Feinstein battles House CR bid to nix renewable loan guarantees

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is seeking to mobilize senators against House Republicans' attempt to end Energy Department loan guarantees for renewable-power projects.

Feinstein, who heads the panel of the Appropriations Committee that controls energy spending, is circulating a Senate letter that urges opposition to the cutbacks contained in the House continuing resolution.

“American industry has asked Congress to provide a predictable business environment,” states the Feb. 15 letter from Feinstein, chairwoman of the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee. “Yet the House [continuing resolution] CR would eliminate DOE’s Loan Guarantee Program without warning and without provision for loan applicants who have negotiated with DOE in good faith for multiple years.”

She calls the House bill, which is slated for a vote this week and would fund the government through September, short-sighted and noted that China is moving aggressively to finance renewables projects.

Her letter warns that under the House CR, five conditional loans already issued would have to be withdrawn, while 26 others in the final stages could not be completed. The projects combined are seeking $15.5 billion in loans to finance over $24 billion in infrastructure – projects that would employ more than 35,000 people, the letter states.

The Solar Energy Industries Association is also warning against he cuts.

“These projects represent billions of dollars of capital investment and returns to the federal government in the form of tax payments that greatly outweigh any expenditures. In addition, dozens of companies have collectively invested hundreds of millions in developing solar projects in reliance on the loan guarantee program and will likely lose the entirety of their investment and may be bankrupted if this proposal becomes law,” the group states in a Feb. 13 letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).