Opinion ID: 6109741
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Commission's Reliance onATXI was in Error

Text: The Commission's decision to deny the line CCN because it found ATXI controlling  was also error. In ATXI , the Commission issued a conditional report and order granting Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois (Ameren) a CCN to construct a long-distance electric transmission line. 523 S.W.3d at 23 . The CCN, however, was contingent upon Ameren receiving the required assents of each county affected by the project as required by section 229.100. Id. Section 229.100 requires any entity intending to construct utilities impacting publicly owned roads to first obtain assent from the county where the roads are located before construction may begin. ATXI held that the Commission did not have the statutory authority to issue a conditional CCN because, according to section 393.170.2 and 4 CSR 240-3.105(1)(D)1, a utility seeking a CCN must obtain consent from would-be affected counties before the Commission can grant a CCN. Id. It was not clear, however, whether Ameren's CCN application was seeking a line CCN or an area CCN. Ameren's application stated it was seeking a CCN pursuant to section 393.170 and 4 CSR 240-3.105 without specifying under which subsection of the statute and regulation it was applying. 3 Section 393.170.2, which concerns area CCNs, was the only subsection of the statute analyzed in ATXI . [T]he specific language of section 393.170.2 states that evidence of the county commission consents 'shall' be on file before the PSC grants a CCN. 4 523 S.W.3d at 26 . The court of appeals did not acknowledge section 393.170.1 does not require preliminary county consent for line CCNs. In fact, ATXI does not cite section 393.170.1 at all. By failing to consider subsection 1, ATXI can be read to conflate the provisions in subsection 1 with those in subsection 2. ATXI 's failure to distinguish between line CCNs in subsection 1 and area CCNs in subsection 2 resulted in the Commission's issuance of either type of CCN being contingent on the utility's receiving local approval. Such an incorrect interpretation renders the use of the disjunctive or in subsection 3 meaningless. This Court cannot ignore words in a statute and must give meaning to every word used. State v. Moore , 303 S.W.3d 515 , 520 (Mo. banc 2010). Section 393.170 clearly provides for two types of CCNs and explicitly requires prior consent from would-be affected counties to obtain one type of CCN, an area CCN, but not the other, a line CCN. To the extent ATXI requires consent from every would-be affected county before the Commission can grant a line CCN, it should not be followed. In this case, Grain Belt has applied for a line CCN under section 393.170.1. It has  not applied for an area CCN under section 393.170.2 because, according to Grain Belt, it will not be providing retail service to electric consumers. Accordingly, it was not required to obtain consents from the affected counties before the Commission could issue a line CCN. Further, Grain Belt acknowledges it will be required to obtain county assent pursuant to section 229.100 if it intends to construct utilities impacting publicly owned roads. The provisions in that section, however, are not relevant to the Commission's decision-making process in issuing a line CCN. Section 229.100 does not purport to give counties the authority to stand in the shoes of the Commission in determining whether a proposed utility project is in the public interest of the state or whether a utility should be granted a CCN. Other than providing that county assent must be obtained prior to beginning construction when county roads are impacted, section 229.100 is silent as to timing, order of priority, or any other reference to section 393.170 covering the Commission's authority to issue CCNs. The Commission erred in relying on ATXI in denying Grain Belt's application based on its failure to first obtain assent from impacted counties. Admittedly, Grain Belt will need to obtain such assent before it can begin construction if county roads will be impacted, but county assent is not required prior to the Commission issuing a line CCN.