Renewable energy businesses have been getting help through Congress going back few years. The DOE has been administering helpful programs. Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the DOE guaranteed billions of dollars in loans. One congressional committee has started an exploration to see if the funds were used in an appropriate manner. These loans have helped several people get the assistance they need without a personal loan. Source for this article – Congressional commission investigating clean-energy loan promises by MoneyBlogNewz.
Using a clean energy loan for clean energy
Loan guarantees have been given to clean-energy projects by the Department of Energy in support. Rather than directly giving the projects loans, the DOE has been providing federal guarantees for bad credit loans to these companies. If a company doesn't pay back the loan, the government will do it instead. That is what the agreement means. Several projects for instance solar power in Reno, Nevada, and Solyndra Inc. in California could be getting the clean energy loans.
Solyndra Inc dealing with Congress exploration
The bad credit loan guarantees for clean-energy weren't all good though. The DOE had something unexpected occur. The DOE promised about $500 million in guarantee money to help Solyndra Inc. secure financing for expansion into a second plant and hiring of about 1,000 additional workers. In order to get money to pay back the loan, Solyndra planned on making an initial public offering in a few months. Solyndra changed its plans for expansion after an auditor explained the IPO would not work with the revenue coming in. None of the $500 million loan guarantee has been paid by the government yet as the company hasn't closed. However, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) has opened an investigation into the guarantee.
Stimulus money researched
Solyndra Inc. will not be the only business viewed in the House energy and Commerce committee exploration. All clean energy loans can be looked at. Proponents of green-energy support from the government are pointing out that not every business that gets a loan guarantee can do well, just as every business that gets a traditional loan may not succeed. Opponents say that even though the government hasn’t yet had to put out any money, it should not be in the business of guaranteeing loans for green energy projects.
Articles cited
Reuters
af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFN1717704520110217?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0
The Hill
thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/144895-upton-targets-doe-solar-loan-guarantee
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