

Kansas Corporation Commission: gains up to 60 additional days to complete siting dockets.
Electric utilities and transmission developers: regulatory review timelines are lengthened; final permitting decisions may be delayed.
Landowners and local communities along proposed routes: potentially greater opportunity for participation and route negotiation.
Parties participating in dockets (utilities, intervenors, landowner representatives): may face longer proceeding durations and potentially higher participation costs.

Fiscal and policy considerations

Fiscal note (Division of the Budget / KCC): enactment would have no fiscal effect on the KCC.
Supporters (oral/written): KCC staff, Citizens’ Utility Ratepayer Board (CURB), Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas Livestock Association — citing expanded landowner input and route evaluation time.
Neutral/Testimony raising concerns: Evergy, Kansas Electric Cooperatives, ITC Great Plains — noted the bill could increase costs to participants due to longer dockets.
Legal effect: Amends and replaces K.S.A. 66‑1,178; retains prohibitions on construction/eminent domain prior to permit issuance.

Companion bill: SB 301

This change is procedural (timing) rather than substantive regarding criteria for approval; its principal impact is slowing the permit decision timetable to allow more deliberation and stakeholder participation.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.