JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is celebrating what he calls a “major victory” for Missouri landowners following the U.S. Department of Energy’s announcement that it has officially terminated a $4.9 billion federal loan guarantee for the Grain Belt Express project.
The move marks a reversal of a Biden-era commitment to fund the high-voltage transmission line, which has faced years of pushback from landowners, state officials and legal challenges in Missouri.
Bailey
“We’ve won a battle in the war for Missouri landowners,” Bailey said in a statement. “This massive green energy scam, propped up by the Biden Administration to benefit corporate interests at the expense of family farms, has now lost federal backing thanks to a return to responsible leadership.”
Originally announced in November 2024, just days after the presidential election, the loan guarantee was issued under the Biden Administration to support the construction of the Grain Belt Express — a multi-billion-dollar energy infrastructure project aimed at transporting wind-generated electricity from Kansas to the East Coast.
The project would cut across several states, including Missouri, where opponents have long criticized its use of eminent domain and questioned the benefits to residents along the route.
Bailey, who has been a vocal critic of the project, previously urged the Department of Energy to rescind the loan, describing the funding approval as a rushed effort to promote the administration’s green energy agenda.
In a letter delivered to then-DOE Secretary David Wright, Bailey argued that the loan amounted to a “multi-billion-dollar subsidy to line the pockets of foreign investors under the guise of green energy,” warning that the project posed a serious threat to the private property rights of Missouri farmers.
His office had also issued a Civil Investigative Demand to Grain Belt Express citing concerns about allegedly misleading claims related to the project’s job creation, economic benefits and heavy reliance on eminent domain.
Bailey noted that nearly 50 lawsuits had already been filed by the company to forcibly acquire property from Missouri landowners.
Bailey credited the Trump Administration’s Department of Energy for reviewing the project’s financials and determining that the loan was unjustified.
“The federal government has pulled the plug on a nearly $5 billion taxpayer-funded boondoggle and Missouri families are better for it,” Bailey said.
While the DOE’s decision to terminate the loan guarantee is seen as a blow to the project's progress, Bailey indicated the fight may not be over.
“If Invenergy still intends to force this project on unwilling landowners, we will continue to fight every step of the way,” Bailey said. “We are committed to defending the rights of Missourians.”
Bailey has also challenged the project’s state-level approval, urging the Missouri Public Service Commission to reevaluate the Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CCN) granted to Grain Belt Express.
He alleged that the company’s application was based on “speculative and possibly fraudulent assumptions,” including reliance on the future enactment of a carbon tax that has not been approved by state or federal lawmakers.
Calling the project a “reckless green energy scam,” Bailey said his office remains committed to using every legal tool available to stop it.
“This marks a major victory in the ongoing fight to halt the Grain Belt Express,” Bailey said. “Missouri’s farmland, families and constitutional rights are worth fighting for.”
