A $5bn loan guarantee for a transmission project may be Elon Musk’s next target
A visualization shows what the Grain Belt Express transmission line would look line running across a farmer’s land. Invenergy has asked federal officials to narrow a “National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor” along Grain Belt’s route. (Invenergy)
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has sent a letter to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Elon Musk, calling for an “immediate investigation” into the nearly $5 billion of federal loan guarantee to be awarded to the Grain Belt Express (GBE) transmission project.
Bailey described the project as “one of the most egregious abuses of taxpayer dollars in recent memory,” and narrowed in on the project’s expected use of eminent domain, even in states that have forbidden it. In the letter, Bailey notes that the GBE project has initiated nearly 40 eminent domain proceedings so far.
“This so-called renewable energy project is nothing more than a government-sponsored land grab disguised as environmentalism,” Bailey said. “Missouri farmers — the backbone of our state and nation — now face the prospect of watching their lands carved apart, all to satisfy the greed of private investors.”
What is the Grain Belt Express?
Last November, the US Department of Energy (DOE), through its Loan Programs Office (LPO), announced a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $4.9 billion ($4.4 billion in principal and $470 million in capitalized interest) to Grain Belt Express to help finance a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission project, Grain Belt Express Phase 1.
If finalised, the 2,500MW interregional transmission line would run approximately 578 miles from Ford County, Kansas, to Callaway County, Missouri. The project will also have bidirectional capabilities, allowing power to be transmitted in either direction. Grain Belt Express Phase 1, a project covered by FAST-41, has been approved by the states of Kansas and Missouri based in part on the economic development benefits the project will bring to both states, DOE said previously.
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The project would connect three regional grids: the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), and Associated Electric Cooperative Incorporated (AECI). Grain Belt Express Phase 1 was originally expected to “significantly expand” import and export capabilities between these areas, DOE said. MISO, which is already a net importer of electricity, is also expected to have a growing electricity supply gap as electricity demand grows.
The National Transmission Needs Study, published by DOE’s Grid Deployment Office, estimates interregional transmission capacity between SPP and MISO regions may need to increase by up to 1000% to meet demand by 2035. As a merchant line, Grain Belt Express Phase 1 would contract with customers through voluntary agreements. In Missouri, 39 municipal utilities across the state have already contracted for transmission service on Grain Belt Express Phase 1.
The loan guarantee was intended to be offered through LPO’s Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program, which includes financing opportunities for energy and supply chain projects and projects that reinvest in existing energy infrastructure. While this conditional commitment indicates DOE’s intent to finance the project, DOE needs to complete an environmental review, and the borrower must satisfy certain technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions before the Department enters into definitive financing documents and funds the loan guarantee.
In September, Invenergy, a developer of the project, asked the federal government to reduce the size of a “National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor” running through Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois and ending at the Indiana border. In a blog on the Grain Belt Express website, Invenergy said a narrower line “will balance the needs of states to access additional power while also addressing the concerns and uncertainty stakeholders along the path of the project are expressing.” The “concerns and uncertainty” Invenergy referenced may be related to the potential use of eminent domain to acquire property needed for a new line. DOE argues that national interest corridors will allow the use of eminent domain, even when states where it isn’t currently allowed.
Originally published by Sean Wolfe on Factor This.
