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Issa deepens probe into solar loans
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is demanding Energy Department documents relating to more than $4.7 billion in loan guarantees for solar projects approved Sept. 30, the deadline for financing under the stimulus law.
Issa’s quest for documents — spelled out in an Oct. 7 letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu obtained by The Hill on Monday — signals a deepening of his loan guarantee probe, which joins a separate House Energy and Commerce Committee investigation of the failed solar panel manufacturing company Solyndra.
Issa’s letter, noting “concerns” that the $535 million guarantee for Solyndra in 2009 was rushed, says the same questions apply to the four solar power generation projects approved at the end of September.
The letter seeks documents about the financing for First Solar Inc., SunPower Corp. and Prologis Inc. by Oct. 21. The documents include Energy Department communications with the companies involved, internal department communications, and communications with the White House.
Issa said on "Fox News Sunday" that his panel is looking for “political interference” in the loan guarantee decisions.
An Energy Department spokesman defended the clean-energy loan guarantees issued on deadline late last month.
“Every application in our portfolio underwent many months of due diligence from career professionals in the Loan Program and outside experts, and many of those projects received bipartisan support,” Energy Department spokesman Damien LaVera said Monday in a statement.
“We did not rush to close any deals before the September 30 deadline, we used the full amount of time Congress allocated for the program so we can ensure that we fully complete all due diligence and make informed decisions based on the most recent data,” he added. “We are confident that supporting these projects will help American companies compete in the global clean energy market.”
Issa’s letter comes as the House Energy and Commerce Committee is continuing its investigation of the Solyndra loan guarantee specifically. The next hearing is on Friday.
Solyndra’s collapse in late August has prompted Capitol Hill probes and an FBI investigation of the company.
Administration emails released Oct. 7 include communications showing a senior Treasury Department official's concerns that the Energy Department’s early 2011 decision to restructure the struggling company’s loan arrangement might have been illegal.
Republicans allege the administration rushed the Solyndra financing in 2009 for political reasons, and are also faulting the restructuring that put private investors ahead of taxpayers for repayment if the company went under.
More broadly, Republicans are using the company’s demise to attack Obama administration green-energy programs.
Critics of the GOP attacks on Energy Department loan programs point out that Issa and other Republicans have in the past written to the Energy Department in support of companies’ applications to win loans or loan guarantees for projects in his state.
But on "Fox News Sunday" Issa rejected any comparison between his criticism of the Obama administration’s actions on loan guarantees and his own advocacy for financing.
“There’s a big difference between sending a letter in for an existing pot of money for a program that I voted against and having the ability to act to pick winners and losers,” Issa said on the program Sunday.
