Electric lines could share highway corridors under state rules

The commission and Missouri Department of Transportation would have to allow electric transmission facilities in highway rights of way. Facilities include those of public, investor-owned, cooperative, and municipal utilities, along with other listed transmission providers. Highways include public interstates, freeways, controlled-access highways, and state and county roads. Facilities would have to meet reasonable engineering, safety, and access requirements. Construction, access, upkeep, and repair conditions could not interfere with sharing the corridor.

The commission and Missouri Department of Transportation would set shared criteria and rules for placing transmission facilities along highways. The duties apply to the commission and the Missouri Department of Transportation and cover transmission facilities placed lengthwise or alongside highway rights of way. The agencies would set review timelines, protect public safety and infrastructure, and avoid duplicate routes where sharing is feasible. Rules would have to follow Missouri rulemaking law. The rulemaking authority and rules proposed or adopted after August 28, 2026, would be void if legislative rule-review powers were later held unconstitutional.