The Department of Energy said Thursday it finalized a $1.6 billion loan guarantee with one of the nation’s largest utilities to upgrade 5,000 miles of high-voltage transmission across five states in the nation’s midsection.
The award to Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric Power is the first authorized under DOE’s Energy Dominance Financing Program created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The loan guarantee stems from billions of dollars in aid for grid projects hurried out the door in the final weeks of the Biden administration, some of which has been canceled under President Donald Trump.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright told reporters during a press call on Thursday that terms of the loan guarantee didn’t change with the turnover in administration and that DOE closed on the loan only after “careful evaluation.”
“We want to make sure, when we’re supplying American taxpayer money that it’s a credit-worthy borrower, that the American taxpayers will get paid back, and that the project brings meaningful benefits,” Wright said.
