With Push From Josh Hawley, DOE Cancels Loan To Connect High Plains Wind Power To The National Grid

[hatrack]

The Energy Department on Wednesday said it had terminated a commitment to provide a $4.9 billion loan guarantee to a company building a contentious transmission line across the Midwest. The cancellation may imperil the $11 billion project, known as Grain Belt Express, which would cross 800 miles of farmland and is designed to carry electricity generated by wind farms in Kansas to population centers in Illinois and Indiana.

It is the kind of infrastructure that experts say is necessary to update America’s aging electrical grid at a time of rising energy demand. If built, it would be the largest privately funded transmission line in the country’s history.

But the project, which is being developed by the Chicago-based company, Invenergy, has drawn intense backlash from some landowners and Republican lawmakers.

This month, in a conversation with President Trump in the Oval Office, Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, pressed Mr. Trump to cancel the loan commitment. At Mr. Trump’s urging, Senator Hawley said, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said he would do so.

EDIT

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/climate/grain-belt-express-energy-department-loan.html

[jls4561]

1. In order to generate more renewable energy for the Midwest, Claire McCaskill has installed a senator sized hamster

wheel in Hawley’s office. A steady stream of dedicated volunteers will pop their head in the office and yell “January 6th ‘patriots’
in the hallway!” at 15 minute intervals.

While the project will admittedly generate little renewable energy, it is hoped that a perpetually breathless Hawley will be unable to
generate advice to government officials or fellow Senators.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=3501250

[hunter]

2. Transmitting cheap dirty energy from Kansas to Illinois won't save the world.

It's somewhat amusing that Josh Hawley is canceling this project because it claims to be "green" even though it may be favorable to the long term interests of the fossil fuel industry.

https://app.electricitymaps.com/zone/US-CENT-SWPP/12mo/monthly

[Beartracks]

3. Favorable to the fossil fuel industry?

I have no doubt Hawley is against wind power because it falls into the Republicans' broad tree-hugger/DEI/woke/it-must-be-wrong-because-liberals-like-it category of knee-jerk policy decision-making tools, but how is this Great Plains wind power project favorable to the long term interests of the fossil fuel industry?

=====================

[hunter]

4. Wind and solar energy are dependent on fossil fuels for their economic viability.

That's especially true in places with limited hydroelectric capacity.

Generally in places with aggressive renewable energy policies the price of electricity skyrockets and this benefits the fossil fuel companies too.

The places where wind energy has been most "successful," Denmark for example, tend to have some of the most expensive electricity in the developed world. Electricity in Denmark would be even more expensive than it is now if they couldn't dump their surplusses into the fossil fueled German electric grid whenever their wind turbines were producing excess power, or they couldn't import hydro and nuclear energy when the wind isn't blowing sufficiently. Wind energy also benefits Denmark by allowing them to export natural gas that they'd otherwise burn domestically for electricity production.

In the case of the "Grain Belt Express" it would be financially unsound to use these lines only when there was a surplus of wind or solar energy needing transport. In practice they will be used to move lower cost electricity from all sources to places where it can be sold most profitably. Calling this energy "green" is mostly an accounting trick.

Multi-billion dollar investments in wind, solar, and transmission infrastructure in this region will at best reduce the carbon intensity to a lighter shade of brown, as depicted on electricity maps in my previous post, and only double the price of electricity at the consumer's meter.

Ultimately wind and solar energy are no threat to the fossil fuel industry as they will only prolong our dependency on fossil fuels.

[Beartracks]

5. Thanks. I appreciate the info.