
Exclusive: Contentious power line's developer plans gas connection
State of play: Invenergy is also in active discussion with a company to bring existing coal-fired generation onto the proposed Grain Belt Express project, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Why it matters: Such fossil fuel-based connections could change how the line is perceived. It currently would connect large wind resources in Kansas to points eastward and has long been viewed as a major boost to renewables.
In late November, the Energy Department's loan office that backs low-emissions tech announced a conditional $4.9 billion loan guarantee for the project's first phase.
Invenergy has touted the project's ability to "unlock access to one of the strongest combined wind and solar energy resources in the United States."
The intrigue: Prominent Missouri GOP opponents of the line have criticized it as a green energy project and emphasized Biden-era federal support.
GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said on X this month that he secured a pledge from Energy Secretary Chris Wright that he'll be "putting a stop to the Grain Belt Express green scam."
Hawley said he had spoken directly with President Trump. Missouri AG Andrew Bailey — a Republican who has launched a probe of the project — has similarly called it part of the Biden-era "green new scam."
Missouri GOP officials also have argued that Grain Belt Express runs against the interests of farmers and other landowners and criticized use of eminent domain.
DOE did not provide comment but has broadly said it is reviewing Biden-era loan commitments.
It said Hawley is trying to kill a massive project that's "aligned with the President's energy dominance agenda."
Zoom in: Under FERC rules, Grain Belt Express LLC is currently managing its own interconnection process until the project becomes operational, but it's open to all generators, the source explained.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New York Post
16 minutes ago
- New York Post
House panel votes to subpoena Bill and Hillary Clinton over possible links to Ghislaine Maxwell
A House Oversight panel subcommittee voted to subpoena Bill and Hillary Clinton Wednesday over their alleged ties to notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's convicted accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) introduced the motion for subpoenas during a Federal Law Enforcement Subcommittee hearing, and it was approved by the Republican-led panel via voice vote, with no roll call taken. The Clintons and several former top Justice Department officials – ex-FBI Director James Comey, one-time special counsel Robert Mueller and former attorneys general Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Merrick Garland, Bill Barr, Jeff Sessions and Alberto Gonzales – were included in the list of subpoenas sought by Perry in order to 'expand the full committees investigation into Ms. Maxwell.' Advertisement 3 Epstein was a frequent White House visitor when Clinton was in office. The William J. Clinton President / MEGA House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) would need to formally issue the subpoenas to the Clintons and the others for them to be compelled to provide testimony or documents to the panel. 'Subpoenas will be issued in the future,' a spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee told The Post. Advertisement The former president acknowledged in his 2024 book 'Citizen: My Life After the White House' that he flew aboard Epstein's private plane – nicknamed the Lolita Express — in connection to his work with his Clinton Global Initiative nonprofit. 'I wish I had never met him,' Clinton wrote of Epstein, adding that traveling on his plane was 'not worth the years of questioning afterward.' The former president, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the Epstein case, claimed that he had no idea Epstein and Maxwell were sex trafficking minors. According to visitor logs, Epstein visited the White House at least 17 times, beginning shortly after Clinton was sworn into office in 1993. Advertisement 3 Epstein and Maxwell met with the former president during a 1993 tour of the White House. William J. Clinton Presidential Library 3 Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison after her 2022 conviction on sex trafficking conspiracy charges. SDNY The subcommittee also approved a measure directing Comer to subpoena the Justice Department for the release of all communications between Biden administration officials – including former President Joe Biden – and the DOJ related to the Epstein case. Advertisement The subcommittee's actions come after Comer subpoenaed Maxwell, who has been serving a 20-year prison sentence since 2022, to sit for a deposition with the Oversight Committee. The deposition has tentatively been scheduled for Aug. 11, at the Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee, where Maxwell has been incarcerated since her conviction on sex trafficking conspiracy charges.


The Hill
16 minutes ago
- The Hill
Columbia University agrees to pay more than $220M in deal with Trump to restore federal funding
NEW YORK (AP) — Columbia University has reached a deal with the Trump administration to pay more than $220 million to the federal government to restore federal research money that was canceled in the name of combating antisemitism on campus, the university announced Wednesday. Under the agreement, the Ivy League school will pay the $200 million settlement over three years to the federal government, the university said. It will also pay $21 million to settle investigations brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 'This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty, acting University President Claire Shipman said. The administration pulled the funding, because of what it described as the university's failure to squelch antisemitism on campus during the Israel-Hamas war that began in October 2023. Columbia then agreed to a series of demands laid out by the Republican administration, including overhauling the university's student disciplinary process and adopting a new definition of antisemitism. Wednesday's agreement codifies those reforms, Shipman said.


The Hill
16 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump signs executive orders to fast-track data center construction, target ‘woke' AI
President Trump signed a trio of executive orders related to artificial intelligence (AI) on Wednesday, focusing on boosting data center construction and the adoption of American technology while targeting 'woke' AI. The three executive orders seek to fast-track permitting for data centers, promote the export of the American technology stack abroad and bar 'woke' AI systems from federal contracting. 'Under this administration, our innovation will be unmatched, and our capabilities will be unrivaled,' Trump said at an AI summit hosted by the Hill & Valley Forum and the 'All-In' podcast, where he signed the orders Wednesday evening. 'With the help of many of the people in this room, America's ultimate triumph will be absolutely unstoppable,' he continued. 'We will be unstoppable as a nation. Again, we're way ahead, and we want to stay that way.' The orders accompany the Trump administration's AI Action Plan released earlier Wednesday, which lays out a three-pronged approach to 'winning the race' on AI. In the framework, the administration called to cut federal and state AI regulations in an effort to boost innovation, pushed to expedite the buildout of AI infrastructure and sought to encourage the adoption of American technology abroad. Each of Trump's executive orders seeks to target at least some of the policy goals detailed in his AI action plan. The data center order calls on the Council for Environmental Quality to establish new categorical exclusions for certain data center projects that 'normally do not have a significant effect on the human environment.' It also seeks to identify projects that qualify for expedited permitting review. 'My administration will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that the United States can build and retain the largest, most powerful and most advanced AI infrastructure anywhere on the planet,' Trump said Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, his AI export order calls for the creation of an American AI Exports Program that will develop full-stack AI export packages, featuring U.S. chips, AI models and applications. Trump contrasted his approach with that of former President Biden, who released the AI diffusion rule at the tail-end of his presidency, placing caps on chip sales to most countries around the world. The rule faced pushback from the semiconductor industry and was repealed by the Trump administration in May. The third order targeting 'woke' AI seeks to limit agencies from signing contracts for AI models unless they are considered 'truth seeking' and maintain 'ideological neutrality,' which it defines as those that 'do not manipulate responses in favor of ideological dogmas such as DEI.'