To the Editor:
Invenergy has used many arguments to justify its long-range electric transmission project from Kansas to Indiana, known as Grain Belt Express (or GBE). These include alleged grid congestion and the need for clean energy. Recently, however, Invenergy spokesmen have claimed that GBE is necessary for the national defense of the United States.
On Aug. 24, 2022, Shashank Sane, Executive Vice President for Transmission for Invenergy LLC, testified before the Missouri Public Service Commission that “Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine has prompted new concerns about national security,” concerns that necessitated accelerating renewable energy deployment through HVDC lines (Direct Testimony of Shashank Sane on Behalf of Grain Belt Express LLC Aug. 24, 2022, FILE NO. EA-2023-0017).
Sane referenced Invenergy consultant Jonathan Monken, who provided “direct testimony” to the same commission on the same day on behalf of GBE (same file number). Monken worked with Convergent Strategies LLC and had been Senior Director for PJM, the grid GBE wishes to connect with in the Northeast. Citing his study “HVDC Transmission: A National Security and Energy Resilience Imperative,” Monken said that U.S. security goes beyond planes and tanks to “electrons and molecules that provide energy needed to execute essential missions.” His position is that the Department of Defense has 500 installations that demand enormous amounts of electricity to operate.
No landowners in Kansas have ever been apprised that they are surrendering the use of their land to combat Russian aggression or cybersecurity threats from hostile governments. No one is disputing that world events are not linked. The Ukraine invasion jeopardized the importation of oil, and an Arab embargo on oil exports created long lines at U.S. gas stations many years ago. But placing the defense of the United States and the free world in the hands of Kansas landowners is a stretch, especially when we see exactly who owns the allegedly patriotic Invenergy LLC.
Invenergy’s investors include Blackstone Inc., a corporation that has $1 trillion in assets that include real estate, hedge funds, and private equity. Its infrastructure group has a stake in renewable energy with Invenergy. But in 2007, the State Investment Company of China agreed to invest $3 billion with Blackstone, which hoped that China would invest in its portfolios. In turn, China hoped that Blackstone would increase its presence in Chinese markets such as the CIC, China’s sovereign wealth fund, established to help the country diversify foreign holdings. The sovereign wealth fund is part of the Chinese national banking system. Additionally, the United Arab Emirates invests in Blackstone’s U.S. and European portfolios.
The other major shareholder of Invenergy is Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (The Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund). Its financial profile is similar to Blackstone’s and was formed to manage pension funds in the province of Quebec. But as canvasbusinessmodel.com says, the ownership structure of Invenergy is not fully understood and has private and institutional investors not readily apparent.
Grain Belt Express is part of a labyrinth of multinational business alliances. Whether one talks of national security or power transmission, the risk of conflicts of interest among these parties is enormous. Are Canada, China, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries contributing to our defense? How is America’s national security strengthened by a Canadian pension fund, the Chinese national banking system, and Arabian investments?
And why are Midwestern property owners being forced to forfeit their land in the name of foreign interests? Invenergy can invoke the national defense, but it is a private, for-profit company with transparency issues. To say that Grain Belt Express is bolstering our country’s national defense is disingenuous. The GBE project is merely a land grab to line the pockets of Chicago fat cats and foreign interests.
Tammy Hammond
Pawnee Rock, KS
