JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – A renewable energy company is again facing opposition as it seeks one of the final pieces of regulatory approval needed to carry wind power from the nation’s heartland to the east.

Missouri utility regulators began hearing testimony Monday on a request from Clean Line Energy to build a high-voltage transmission line from western Kansas across Missouri and Illinois to an Indiana power grid that connects with eastern states.

The Houston-based company already has won approval from other states, but the Missouri Public Service Commission rejected it in 2015. Clean Line Energy is trying again – this time by showing it has Missouri municipal power companies lined up as customers.

Several landowner and farmer groups are questioning the true need for the project and the discounted rates provided to those cities.