{"id":359799,"date":"2024-12-31T08:36:48","date_gmt":"2024-12-31T07:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=359799"},"modified":"2024-12-31T08:36:50","modified_gmt":"2024-12-31T07:36:50","slug":"stop-out-the-door-grants-and-loans-doe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=359799","title":{"rendered":"Stop Out-the-Door Grants and Loans, DOE!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Master Resource<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Robert Bradley Jr.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This letter<\/a> of December 4, 2024, to Jigar Shah (Director, Loan Programs Office, U.S. Department of Energy) was from Cathy McMorris Rodgers<\/strong>: Chair, Committee on Energy and Commerce; Jeff Duncan<\/strong>: Chair, Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security; and H. Morgan Griffith<\/strong>: Chair, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. A similar plea to Shah by solar executive David Bergeron is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Director Shah<\/strong>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We write to you concerning the Department of Energy\u2019s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) and its push to rush out loans and loan guarantees in the closing days of the current administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reportedly, the LPO is scrambling to close the $25 billion in pending loans under that program before President Biden leaves office. [1]<\/strong> The LPO has closed on eight loans in just over two months. [2]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes three direct loans and one loan guarantee announced after the election, which total more than $2.6 billion. Since the election, the LPO has been finalizing loans at an exponentially higher rate than that of the rest of the current administration\u2019s tenure. The LPO has finalized four loans in a little over a month, compared to the other ten loans approved over nearly four years. [3]<\/strong> Additionally, since the election, the LPO has issued four conditional commitments totaling $19.3 billion. [4]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last-minute drive to expedite loans exposes the federal government\u2014and American taxpayers\u2014to tremendous risk. [5]<\/strong> In its recent report on top management challenges facing the agency, the DOE Office of the Inspector General (OIG) warned of several alarming factors that will compound to produce a heightened risk of loan default. [6<\/strong>] The OIG flagged that as most of the
LPO\u2019s authority will expire between 2026 to 2030, the LPO may feel pressure to \u201cbeat these deadlines\u201d and issue loans it otherwise would not have. [7]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, assessing new markets, changing technologies, and newly created applicants will challenge its due diligence process. [8<\/strong>] The OIG also fears that the LPO may inadvertently fund foreign adversaries if the DOE\u2019s new Research, Technology, and Economic Security Vetting Center fails. [9<\/strong>] According to the OIG, the process has already twice failed to prevent the DOE from approving applicants with prohibited foreign adversarial ties to receive funding. [10<\/strong>] Even prior to this post-election scramble, the OIG considered this program \u201cone of the largest financial risks facing the Department today.\u201d [11<\/strong>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On election day, the American people rejected the Biden-Harris administration\u2019s rush-to-green agenda. To honor the will of our electorate and facilitate an orderly transition, we insist that the Biden-Harris administration cease its campaign to quickly distribute federal funding before the incoming administration takes office. As such, we request that the LPO pause issuance
of any additional conditional commitments, loans, or loan guarantees in the final weeks of the current administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you for your attention to this matter. If you have any questions about this request, please contact the Majority Staff of the Energy and Commerce Committee at (202) 225-3641.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014
[1]<\/strong> See Benjamin Storrow et al., Biden Inks Billion-Dollar Climate Deal to Foil Trump Rollback, E&E NEWS BY POLITICO, Nov. 19, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/strong> See Thomas Catenacci, Biden-Harris Admin Races to Dish Out $25 Billion for Green Energy Before Trump Takes Office, Sparking Fraud Fears, FREE BEACON, November 22, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3]<\/strong> See Storrow, supra note 1 (stating 12 loans have been finalized). This article predates a loan to ENTEK announced on November 22, 2024. See LOAN PROGRAMS OFFICE, DEP\u2019T OF ENERGY, ENTEK, supra note 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4<\/strong>] This includes conditional commitments to Starplus Energy, Rivian LLC, Sunwealth, and Grain Belt Express. See Blog, Loan Programs Office, Dep\u2019t of Energy, LPO Announces Conditional Commitment to Starplus Energy to Construct Lithium-Ion Battery Factories in Indiana, Dec. 2, 2024, Blog, Loan Programs Office, Dep\u2019t of Energy, LPO Announces Conditional Commitment to Rivian to Support the Construction of EV Manufacturing Facility in Georgia, Nov. 26, 2024, Blog, Loan Programs Office, Dep\u2019t of Energy, LPO Announces Conditional Commitment to Grain Belt Express to Construct High-Voltage Direct Current Transmission Project, Nov. 25, 2024, Blog, Loan Programs Office, Dep\u2019t of Energy, LPO Announced Conditional Commitment to Sunwealth to Deploy Solar PV and Battery Energy Storage, Creating Wide-Scale Virtual Power Plant, Nov. 25, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5]<\/strong> See OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GEN., DEP\u2019T OF ENERGY, DOE-OIG-25-05, MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES AT THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY\u2014FISCAL YEAR 2025 1-4 (2024).
[6]<\/strong> Id. at 4.
[7]<\/strong> Id. at 2-3.
[8]<\/strong> Id. at 3-4.
[9]<\/strong> Id. at 4.
[10]<\/strong> Id.
[11<\/strong>] Id.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This\u00a0letter\u00a0of December 4, 2024, to Jigar Shah (Director, Loan Programs Office, U.S. Department of Energy) was from\u00a0Cathy McMorris Rodgers: Chair, Committee on Energy and Commerce;\u00a0Jeff Duncan: Chair, Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security; and\u00a0H. Morgan Griffith: Chair, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":359801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691820710,691830954,691832365,691832168],"class_list":{"0":"post-359799","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-biden-harris-administration","9":"tag-department-of-energys-doe","10":"tag-loan-programs-office-lpo","11":"tag-office-of-the-inspector-general-oig","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0loans-v-grants-scaled-1.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1vBd","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":290504,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=290504","url_meta":{"origin":359799,"position":0},"title":"House Republicans Demand Answers From Key Energy Dept Official Subsidizing Green Companies Following DCNF Report","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"12\/08\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Three Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter to a key Department of Energy (DOE) official\u00a0on Monday following a Daily Caller News Foundation report that found his office had committed to providing a massive loan for a company that was allegedly defrauding its investors.","rel":"","context":"In \"Biden Administration\"","block_context":{"text":"Biden Administration","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=biden-administration"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0shutterstock_751358878.jpg?fit=1200%2C627&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0shutterstock_751358878.jpg?fit=1200%2C627&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0shutterstock_751358878.jpg?fit=1200%2C627&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0shutterstock_751358878.jpg?fit=1200%2C627&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0shutterstock_751358878.jpg?fit=1200%2C627&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":357750,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=357750","url_meta":{"origin":359799,"position":1},"title":"Jigar Shah: End DOE\u2019s Loans\/Grants Now!","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"12\/22\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The author\u00a0is a solar technologist and founder\/CEO of\u00a0SunDanzer, a free-market, off-grid solar company based in Tuscon, Arizona.\u00a0Jigar Shah\u00a0is director of the\u00a0$400 billion Loan Programs Office\u00a0in the U.S.\u00a0Department of Energy.","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-dioxide-co%e2%82%82"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/00-1x-1.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/00-1x-1.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/00-1x-1.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/00-1x-1.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/00-1x-1.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":378984,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=378984","url_meta":{"origin":359799,"position":2},"title":"Crony Alert: Jigar Shah at \u2018Climate Solutions\u2019 Dinner in Seattle","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/20\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Climate Solutions, \u201caccelerating the transition to our clean energy future,\u201d has its\u00a0annual dinner this Tuesday night. This is\u00a0your\u00a0chance to visit with leaders of the Climate Industrial Complex, rich and bossy with a strong desire to pick the pocket of local, state, and national taxpayers.","rel":"","context":"In \"clean energy\"","block_context":{"text":"clean energy","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=clean-energy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0ChatGPT-Image-20.-Mai-2025-17_13_59.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0ChatGPT-Image-20.-Mai-2025-17_13_59.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0ChatGPT-Image-20.-Mai-2025-17_13_59.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0ChatGPT-Image-20.-Mai-2025-17_13_59.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":243324,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=243324","url_meta":{"origin":359799,"position":3},"title":"What Debt Ceiling? Biden Admin Gears Up to Blow $400 Billion on Soft Green Energy Loans","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/05\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Let us hope the Republicans stand their ground during debt ceiling negotiations.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-187.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-187.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-187.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-187.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-187.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":362651,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=362651","url_meta":{"origin":359799,"position":4},"title":"Biden Admin Cuts Failing EV Company A Fat Check on Its Way Out the Door \u2013 Watts Up with That?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/19\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Biden administration cut a multi-billion dollar check for struggling electric vehicle (EV) maker Rivian Thursday, just days before President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s inauguration.","rel":"","context":"In \"Biden Administration\"","block_context":{"text":"Biden Administration","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=biden-administration"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Biden-EVs_April-2023.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Biden-EVs_April-2023.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Biden-EVs_April-2023.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Biden-EVs_April-2023.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Biden-EVs_April-2023.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":350569,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=350569","url_meta":{"origin":359799,"position":5},"title":"Biden-Harris Admin routed \u2018environmental justice\u2019 cash to left-wing activists","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"11\/08\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The House Energy and Commerce Committee released a new report Monday detailing how the Biden-Harris administration has given huge amounts of taxpayer cash to left-wing activist groups under the guise of \u201cenvironmental justice.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In \"climate activists\"","block_context":{"text":"climate activists","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-activists"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0cop-24-radicalizing-and-indoctrinating-youth.jpg?fit=1200%2C659&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0cop-24-radicalizing-and-indoctrinating-youth.jpg?fit=1200%2C659&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0cop-24-radicalizing-and-indoctrinating-youth.jpg?fit=1200%2C659&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0cop-24-radicalizing-and-indoctrinating-youth.jpg?fit=1200%2C659&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0cop-24-radicalizing-and-indoctrinating-youth.jpg?fit=1200%2C659&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=359799"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":359802,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359799\/revisions\/359802"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/359801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=359799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=359799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=359799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}