Energy Department spending on clean technology programs will be back under the microscope this week as Republicans examine budget proposals for the controversial loan guarantee program as well as the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.

After the uproar over the bankruptcy of Solyndra, the solar equipment company that was the first to receive a clean energy loan guarantee from DOE, the testimony of the Loan Programs Office's acting director, David Frantz, is sure to be the more highly anticipated half of the hearing before the House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee.

In two congressional probes of Solyndra and the larger loan program, Republicans have yet to focus on Frantz, zeroing in on the Obama White House, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and former loan program director Jonathan Silver.

But Frantz's involvement in the loan program predates that of the other players. Frantz was hired to lead the loan program during the George W. Bush administration in 2007.

In addition, Frantz's name has come up in some internal DOE and White House documents that have been released during the Solyndra investigation.

In one exchange, former Solyndra CEO Chris Gronet took Frantz to task when the company's loan application was delayed in January 2009 as DOE sought more information about the company.

"I was appalled to learn on Friday that our application is being delayed yet again," Gronet wrote to DOE's then-chief financial officer on Jan. 12, 2009, just before President Obama's inauguration. "Many people worked through the holidays to make sure we were doing our part to stay on track."

In a separate email later that day, he wrote, "I am on the phone with David Frantz now, and I find the response completely unacceptable. An apology from David is not enough."

Two months later, Solyndra's application was approved by DOE and a conditional commitment for more than half-a-billion dollars was issued.

Internal documents also show Frantz was involved in the controversial decision last year to bail out Solyndra by restructuring the company's loan by subordinating the government's investment to new funding from private investors (E&E Daily, Oct. 11, 2011).

Frantz's testimony before the House Appropriations panel this week should also be interesting because Obama did not request any new loan authority for the troubled program in his fiscal 2013 budget proposal. In fact, the only new funding he is seeking for the effort is $38 million to cover ongoing administrative expenses.

Some Republicans are skeptical of putting any additional dollars toward the program after the Solyndra debacle. But supporters of the effort argue that it would cost the government even more money if it simply walked away from the billions of dollars it has invested in nearly 30 different companies through the program.

DOE has said that the reason it does not require any new loan authority or credit subsidy in fiscal 2013 is that the agency plans to focus its energy on deploying the significant amount of remaining resources that had already been appropriated in prior years.

ARPA-E budget

Also coming in for scrutiny is Arun Majumdar of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, a DOE program that has drawn a steadily increasing amount of funding and attention during the Obama administration for its focus on clean energy projects.

Obama's budget proposal includes a $75 million increase for ARPA-E, which would bring its budget to $350 million. The agency, which was designed to fund promising but risky ideas that investors won't touch, is already growing during the current fiscal year with a new program for natural gas vehicles and a $150 million round of funding that is open to any ideas.

A favorite of environmentalists and Democrats, the agency has also drawn praise from some Republicans on Capitol Hill even as they have held up other clean energy efforts -- most notably the loan guarantee program that shares the billing at this week's hearing -- as symbols of government "picking winners."

"ARPA-E straddles the gap between basic science and applied R&D," said Matthew Stepp, a senior policy analyst who studies energy technology at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. "It funds projects that the private sector is unwilling to invest in, and because risk is built into the mandate, that gives it a political buffer."

Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), the subcommittee's vice chairman, had high praise for ARPA-E last month when he spoke at the agency's annual conference. His congressional district is home to one of the program's grant recipients: Fayetteville's Arkansas Power Electronics International Inc., a company that is designing new silicon carbide power modules for electric cars.

If the United States manages to reduce its dependence on foreign oil, cuts greenhouse gas emissions, becomes more efficient and leads the world in the development of new energy technology, "it will be through programs that find their genesis in ARPA-E," Womack said.

Others at the conference, including former President Clinton and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, called for more funding for ARPA-E (E&ENews PM, Feb. 28).

So has the Obama administration, but after asking Congress for $550 million to expand the program last year, the White House seems to have concluded it will need to make do with less than that.

In the long run, when austerity might not dominate the debate in Congress, the agency's supporters are hoping for a much larger budget. A report by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology had recommended the agency's annual budget be stepped up to $1 billion.

"The president's proposal for fiscal year 2013 is pragmatic in the sense that it doesn't swing for the fences like he did in the previous budget request," Stepp said. "He had asked for $550 million for ARPA-E by itself, and he's not asking for that this time around."

Schedule: The hearing is Wednesday, March 28, at 2 p.m. in 2362-B Rayburn.

Witnesses: David Frantz, acting director of the Loan Program Office; and Arun Majumdar, director of ARPA-E.