As part of its clean energy program, the Biden administration is relaunching a Department of Energy program that has provided billions of dollars in loan guarantees to companies such as electric car maker Tesla and solar company bankrupt Solyndra, Secretary of Energy. Jennifer granholm said.

The loan program helped launch the country’s first large-scale wind and solar farms as part of the Obama administration’s efforts to create “green jobs,” but has largely remained dormant under the president. Donald trump.

The program boosted Tesla’s efforts to become an electric car giant, but it stumbled with a large loan guarantee to Solyndra, the California solar company that went bankrupt shortly after receiving federal money there. is ten years old, costing taxpayers more than $ 500 million.

Republicans and other critics cite Solyndra as an example of wasteful spending under the president Barack obamastimulus program, and loan guarantees have largely dried up in recent years. The Department of Energy provided $ 12 billion in guarantees for the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia, but few other loans were offered under Trump.

That’s about to change – in a big way, says Granholm.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Granholm said that up to $ 40 billion in guarantees will be made available for a variety of clean energy projects, including wind, solar and hydro, advanced vehicles, geothermal energy and even nuclear power.

“It must be clean. That’s all, she said. “And when I say clean, you know, these are technologies that are researched in the lab,” like projects to capture and store carbon dioxide emissions, so called green hydrogen and other sources. energy, she said.

The program will be supervised by Jigar shah, a long-time clean energy entrepreneur who helped solar pioneers in the United States

While Republicans will likely focus on avoiding a repeat of Solyndra, Granholm, a former Michigan governor, said Tesla was a better example. The founder of the company, Elon musk, repaid the loan several years ahead of schedule and Tesla is now one of the world’s leading manufacturers of electric cars and battery storage.

“I mean, obviously that was two administrations ago,” she said, referring to Solyndra, which went bankrupt in 2011. “We’ve learned a lot since then. People understand that when you invest in new technology, you’re going to have some that don’t. “

Yet the loan program as a whole has brought in more than $ 500 million to taxpayers, “with people paying off their loans with interest,” Granholm said.

Granholm called herself a “big fan” of Shah, who co-hosts an energy podcast and advises investors on low-carbon projects. “I am very excited about his leadership and about using the DOE loan program again,” she said.

The program “has been a bit dying over the past few years,” she said Wednesday, but it’s “an incredible tool.” for example with Tesla in the past, and we know he can be incredibly successful in the future with a few changes.

On other matters, Granholm said she believes electric utilities can reach the president Joe bidenThe goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035. The head of a utility lobby group said last month that 2035 would be “an incredibly difficult situation to handle” for most suppliers of American electricity.

Reaching 80 or 90% clean electricity is “doable,” she said. “And the last piece is going to be more difficult, but we have to do it.” The good news is that companies have time to transition and improve the technology needed to produce clean energy on a larger scale, she said.

Granholm also promised that the energy department would be part of Biden’s commitment to environmental justice. Shalanda BakeryGranholm’s deputy director of energy justice and equity advisor will lead the effort, targeting underprivileged communities who have lost their jobs in coal mines or power plants or are located near refineries, incinerators or d other dangers.

Biden has pledged that 40% of the profits from clean energy investments will go to underprivileged communities, “so that they are not forgotten, not invisible,” Granholm said.

Granholm, who took office on February 25 after being confirmed by the Senate, said her first week on the job “has been an incredible learning experience and under fire.”

Like previous Energy Secretaries, Granholm said she was impressed with the scale and reach of the agency, as well as the complex research and large number of scientists with PhDs in the 17 national laboratories of the department. The Department of Energy monitors, among other things, the country’s nuclear stocks.

“It really is an amazing organization, and I look forward to learning more every day,” said Granholm. “I can’t wait to see the fruits of all this research put into the field. “

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Republished with permission from The Associated Press.

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