DOE Continues Loan Guarantees Despite Mounting Pressure from Republicans

The US Department of Energy (DOE) finalized a $1.2 billion loan guarantee for a huge concentrating solar (CSP) plant in California this week, even as the agency came under fire for failing to distribute stimulus funds and create promised green jobs.

The 250-megawatt (MW) Mojave Solar Project is sponsored by Abengoa Solar Inc., and is expected to create more than 900 construction and permanent operations jobs.

However, according to its own tallies the DOE’s $40 billion loan guarantee program has so far only created or saved a fraction of the 65,000 direct and indirect jobs it predicted – 3,545 direct jobs to be exact, the Washington Post reports.

But DOE says it is on track to hit 60,000 jobs once financing is complete and construction begins on all of the 40-plus projects in the pipeline. So far only about half of the funds have been disbursed.

Republicans have been hammering the Obama administration on the clean energy loan program since the bankruptcy filing earlier this month by solar manufacturer Solyndra, which received a $535 million loan guarantee.

US Senator David Vitter (R-LA) is proposing legislation that would require federal agencies to conduct a full audit of every renewable energy project that receives stimulus funding. The so-called Federal Accountability of Renewable Energy Act calls for an accounting of the number of jobs created, the profitability of the project, and the venture capital firms involved. 

But DOE is holding course and intends to finalize loans for an additional 15 clean energy projects by the end of the month when the program concludes under the 2009 stimulus package.

Stimulus funds were intentionally spread over the course of a couple of years to help the country emerge from the recession over time, rather than a quick infusion without lasting effects.