Latest news with #DOE
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump administration canceled a $4.9B loan guarantee for a line to deliver green power
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday canceled a $4.9 billion federal loan guarantee for a new high-voltage transmission line for delivering solar and wind-generated electricity from the Midwest to the eastern U.S. The U.S. Department of Energy declared that it is "not critical for the federal government to have a role' in the first phase of Chicago-based Invenergy's planned Grain Belt Express. The department also questioned whether the $11 billion project could meet the financial conditions required for a loan guarantee. President Donald Trump has repeatedly derided wind and solar energy as 'unreliable' and opposed efforts to combat climate change by moving away from fossil fuels. The Department of Energy also said Wednesday that the conditional commitment to Invenergy in November was among billions of dollars' worth of commitments "rushed out the doors" by former President Joe Biden's administration after Biden lost the election. 'To ensure more responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources, DOE has terminated its conditional commitment,' the agency said in a statement. It wasn't immediately clear how much the department's action would delay or stop the start of construction, which was set to begin next year. The company's representatives didn't immediately respond to emails Wednesday seeking comment The company has said its project would create 4,000 jobs and new efficiencies in delivering power, and that it would save consumers $52 billion over 15 years. The line would deliver electricity from Kansas across Missouri and Illinois and into Indiana, connecting there to the power grid for the eastern U.S. It could deliver up to 5,000 megawatts of electricity. "When electricity demand and consumer power bills are soaring, it's hard to imagine a more backward move,' said Bob Keefe, executive director of E2, a nonpartisan, Washington-based group supporting renewable energy. Keefe called the Grain Belt Express 'one of the country's most important energy projects' and suggested Trump canceled the loan guarantee 'just because it will bring cleaner energy to more people.' But two prominent Missouri Republicans, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and state Attorney General Andrew Bailey, are vocal critics of the project, describing it as a threat to farmland and land owners' property rights. Bailey called the project a 'scam' and a 'boondoggle.' Hawley said on July 10 that he had secured a pledge from U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright to cancel the loan guarantee in a conversation with him and Trump. Critics like Hawley object to the company's ability to use lawsuits against individual land owners along the line's route to compel them to sell their property, which Hawley called 'an elitist land grab.' Online court records show that the company filed dozens of such lawsuits in Missouri circuit courts in recent years, and the Missouri Farm Bureau's president posted on the social platform X Wednesday that the project threatened to 'sacrifice rural America in the name of progress.' Democrats on the U.S. Senate's energy committee suggested on X that Trump, Wright and Hawley 'just killed" the project, but Invenergy announced in May that it had awarded $1.7 billion in contracts for work on the project. And Bailey suggested in a statement that the project could still go forward with private funding without the loan guarantee, saying, 'If Invenergy still intends to force this project on unwilling landowners, we will continue to fight every step of the way.' John Hanna, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CTV News
3 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Trump administration cancelled a US$4.9B loan guarantee for a line to deliver green power
TOPEKA, Kan. — The Trump administration on Wednesday cancelled a US$4.9 billion federal loan guarantee for a new high-voltage transmission line for delivering solar and wind-generated electricity from the Midwest to the eastern U.S. The U.S. Department of Energy declared that it is 'not critical for the federal government to have a role' in the first phase of Chicago-based Invenergy's planned Grain Belt Express. The department also questioned whether the US$11 billion project could meet the financial conditions required for a loan guarantee. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly derided wind and solar energy as 'unreliable' and opposed efforts to combat climate change by moving away from fossil fuels. The Department of Energy also said Wednesday that the conditional commitment to Invenergy in November was among billions of dollars' worth of commitments 'rushed out the doors' by former President Joe Biden's administration after Biden lost the election. 'To ensure more responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources, DOE has terminated its conditional commitment,' the agency said in a statement. It wasn't immediately clear how much the department's action would delay or stop the start of construction, which was set to begin next year. The company's representatives didn't immediately respond to emails Wednesday seeking comment The company has said its project would create 4,000 jobs and new efficiencies in delivering power, and that it would save consumers US$52 billion over 15 years. The line would deliver electricity from Kansas across Missouri and Illinois and into Indiana, connecting there to the power grid for the eastern U.S. It could deliver up to 5,000 megawatts of electricity. 'When electricity demand and consumer power bills are soaring, it's hard to imagine a more backward move,' said Bob Keefe, executive director of E2, a nonpartisan, Washington-based group supporting renewable energy. Keefe called the Grain Belt Express 'one of the country's most important energy projects' and suggested Trump cancelled the loan guarantee 'just because it will bring cleaner energy to more people.' But two prominent Missouri Republicans, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and state Attorney General Andrew Bailey, are vocal critics of the project, describing it as a threat to farmland and land owners' property rights. Bailey called the project a 'scam' and a 'boondoggle.' Hawley said on July 10 that he had secured a pledge from U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright to cancel the loan guarantee in a conversation with him and Trump. Critics like Hawley object to the company's ability to use lawsuits against individual land owners along the line's route to compel them to sell their property, which Hawley called 'an elitist land grab.' Online court records show that the company filed dozens of such lawsuits in Missouri circuit courts in recent years, and the Missouri Farm Bureau's president posted on the social platform X Wednesday that the project threatened to 'sacrifice rural America in the name of progress.' Democrats on the U.S. Senate's energy committee suggested on X that Trump, Wright and Hawley 'just killed' the project, but Invenergy announced in May that it had awarded US$1.7 billion in contracts for work on the project. And Bailey suggested in a statement that the project could still go forward with private funding without the loan guarantee, saying, 'If Invenergy still intends to force this project on unwilling landowners, we will continue to fight every step of the way.' --- John Hanna, The Associated Press
Associated Press
3 hours ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Trump administration canceled a $4.9B loan guarantee for a line to deliver green power
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday canceled a $4.9 billion federal loan guarantee for a new high-voltage transmission line for delivering solar and wind-generated electricity from the Midwest to the eastern U.S. The U.S. Department of Energy declared that it is 'not critical for the federal government to have a role' in the first phase of Chicago-based Invenergy's planned Grain Belt Express. The department also questioned whether the $11 billion project could meet the financial conditions required for a loan guarantee. President Donald Trump has repeatedly derided wind and solar energy as 'unreliable' and opposed efforts to combat climate change by moving away from fossil fuels. The Department of Energy also said Wednesday that the conditional commitment to Invenergy in November was among billions of dollars' worth of commitments 'rushed out the doors' by former President Joe Biden's administration after Biden lost the election. 'To ensure more responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources, DOE has terminated its conditional commitment,' the agency said in a statement. It wasn't immediately clear how much the department's action would delay or stop the start of construction, which was set to begin next year. The company's representatives didn't immediately respond to emails Wednesday seeking comment The company has said its project would create 4,000 jobs and new efficiencies in delivering power, and that it would save consumers $52 billion over 15 years. The line would deliver electricity from Kansas across Missouri and Illinois and into Indiana, connecting there to the power grid for the eastern U.S. It could deliver up to 5,000 megawatts of electricity. 'When electricity demand and consumer power bills are soaring, it's hard to imagine a more backward move,' said Bob Keefe, executive director of E2, a nonpartisan, Washington-based group supporting renewable energy. Keefe called the Grain Belt Express 'one of the country's most important energy projects' and suggested Trump canceled the loan guarantee 'just because it will bring cleaner energy to more people.' But two prominent Missouri Republicans, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and state Attorney General Andrew Bailey, are vocal critics of the project, describing it as a threat to farmland and land owners' property rights. Bailey called the project a 'scam' and a 'boondoggle.' Hawley said on July 10 that he had secured a pledge from U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright to cancel the loan guarantee in a conversation with him and Trump. Critics like Hawley object to the company's ability to use lawsuits against individual land owners along the line's route to compel them to sell their property, which Hawley called 'an elitist land grab.' Online court records show that the company filed dozens of such lawsuits in Missouri circuit courts in recent years, and the Missouri Farm Bureau's president posted on the social platform X Wednesday that the project threatened to 'sacrifice rural America in the name of progress.' Democrats on the U.S. Senate's energy committee suggested on X that Trump, Wright and Hawley 'just killed' the project, but Invenergy announced in May that it had awarded $1.7 billion in contracts for work on the project. And Bailey suggested in a statement that the project could still go forward with private funding without the loan guarantee, saying, 'If Invenergy still intends to force this project on unwilling landowners, we will continue to fight every step of the way.'
Fast Company
5 hours ago
- Business
- Fast Company
A popular student loan forgiveness plan was just paused, with no word on when it will start up again
It's no secret that the Trump administration has taken steps to limit student loan repayment options. Now, individuals on the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan will experience a temporary halt in forgiveness, the Department of Education (DOE) announced —well, if you can call slipping a note into its FAQ section an announcement. 'Currently, IBR forgiveness is paused while our systems are updated to accurately count months not affected by the court's injunction,' the DOE states under a tab about processing IDR forgiveness. 'IBR forgiveness will resume once those updates are completed.' However, it notes that loan forgiveness under the IBR is still being processed. It's unclear when the program will start back up again. Fast Company reached out to the DOE for comment. According to Axios and CNN, about two million individuals are reportedly enrolled in the IBR plan. The Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plans are also paused. SAVE can't be saved This month has also marked the end of the fight to rescue former president Joe Biden's Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan. Trump's so-called big, beautiful bill states that it must cease by July 2028, but it was already on its last legs. In February, an appeals court sided with a Republican-backed lawsuit that argued the Biden administration didn't have the authority to create it in the first place—hence the injunction referenced in the DOE's pause announcement. Individuals enrolled in the SAVE plan have been in an interest-free forbearance for over a year. Now, the roughly eight million borrowers on the SAVE plan will see interest accrue starting August 1. According to Student Aid, forbearance will continue 'until the legal situation changes or servicers are able to send bills to borrowers at the appropriate monthly amount.'
Politico
7 hours ago
- Business
- Politico
Trump administration cancels pending loan for massive power line project
The Trump administration canceled the conditional loan guarantee on the same day it outlined its plans to dominate the global artificial intelligence race, including spurring the additional energy needed to achieve that goal. The administration has instead taken action to stunt wind and solar development, including a recent executive order designed to limit the ability of those projects to continue to utilize tax incentives under the GOP megalaw. The department said the conditions necessary to issue the loan guarantee for the Grain Belt Express project were 'unlikely to be met,' and it 'is not critical for the federal government to have a role in supporting' the project. The decision lands after Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley said the administration would kill the financing at his urging. Hawley has opposed the Grain Belt project over its use of eminent domain on farmland. Hawley thanked President Donald Trump on X on Wednesday and called the would-be loan a 'boondoggle.' The project is expected to break ground next year and would provide sorely needed interregional transmission capacity, carrying 5 gigawatts of power across four regional grids. It has received approvals from regulators in all four states it is set to cross. Invenergy, the Chicago-based developer behind the project, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The power line has largely been marketed as a wind project, but Invenergy is now looking to connect a new gas plant and possibly existing coal generation to the line and paint the project as a key component of the Trump administration's energy dominance agenda. The prior administration announced its intent to offer the loan guarantee in the final months of former President Joe Biden's term. Energy Secretary Chris Wright has repeatedly criticized the Biden administration's actions on billions of dollars of loans in its waning days but has said the loan office can play a vital role in supporting certain projects such as nuclear and critical minerals. DOE said Wednesday it is conducting a review of the office's portfolio, including the closed loans and conditional commitments made between Election Day 2024 to Trump's inauguration to ensure taxpayer dollars are being used to 'advance the best interest of the American people.'
