A big question mark for the Grain Belt Express transmission line

GRID: A $4.9 billion federal loan guarantee for a major Midwest transmission project faces uncertainty about whether the Trump administration will follow through with the commitment. (Canary Media)

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ALSO: Four business groups call on Iowa regulators to enact ratemaking reforms that ensure utilities make necessary grid investments over the coming decades with limited effects on customers. (Radio Iowa)

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CLEAN ENERGY: Congressional Republicans consider scaling back or eliminating a U.S. Department of Energy loan program that has backed a variety of U.S. clean energy projects with billions of dollars in financing. (E&E News)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• The U.S. Energy Department announces a $7.54 billion loan guarantee to help finance two Indiana electric vehicle battery plants under a joint venture with Stellantis and Samsung. (Associated Press)
• General Motors will sell its roughly $1 billion stake in a central Michigan electric vehicle battery plant to LG Energy Solution, saying it doesn’t need the additional capacity to grow in the EV market. (Bridge)
• Michigan officials, automakers and suppliers announce a $4.7 million investment in electric vehicle job training at two Michigan colleges. (WOOD-TV)

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CARBON CAPTURE: Wolf Carbon Solutions withdraws its permit application in Iowa for a 95-mile carbon pipeline project that would sequester emissions in Illinois. (Des Moines Register)

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SOLAR:

• Sisters who founded a climate club in their Duluth, Minnesota, middle school years ago are close to their biggest victory yet by finalizing plans for a school rooftop solar project. (Star Tribune)
• The Kansas City Council is expected to take steps this week on building a 2,000-acre solar project next to the city’s airport. (Flatland)

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OVERSIGHT: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who’s been tapped to lead the Interior Department as well as serve as the Trump administration’s energy czar, could play an outsized role in federal energy policy. (E&E News)

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OIL & GAS: North Dakota’s Senate Majority Leader says cost barriers remain to building a $250 million pipeline under a public-private partnership that would deliver Bakken-area gas to other parts of the state. (Prairie Public)

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EFFICIENCY: A Minneapolis nonprofit is leading the construction of passive homes on the city’s north side that aim to save homeowners with minimal electric and heating bills. (Sahan Journal)

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