A massive green energy project supported by the Biden administration and provided a $4.9 billion federal loan guarantee has been informed that the Trump administration won't allow the loan to go through.
The Grain Belt Express is labeled by developers as the "biggest transmission line in the U.S. history." The Department of Energy (DOE) said the power line was a "high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line intended to connect wind and solar capacity across Kansas and Missouri."
The total length of the power line would have run about 800 miles from central Kansas through Missouri and Illinois and ended near the Illinois-Indiana border.
The DOE release on the cancellation stated, "After a thorough review of the project's financials, DOE found that the conditions necessary to issue the guarantee are unlikely to be met." It added that "it is not critical for the federal government to have a role in supporting this project."
The DOE said it was terminating the conditional loan "to ensure more responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources."
The timing of the government loan agreement, said the DOE, made it suspect. It said the loan was approved by the Biden administration in November 2024, one of many it said were rushed out the door by then-President Joe Biden's team. Now the DOE is reviewing all similar projects the government got involved with between "Election Day 2024 to Inauguration Day 2025 — to ensure every single taxpayer dollar is being used to advance the best interest of the American people."
The Trump administration is also ordering new review guidelines to make sure a "lower risk tolerance" is applied to new loan or financial commitment requests.
Within hours of his January 2025 inauguration, President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled "Unleashing American Energy." Trump outlined a new direction for American energy development, focusing on oil, gas, coal, nuclear, and hydropower. Missing from the list are green energy projects that rely on wind and solar power.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., a vocal critic of the project, posted in response to the announcement that "The Grain Belt Express boondoggle loan has been CANCELLED."
Hawley posted in mid-July that he was lobbying Trump against the project. The primary developer, Chicago-based Invenergy, reposted Hawley and claimed that the project "is aligned with the President's energy dominance agenda."
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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