The Trump administration announced on Wednesday that it is canceling another multi-billion-dollar loan agreement for a massive green energy project that was pushed through during the final days of the Biden administration.
The Department of Energy (DOE) terminated a $4.9 billion conditional loan commitment for the Grain Belt Express, a transmission line project that has been in development since 2010, intended to carry electricity from wind and solar farms across Kansas and Missouri. The loan was greenlit by former President Joe Biden in November 2024, just before leaving office, despite the project’s history of delays and claims from opponents that its developers exaggerated its economic benefits.
“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 DOE said regarding the funding termination. “To ensure more responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources, DOE has terminated its conditional commitment.”
The decision to cancel the loan followed growing scrutiny of the Grain Belt Express from state officials.
Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey launched an investigation into the project’s developer in early July, citing “widespread concerns over misleading claims and a track record of dishonesty.” Bailey urged the Missouri Public Service Commission to reevaluate its approval of the project, which has reportedly filed nearly 50 eminent domain lawsuits against landowners across the state.
“Grain Belt Express has repeatedly lied to Missourians about the jobs it would create, the benefits it would deliver, and the land it seeks to take,” Bailey said at the time. “We will not allow a private corporation to trample property rights and mislead regulators for a bait and switch that serves out-of-state interests instead of Missourians.”
A spokesperson for Grain Belt Express said that the project is to move forward with private financing after the federal government terminated its conditional loan.
“America is energy dominant and an AI powerhouse, and Grain Belt Express will be America’s largest power pipeline,” the Grain Belt Express spokesperson said in a statement. “While we are disappointed about the LPO loan guarantee, a privately financed Grain Belt Express transmission superhighway will advance President Trump’s agenda of American energy and technology dominance while delivering billions of dollars in energy cost savings, strengthening grid reliability and resiliency, and creating thousands of American jobs.”
The move is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to dismantle green energy projects and subsidies that were rushed through during the Biden administration’s lame-duck period. In just its final two working days, the Biden DOE’s Loan Programs Office — the same office that offered the Grain Belt Express loan in November 2024 — approved nearly $42 billion in green energy funding, surpassing the total amount the office had distributed in the entire previous decade, according to RealClear Investigations.
“DOE is conducting a review of every applicant and borrower – including the $85 billion in closed loans and conditional commitments LPO made 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 DOE said. “DOE remains focused on advancing projects that expand American energy dominance and deliver on President Trump’s commitment to lower energy prices for the American people.”
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