An Invenergy visualization shows what the Grain Belt Express transmission line would look line running across a farmer’s land. The U.S. Department of Energy pulled a federal loan guarantee that was in place for the 800-mile transmission line. (Invenergy)
TOPEKA — The U.S. Department of Energy yanked a $5 billion loan from the company building the Grain Belt Express, saying the project is “unlikely” to meet conditions required for the loan guarantee.
A Kansas activist said the setback is a direct shot at green energy.
“The Grain Belt Express was originally designed for wind and solar,” said Dorothy Barnett, executive director of Climate + Energy Project. “I don’t know how pulling the loan guarantee can be seen as anything but an attempt to stop wind and solar. I’m hopeful Invenergy will be able to move ahead despite this setback.”
The Grain Belt Express, an 800-mile, 5,000-megawatt transmission line that will cross Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, has received approval for construction from each state’s energy regulators. In Kansas, that process began 14 years ago in front of the Kansas Corporation Commission.
Chicago-based Invenergy, the country’s largest privately owned green energy company, is building the project. A company spokesperson said the project is open to private financing after losing the federal loan.
The company was disappointed in the Department of Energy decision but the representative said that a “privately financed Grain Belt Express transmission superhighway will advance President Trump’s agenda of American energy and technology dominance.”
The company did not respond to a question about whether private financing has already been secured or is in the process of being raised.
The Grain Belt Express has been billed as a way to move wind energy, specifically from Kansas wind farms, to Indiana and Illinois. Although the line can carry energy from all sources, it was designed to reach areas where transmission infrastructure is sparse so that power generating stations could easily connect and transport energy. In Kansas, that would facilitate moving energy from wind farms, KCC testimony indicated.
The Grain Belt Express has faced multiple challenges since it first went before Kansas regulators for approval, including removal from a federal program in December 2024 billed as supporting power transmission in areas with little infrastructure. It also faces criticism over landowner’s rights, as Invenergy has worked for the past decade to purchase property for the lines.
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley was pivotal in ending the loan guarantee, pressuring President Donald Trump and the Department of Energy.
Hawley accused the Biden administration of rushing through loan approvals without proper vetting of projects and castigated Energy Secretary Chris Wright in a letter June 25 for not cancelling the Grain Belt Express loan.
Grain Belt Express said Hawley’s attempts to cancel the loan were “bizarre” in a post on X. Hawley had posted on the social media site that he spoke with Trump about stopping the “Green Belt Express scam.”
“This is bizarre,” the company wrote July 10. “Senator Hawley is attempting to kill the largest transmission infrastructure project in U.S. history, which is already approved by all four states and is aligned with the President’s energy dominance agenda. Senator Hawley is trying to deprive Americans of billions of dollars in energy cost savings, thousands of jobs, and grid reliability and national security, all in an era of exponentially growing electricity demand.”