STATEMENT FROM REPRESENTATIVE BRAD HALBROOK on the DOE's Termination of Taxpayer-Funded Financial Assistance for the Grain Belt Express.
July 24, 2025

Today’s announcement from the U.S. Department of Energy is a major victory for landowners, family farms, and rural communities across central Illinois. For years, residents in the path of the proposed Grain Belt Express project—spanning nearly a dozen mid-Illinois counties—have been fighting to protect their private property rights from a government-backed land grab.

The Biden administration’s decision last year to grant a $4.9 billion taxpayer-funded loan guarantee to Grain Belt Express and hand them eminent domain authority was nothing short of a betrayal of rural America. It prioritized green energy ideology and corporate interests over the livelihoods of hardworking Illinois families.

Thankfully, the new administration has reversed course. After a thorough financial review, the Department of Energy has rightfully concluded that this project is not viable and not in the public interest. The decision to terminate this loan guarantee is a clear win for fiscal responsibility, energy realism, and the rule of law.

Let’s be honest: The Grain Belt Express wasn’t about reliable energy or economic development. It was about forcing through a massive, multi-state transmission line to serve speculative wind and solar development—at the expense of Illinois landowners. This project was written into CEJA (the so-called Climate and Equitable Jobs Act) with no regard for local input or consent.

This is the kind of overreach we must continue to fight. Illinois farmers and rural families should not be collateral damage in the rush to impose Green New Deal-style policies.

I commend the Department of Energy for this decision and will continue to stand with landowners across Illinois to protect property rights, fight eminent domain abuse, and ensure that energy policy serves the people—not political agendas.

Press Release from the DOE: https://www.energy.gov/articles/department-energy-terminates-taxpayer-funded-financial-assistance-grain-belt-express