The Trump administration is finalizing a $1.6 billion loan for power lines in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma and West Virginia, finding itself in rare agreement with its predecessor on funding an energy project.
The Energy Department announced Thursday that it would move forward with the loan, which is expected to help improve or rebuild about 5,000 miles of power lines.
The loan, which will go to a subsidiary of American Electric Power, was approved conditionally by the Biden administration in January.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright told reporters that the move was the first deal that the Trump administration would approve through the department’s Loan Programs Office, which he said will be rebranded as the “Energy Dominance Financing Office.”
He told reporters that there wouldn’t be any changes in conditions to the loan.
"We already have transmission lines in place but by replacing the conductors themselves, we can get more electricity that can avoid blackouts [and] allow the transportation of electricity to lower total system costs,” Wright said.
"These are the kind of projects where we're going to partner with businesses to make our energy system more efficient, more reliable, ultimately lower cost,” he added.
The move comes as the administration has given significant scrutiny to projects approved under Biden, including recently announcing the cancellation of nearly $7.6 billion for projects that are primarily located in Democrat-led states.
The department is expected to issue further cancellations to funding for more green projects, including in red states.
Source: The Hill - News
