Grain Belt says it will proceed with private funding after federal loan pulled
Matthew Sanders
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A company building a wind energy line across Missouri said Wednesday that the project will proceed with private funding after the cancellation of a federal loan.
The department canceled a $5 billion government loan for Grain Belt Express at Hawley’s request, the senator says in a news release. Hawley sent letters in March and June urging the department to cancel the loan.
“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 Department of Energy wrote in a news release. “To ensure more responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources, DOE has terminated its conditional commitment.”
A Grain Belt spokesman said in a written statement that the company will proceed with private funding.
“America is energy dominant and an AI powerhouse, and Grain Belt Express will be America’s largest power pipeline,” the statement says. “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 loan was issued in November 2024 in the waning days of the Biden presidency.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey praised the decision. He had issued a civil investigative demand to Grain Belt, similar to a subpoena, early this month to obtain documents related to the project. Bailey claimed that Grain Belt oversold the benefits of the project and engaged in predatory use of eminent domain.
Grain Belt responded with a lawsuit, asking a judge to stop the demand. The project had already won approval from state utility regulators and couldn’t be reviewed again under law, the company argued in court documents.
The case has been assigned to Cole County’s presiding judge, who will pick a new judge after Grain Belt requested it.
Missouri Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins “commended” the Trump administration for canceling the loan in a statement posted on X.
“This isn’t just about one power line — it’s about the dangerous precedent it sets for using eminent domain as a tool for corporate gain,” Hawkins wrote. “If we would allow this, where does it end?”
The project will cross Missouri to deliver power from western wind fields to Illinois. The route will run through Mid-Missouri and a connection is planned from north of Centralia to near Kingdom City. That route includes land in Monroe, Audrain and Callaway counties, according to the Grain Belt website.
The main line will also run through Chariton and Randolph counties.
Grain Belt’s parent company, Invenergy, also inked a supply chain deal with Centralia’s Hubbell Power Systems.
The project has contracts with 39 municipal utilities in Missouri, including Columbia Water and Light. Project leaders say Grain Belt could save Missouri energy consumers billions of dollars.
The first eminent domain lawsuit was filed in Callaway County, according to reporting in the Missouri Independent.
Grain Belt’s website says construction on Phase 1 is expected to start next year.