Kearney, Neb. ? Nebraska Public Power District can move forward with plans for an $87 million transmission line that would connect to one in Kansas and run to just south of Kearney.

The Nebraska Power Review Board voted 3-2 Friday to build the 53-mile line through eastern Kearney and Franklin counties, ending at Axtell.

Power district officials have said the line is needed to ease congestion on its other transmission lines and improve the flow of electricity in western Nebraska.

The line would connect to a 165-mile transmission line being built from southern Kansas to up near the Nebraska border.

Representatives from a group of landowners in south-central Nebraska testified against the plan during Friday’s hearing in Lincoln.

One landowner, Eric Boudreau of Upland, has said the line would cut through an environmentally sensitive area used by migratory birds and is not in the state’s best interest.

“This line still doesn’t make sense,” he said after Friday’s hearing.

The board can be asked to reconsider its decision, or it can be appealed to the Nebraska Court of Appeals.

Boudreau and the landowners’ attorney said they hadn’t considered those options yet.

Nebraska Public Power District officials said the utility will pay about a third of the $87 million cost, with the multistate Kansas Power Pool covering the rest.