Energy Department Offers $1.6 Billion Loan Guarantee to Upgrade Lines Across Midwest

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the agency was ‘using funds to better the American experience by investing in energy that helps families and business.’

Transformers and power transmission lines in a power distribution yard on Aug. 18, 2003 in Des Plaines, Illinois. Tim Boyle/Getty Images

The Trump administration finalized a $1.6 billion loan guarantee on Oct. 16 through the Department of Energy to upgrade nearly 5,000 miles of transmission lines throughout five states, mostly in the Midwest.

The project offers billions to AEP Transmission, a subsidiary of Ohio-based American Electric Power—one of the nation’s largest power companies—to upgrade power lines in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, and West Virginia, mostly enhancing grid reliability and capacity, according to the Energy Department.