Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced a relaunch of the department’s Loan Programs Office on Thursday, saying DOE would apply new scrutiny to a program that the administration has criticized as risking taxpayer dollars on renewable energy projects.
The Energy Department said it had closed its first loan guarantee under the Trump administration, finalizing a $1.6 billion loan guarantee to a subsidiary of American Electric Power that was first offered under the Biden administration to rebuild around 5,000 miles of electric transmission lines across five states.
The announcement landed after months of Republican criticism of Biden-era lending had called the future of the office into question and after the Trump administration terminated a separate commitment for a Midwest transmission line.
Wright said Thursday the loan office has been “rechristened” as the “energy dominance financing office” — echoing new lending authority provided under Republicans’ sprawling reconciliation bill. Wright said the administration would continue to utilize the office, including potentially for projects that had first applied under the Biden administration.
