Feds on cusp of agreement allowing DOE to issue loan guarantees: Bodman

摘要

The Energy Department is nearing a deal with the White House budget office that would allow DOE to proceed with a loan guarantee program Congress established last year for energy projects, according to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman. The agreement would allow DOE to use guidelines to issue loan guarantees on an interim basis while government officials develop regulations laying out how the program will be administered. Lawmakers, particularly in the Senate, which hatched the idea for the loan guarantees, have been champing at the bit for DOE to begin backing billions of dollars of investments in everything from biorefineries and clean coal plants to nuclear reactors and wind farms (IE, 26 June, 1). Using informal guidelines initially would enable DOE to get the loan program up and running while the department prepares formal rules.