"In a rare example of continuity on energy policy, Trump’s DOE finalized the Biden-era loan to upgrade 5,000 miles of power lines across the Midwest."

"The Department of Energy has closed a $1.6 billion loan guarantee for transmission upgrades in the middle of the country — a move that comes as the Trump administration slashes funding for other grid improvements, including a separate transmission megaproject in the Midwest.

The financing from the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office will go to a subsidiary of utility giant American Electric Power to overhaul around 5,000 miles of power lines across Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, and West Virginia. The agency called the deal ​“the first closed loan guarantee” under a new ​“Energy Dominance Financing Program” established by President Donald Trump’s landmark tax law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Despite the Energy Dominance branding, the loan guarantee was originally announced in mid-January by the Biden administration as part of a broader $22.4 billion push to strengthen the grid using LPO funding. The Trump administration has now finalized that loan in a rare example of continuity between the administrations on energy policy."

Alexander C. Kaufman reports for Canary Media October 16, 2025. [2]