Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey
JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has called on the U.S. Department of Energy to rescind a $4.9 billion loan guarantee for the controversial Grain Belt Express (GBE) transmission line, warning that the project poses a serious threat to Missouri landowners and was pushed through with little regard for state law or private property rights.
In a letter hand-delivered to DOE Secretary David Wright, Bailey criticized the former Biden Administration for what he described as a “fast-tracked federal funding” approval meant to benefit foreign investors under the “guise of green energy.”
Bailey said the approval process failed to consider the impact on Missouri farmers and other landowners who may lose their land through eminent domain.
“The Biden Administration fast-tracked a multi-billion-dollar subsidy to line the pockets of foreign investors under the guise of green energy, all while trampling on the rights of Missouri farmers,” Bailey said in a statement. “I urge Secretary Wright to immediately halt federal funding for this green energy boondoggle. My Office will continue to push back against unlawful land grabs and defend the interests of hard-working Missourians.”
Bailey’s letter follows a recent Civil Investigative Demand (CID) issued by his office to GBE, citing concerns about allegedly misleading claims regarding the project's job creation, economic impact, and widespread use of eminent domain. According to Bailey, the company has already initiated nearly 50 lawsuits to forcibly acquire land from Missouri property owners.
“This speculative project seeks to line the pockets of GBE’s foreign investors with fast-tracked federal funding, hastily approved by President Biden to promote his Green New Deal agenda, with complete disregard to the private property rights of Missouri farmers and other landowners,” Bailey wrote in his letter to the DOE.
Bailey also sent a letter to the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC), urging a reevaluation of GBE’s Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CCN), a required regulatory approval for the project. Bailey claims GBE’s application was based on “speculative and possibly fraudulent assumptions,” including reliance on the future implementation of a carbon tax that neither the Missouri General Assembly nor Congress has enacted.
Bailey contends that the GBE project, which is a high-voltage direct current transmission line intended to carry wind-generated electricity across several states, has been misleading in its public messaging and regulatory filings. He asserts that federal subsidies should not be awarded to a company “that misleads regulators and targets family farms with condemnation.”
In his letter, Bailey appeals directly to the DOE to block the federal loan guarantee, emphasizing that the funding was “hastily approved in the waning days of the Biden Presidency.” He urges Secretary Wright and the incoming administration to reconsider the project’s merits and its implications for Missouri residents.
“I trust that you and the Trump administration agree,” Bailey concluded in his letter, expressing hope that the new leadership at the Department of Energy will side with Missouri landowners and halt the project.
The Grain Belt Express project has drawn controversy in Missouri and other states along its route, with critics voicing opposition to the use of eminent domain and questioning the purported economic benefits. Bailey’s latest action represents an escalation in his office’s opposition, combining legal and political pressure to derail the federally backed initiative. Bailey has called out issues with the project in the past.
