Top Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee urged Republicans today to expand their investigation into federal energy loan guarantees to billions of dollars sent to the nuclear industry and a now-bankrupt communication firm.

Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) said Republicans are unfairly singling out the renewable energy industry in their loan probe even though nuclear companies are expected to receive significantly larger loan guarantees.

"The committee's goal should be to protect the taxpayer, not to single out an industry you may disfavor for special scrutiny," the Democrats said in a letter to Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.).

The committee is investigating the $535 million loans provided to now-bankrupt solar company Solyndra. The inquiry was expanded this month to include 27 loans -- totaling about $15.5 billion -- that have been finalized since 2009 under the Department of Energy's renewable energy loan program (Greenwire, Oct. 25).

The Democrats said they do not oppose expanding the investigation but that the committee should not pick "oversight targets" for the probe based on the type of energy being backed or whether the loan or loan guarantee was backed by the Obama or George W. Bush administration.

"Oversight should be conducted with an even hand," they said. "That requires giving a failed multi-million-dollar loan issued by the Bush administration as much attention as failed multi-million-dollar loan guarantee issued by the Obama administration. And it requires giving DOE nuclear loan guarantees as much scrutiny as DOE renewable energy loan guarantees."

The committee is refusing to investigate billions of dollars of loan guarantees for the nuclear industry that put taxpayers at risk, the lawmakers said. DOE has pledged more than $8 billion for Southern Co.'s proposal to add two new nuclear reactors to its Vogtle plant in Georgia (E&E Daily, Sept. 15).

The House panel should review the $267 million loan that the Bush administration approved for now-bankrupt communications company Open Range, the Democrats said. The loan was approved in 2008 for the Colorado company to deliver high-speed wireless Internet service and satellite communications to more than 500 communities in 17 states, they said.

"The main distinction between the Solyndra guarantee and the Open Range loan appears to be that the Open Range loan was approved in 2008, when President Bush was in office," the lawmakers said. "That is not a defensible reason for ignoring Open Range."

The project squarely falls under the committee's oversight, which includes both energy projects and broadband communications projects, they added.

Click here to read the letter.