Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, said he had secured a commitment from Energy Secretary Chris Wright to cancel a conditional loan guarantee that the federal agency had granted to the developers of an $11 billion transmission line in the Midwest, with an assist from President Trump.
The line, known as Grain Belt Express, is designed to transport electricity generated by wind farms in Kansas across four states, including Missouri, to more densely populated regions in Indiana and Illinois. It would be the largest privately funded transmission line in the country’s history, said Invenergy, its developer.
In the works for more than a decade, the project appeared in recent months to have everything it needed to proceed, according to Invenergy. Approvals from the four states were in hand, contractors were ready to begin construction and the loan guarantee from the government provided critical financial support.
It was just the kind of project that utilities and energy experts say is needed, a way to deliver new sources of energy to meet spiking demand for electricity around the country.
But in recent weeks, challenges in Missouri appeared.
Mr. Hawley began to question the viability of the project, saying it did not benefit Missouri residents and that farmers were upset that Invenergy was using eminent domain in some cases to run high voltage lines and place transmission towers on farmland. In March and again in June, Mr. Hawley called on the Energy Department to cancel the $4.9 billion loan guarantee for the project, which was awarded during the final months of the Biden Administration.
This month, the Missouri attorney general, Andrew Bailey, a Republican, opened an investigation into the project and requested that the state’s Public Service Commission reconsider its approval.
Then, last Thursday, Mr. Hawley was in the Oval Office, speaking with Mr. Trump when the conversation turned to the Grain Line Express, Mr. Hawley said.
He said he explained his concerns to the president, who has repeatedly expressed his distaste for wind power, saying he would not permit any new wind projects during is administration.
“He said, ‘Well, let’s just let’s just resolve this now,’” Mr. Hawley said. “So he got Chris Wright on the line right there.”
Mr. Hawley said he repeated his concerns to the energy secretary and that the president asked “several searching questions.”
Mr. Hawley said that Mr. Wright announced that he intended to cancel the loan guarantee, and that he predicted it would happen in a couple weeks.
A person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly confirmed that Mr. Trump had called Mr. Wright while Mr. Hawley was in the Oval Office.
The White House and the Energy Department both declined to comment.
The Energy Department has said Mr. Wright is currently reviewing all loans and loan guarantees it has made, including the commitment to Invenergy.
In a statement posted on X, Invenergy called Mr. Hawley’s actions “bizarre.”
“Senator Hawley is attempting to kill the largest transmission infrastructure project in U.S. history, which is already approved by all four states and is aligned with the President’s energy dominance agenda,” the statement said. “Senator Hawley is trying to deprive Americans of billions of dollars in energy cost savings, thousands of jobs, and grid reliability and national security, all in an era of exponentially growing electricity demand.”
The company also wrote a letter to Mr. Wright pleading its case and noting that Grain Belt Express has broad bipartisan support.
The Missouri Public Service commission on Wednesday said it could not repeal its approval for the project. Also on Wednesday, Invenergy pushed back against the investigation by Mr. Bailey, filing a petition in county court in Missouri calling on the judges to “quash and set aside” the legal challenge.
“The attorney general has no authority to interfere with the Missouri Public Service Commission or its final approval of this project,” Catherine Hanaway, the lead counsel for Grain Belt Express, said in a statement. “Grain Belt Express seeks to bring an end to the A.G.’s unlawful and politically motivated investigation.”
David Gelles reports on climate change and leads The Times’s Climate Forward newsletter and events series.
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