It's refreshing to have a governor in the Statehouse who not only understands Kansas' tremendous energy-production potential but is determined to make it flourish.

Last month, within a week of taking office, Gov. Mark Parkinson gave the green light for Sunflower Electric to build its long-delayed coal-fired power plant near Holcomb. This week, the no-nonsense executive facilitated an agreement for the surprisingly competitive high-voltage transmission lines to move wind power through and out of Kansas. The deal effectively ends the fight between Prairie Wind Transmission and ITC Great Plains to erect the $800 million, Y-shaped lines. It also will expedite the Sunflower State's plans to improve its position as a significant producer of the nation's energy needs.

"Without a settlement the project itself was in jeopardy. At a minimum it would have been delayed two or three years depending on how long the litigation have taken," Parkinson said Monday. "It not only drastically reduces the amount of time that this project will take but it also significantly reduces the possibility that this project would have been scrapped altogether."

The 765-kilovolt lines are more than double the size of current lines in the state. When completed in four years, the 200-mile-long project will connect Spearville, Dodge City, Wichita and Oklahoma. The power grid enhancement will help make it possible for Kansas to reach its goal of providing 20 percent of public utilities' electricity from renewable sources by the year 2020.

"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.

Of course, just having the governor's blessing will not make the project happen. The Kansas Corporation Commission still will need to hold hearings and sign off on it. A decision from the KCC is not expected until at least late summer or early fall.

But the groundwork has been laid. We're not sure whether to credit Parkinson's business acumen or his unwillingness to let state government stand in the way of progress. Either way, the new governor is putting a charge into the Kansas power industry that is sorely needed.

Editorial by Patrick Lowry

plowry@dailynews.net