CHICAGO — On Wednesday, Rock Island Clean Line (RICL) LLC requested public utility status and approval to build a 3,500 megawatt transmission line in northern Illinois.

Both the preferred route and the alternate route cut directly across the northern townships of Bureau County, from Fairfield Township on the west to Clarion Township on the east.

Rock Island Clean Line, an affiliate of Clean Line Energy Partners, based in Houston, Texas, has been looking at possible routes to carry electricity produced from wind farms in South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa to Illinois and eastward. The overhead high voltage direct current transmission line would be about 550 miles long and carry up to 3,500 megawatts of electric power.