Just hours after a third Department of Energy loan guarantee recipient announced it was filing for bankruptcy, the Republican leading Congress' investigation into the controversial program predicted that at least two more government-backed companies would follow suit.

Rep. Cliff Stearns of Florida, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee, who has been hounding DOE and the Obama administration over the failure of the California-based Solyndra solar energy company, declined to name the two companies that are on his personal "watch list."

But four months ago, Stearns publicly acknowledged that Colorado-based Abound Solar was at the top of that list. Today, Abound, which won a $400 million loan guarantee commitment from DOE in December 2010, announced it intended to file for protection under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and lay off about 125 employees (Greenwire, June 28).

In a statement today, Abound blamed its failure in part on "aggressive pricing actions" from Chinese solar panel companies that have made it "very difficult for an early stage startup company like Abound to scale in current market conditions."

DOE was quick to point out that Abound had only been able to draw down $68 million from its original loan amount because department officials, who were concerned about the company's future as early as last fall, froze the company's loan in September.

But Stearns said his panel's ongoing Solyndra investigation was the real reason taxpayers didn't take a bigger hit.

Stearns pointed out that DOE didn't freeze Abound's funds until after the Energy and Commerce Committee launched its Solyndra probe early last year and then turned up the heat on DOE after Solyndra announced it was going bankrupt last August. And he said that even after DOE took action last fall when it came to Abound, the only reason the agency didn't reopen its funding stream for the company is because he waved a red flag.

"For us to come in like we did with our investigation and me warning in February that they shouldn't go any further because Abound could go bankrupt put a flag up [at DOE saying,] 'We don't want to have any more embarrassments,'" Stearns said.

But he added that DOE shouldn't be patting itself on the back for taking a $68 million loss. Questions need to be answered, he said, about what happened with Abound, especially in the nine months after DOE knew the company was in trouble.

"I don't know whether [it lasted nine additional months] because they propped this up or whether some sole source [contract] from another agency was keeping it afloat," he said.

For its part, Abound didn't blame its bankruptcy on DOE's decision to withhold most of its original loan commitment. The company noted in its release today that the company had raised $300 million in private investments and $70 million from a DOE loan guarantee program.

"Abound is appreciative of the significant investment from private investors and the U.S. Department of Energy," the release states.

The release also says the company still believe that, at scale, Abound's panel technology would have had the ability to achieve lower cost per watt than competing crystalline silicon technology made in China.

'We should have never started down this road'

But Stearns and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who has also held hearings on the loan program from his subcommittee perch on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, both said today that they believed the loan was simply too risky to begin with.

"The mistake was made when they started this program," said Jordan, who has already had Abound appear before his subcommittee once and said he may do so again in the wake of today's news. He added, "We should have never started down this road."

Stearns said he'd be in favor of opening a new investigation into how other green energy companies besides Solyndra went bust after receiving stimulus money. That investigation would include Abound, fellow Section 1705 loan guarantee recipient Beacon Power and Ener1, which received $118 million in the form of a DOE grant.

If his party leadership allows that investigation to proceed, Stearns said, Energy Secretary Steven Chu should be called back in to explain the failures.

In a joint statement released with Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Stearns said Abound is the latest reminder that President Obama's stimulus has failed.

"First Solyndra, then Beacon Power, Ener1, and now Abound -- the bankruptcies are piling up," the two men said. "But the question remains -- why invest in risky bets like Solyndra in the first place, especially when administration experts are warning that they are doomed for failure?"

DOE spokesman Damien LaVera said in a statement that the department is making investments that are needed to keep the nation competitive in a global clean energy race.

"Some in Washington believe that the United States cannot, or should not, compete with China when it comes to solar manufacturing -- and aren't willing to make any investments or take on any risks to win the global clean energy manufacturing race," LaVera said.

"We respectfully disagree with those who are willing to cede thousands of high paying jobs and the innovations to come over the next decade and beyond to our competitors in China and around the world. Americans invented solar technology, and with the right support our companies can out-innovate and out-build any competitor, anywhere in the world."