We also don’t know how Trump DOE could prevent the processing of conditional loans not yet finalized under agreements reached by the Biden administration. “As a binding agreement, funds are obligated at the time of conditional commitment,” DOE ” an official said during Wednesday’s briefing. The majority of projects supported by LPO loans are in Republican districts, according to a Politico analysis, which could also lead some GOP lawmakers to oppose any attempt to prevent them from receiving the loans they were promised.
Utility loans are also less risky than the LPO’s usual clientele, the DOE noted one official. The utilities in question are all rated as investment grade, the projects have been approved by state regulators as financially prudent and the loans are secured by all of the utility’s assets, the official said.
For these same reasons, public services are not the usual target of LPOwhich was created with the primary aim of helping bring new technologies to commercial viability. This mission was expanded with the RIEwho authorized LPO lend up to $250 billion to finance the conversion or reconstruction of power plants, power lines and other energy infrastructure to reduce costs for consumers and carbon emissions.
But the program took time to process and finalize the agreements. The first conditional loans were announced in December, including2.5 billion for Wisconsin Electric Power to build renewable energy and energy storage projects and $15 billion for the Californian public service Pacific Gas & Electricity to expand hydropower generation and battery storage, modernize transmission networks with new power lines and grid improvement technologies, and expand ““virtual power plant programs” that equip customers with solar panels, batteries and controllable thermostats, VE chargers and other devices to relieve network stress.
$ from Thursday22.4 Billions of dollars in loans are expected to support the financing of a host of similar projects.
In Michigan, more than $14 billions in loans will help public services DTE Energy and Consumers Energy produces clean energy and batteries and modernizes fossil gas pipelines. Alliant Energy should receive more than $3 billion to build 2 gigawatts of clean energy and storage over the next decade in Iowa and Wisconsin.
And almost $6 Billion Dollars in Loans Aim to Reduce Cost of Large-Scale Transmission Projects Built by Jersey Central Power & Light in New Jersey; PacifiCorp in Idaho, Oregon and Utah; and American subsidiary of Electric Power PEA Transmission in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma and West Virginia.
