The U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday announced it has terminated its $4.9 billion conditional loan commitment for the 800-mile Grain Belt Express Phase 1 transmission project.
“After a thorough review of the project’s financials, DOE found that the conditions necessary to issue the guarantee are unlikely to be met and it is not critical for the federal government to have a role in supporting this project,” the agency said in a statement.
Chicago-based Invenergy plans to build the 5-GW Grain Belt Express in phases from Kansas to Illinois. In May, the company made almost $1.7 billion in contractor awards to engineering and infrastructure services companies Quanta Services and Kiewit Energy Group.
Invenergy has said it aims to begin construction next year on the portion of the project connecting Kansas and Missouri. It estimates the project will provide $52 billion in energy cost savings to U.S. residents over 15 years.
But Republicans have urged the Trump administration to cancel the conditional loan commitment.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey on March 6 urged the Department of Government Efficiency to cancel the loan guarantee, arguing that the Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s transmission plans and business case analyses are “highly biased in favor of over-building transmission.”
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, also from Missouri, said July 10 on X that he had spoken with President Donald Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright about canceling the loan commitment.
“Wright said he will be putting a stop to the Grain Belt Express green scam. It’s costing taxpayers BILLIONS! Thank you, President Trump,” he wrote on July 10.
Grain Belt Express developers responded in a letter to Wright on July 11.
The proposed transmission line “has been the target of egregious politically motivated lawfare,” Grain Belt Express Vice President Jim Shield wrote. “Recent false accusations from Senator Hawley and AG Bailey saying that the Grain Belt Express will cost America billions instead of saving us billions, whether mistaken or purposefully declared, are misleading at best.”
On Wednesday, DOE said that “to ensure more responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources, DOE has terminated its conditional commitment.”
Invenergy did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
