The Trump administration has put a $50 million federal grant to Duluth-based Minnesota Power back on the table, reversing an October decision that yanked funding from an upgrade of the utility’s long-distance HVDC transmission line. The move revives a politically charged slice of a much larger grid modernization push that utilities say is critical for keeping the lights on across the Upper Midwest.
According to The Globe | Worthington, the White House walked back the earlier cancellation and informed Minnesota Power that the $50 million award will, in fact, be honored. The grant was first awarded in 2023 by the U.S. Department of Energy through its Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships program, according to a 2023 Business Wire release.
The award was one of hundreds that the Department of Energy moved to terminate during an October 2025 review, a move that drew sharp blowback from state officials and lawmakers. That October shakeup reprioritized roughly $7.5 billion in awards and triggered a wave of appeals and lawsuits, according to reporting by the Star Tribune.
Where the $50 Million Is Headed
The broader modernization project comes with a roughly $940 million price tag, the Duluth News Tribune reported. At the center of it are upgrades to converter stations along a 465-mile high-voltage direct-current line between Center, North Dakota, and Hermantown, Minnesota, a system that was commissioned in 1977 and purchased by Minnesota Power in 2009, according to the original DOE award announcement. Company filings and local reporting say the work is designed to boost the line’s capacity from about 500 megawatts to roughly 900 megawatts, with room left to grow later toward 1,500 megawatts.
Company and State Leaders Breathe Easier
Minnesota Power has cheered the reversal. In a statement to The Globe, spokesperson Amy Rutledge said the company “appreciate[s] the recognition” from congressional delegations and the administration regarding the project’s importance. State officials have also pressed to keep transmission funding intact; the Minnesota Department of Commerce confirmed on May 27 that DOE would honor a separate $464 million grant for regional grid projects.
Appeals, Legal Fights and What Happens Now
The DOE gave grant recipients a 30-day window to appeal the October terminations, a process Minnesota Power referenced in its October statement responding to the cancellations. Secretary Wright has since said the agency would reinstate a number of canceled awards, and legal and policy analysis reported that DOE planned to restore several projects totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, signaling that at least some of the earlier cuts were under review.
Minnesota Power says it will keep working with federal and state partners as the HVDC upgrade moves ahead, while local officials and utility leaders watch to see how DOE formally spells out which awards are ultimately restored. For now, the reinstated $50 million removes one immediate hurdle for a project company leaders describe as central to the region’s energy future.
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