Funding to support power expansion in Alabama and Georgia under president’s energy initiative.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The Trump administration on Wednesday announced what it described as the largest loan package in the history of the Department of Energy, directing $26.5 billion toward expanding and upgrading electrical grids in Alabama and Georgia.
According to the Energy Department’s press release, the loan package will support two wholly owned subsidiaries of Southern Company, a major electric utility provider. The funding is authorized under the Working Families Tax Cut law and is projected by the department to save Americans an estimated $7 billion in energy costs.
The DOE said the financing would help create thousands of jobs while increasing grid reliability across both states.
“Thanks to President Trump and the Working Families Tax Cut, the Energy Department is lowering energy costs and ensuring the American people have access to affordable, reliable, and secure energy for decades to come,” said Secretary of Energy Chris Wright in the press release. “The President has been clear: America must reverse the energy subtraction agenda of past administrations and add more reliable power generation to our electrical grid.”
The department said the loan will fund development of more than 16 gigawatts of new power generation capacity. Planned energy sources include natural gas facilities, nuclear power supported by upgraded licenses, hydroelectric modernization and battery energy storage systems.
“We stopped the closure of 17 gigawatts of coal capacity,” Wright told reporters Wednesday. “If President Trump hadn’t won the election, whatever new addition, you’d have to start with a minus 17 in front of it.”
The DOE estimates the financing arrangement will reduce Southern Company’s annual interest costs by approximately $300 million, a reduction officials say will help lower consumer energy bills.
Greg Beard, director of Energy Dominance Finance at the DOE, said the department is seeking partnerships with capable state and private-sector entities focused on stabilizing or reducing electricity costs while expanding grid capacity.
“What we’re looking for is partners, business partners that are competent and good at what they do, will deploy their own capital and just partner with them if their overriding agenda is to hold flat or drive utility prices and enable growth in the capacity of the grid so more industries can locate in those states or those regions, whether its AI or modern manufacturing,” Beard said in response to a question about expanding similar collaborations to other states.
Beard also said the department would not pursue projects that compromise grid reliability or significantly increase costs.
“This [loan package] allows data center development, this allows re-shoring of American manufacturing, and coincident with this expansion to those electricity grids is a multi-year freezing of the electricity rates in Georgia and in Alabama,” Beard said. “We stopped the closure of 17 gigawatts of coal capacity. If President Trump hadn’t won the election, whatever new addition, you’d have to start with a minus 17 in front of it.”
The loan package aligns with President Donald Trump’s Unleashing American Energy executive order, which calls for expanded domestic energy production and infrastructure development.
In January, the DOE issued a request for information seeking input from states on collaborating with the federal government and private industry to expand nuclear energy capacity and research within the United States.
Officials said the new loan represents a significant step in what the administration describes as a broader effort to strengthen grid capacity, promote domestic energy production and support industrial growth.
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