Energy Secretary Chris Wright has hinted that he will soon take action to cancel the multi-billion-dollar Biden-era green energy loan, saying it would be too risky for taxpayers to not promote U.S. energy security. [emphasis, links added]
In the right Washington Free BeaconWright targets how the DOE’s office of loan programs sells billions of dollars in loans in the final months of the Biden administration.
Wright stopped naming specific projects that he might cancel the loan, but he said The Trump administration only wants to support programs that directly benefit Americans and not rely entirely on taxpayers’ money.
When asked how he would handle the pending loan, Wright stressed that the core mission of the U.S. Department of Energy is “affordable, reliable, and safe energy.”
“So if you have a project that is related to these things, then if you have equity and math, it means your project will run and you put your money in front of it, then we can lag behind you and provide some debt capital that can make that goal faster,” Wright said. “Those are the deals we are going to make.”
“We are not lending billions of dollars to companies without funds, who knows if it will work? Even if it does work, it won't add a lot of energy to the United States. ” Free beacon.
“When we borrow, our focus is on the American people. If this loan will make life better for the American people, then we agree with that. If this loan is to give some merchants the opportunity to the Holy Grail, then in this case we will not borrow it. ”
Wright's comment (as his agency continues to conduct extensive review of the activities of the Loan Program Office) reflects on the same concerns expressed by many critics Biden Administration provides funding for its loan authorization to fund dangerous green energy projects such as solar panel assembly plants, electric vehicle battery manufacturing and hydrogen power facilities.
Overall, Biden's Department of Energy closed with a $25 loan worth $60.6 billion and issued conditional commitments for loans for 27 projects worth $46.9 billion. Free beacon Analysis of federal documents.
The Biden administration’s approach to lending plans is to give away as much money as possible and ask questions later.
More than 80% of loan debt and loan commitments were after President Donald Trump defeated former Vice President Kamala Harris in November.
The Biden administration’s largest loan emerged on January 17, 2025, is a $15 billion loan supporting solar and wind development at California-based utility Pacific Gas & Electric Company.
The biggest conditional commitment of the Biden era is a loan announced on January 16, 2025 for a long-term battery storage project under development by Michigan-based DTE Electric.
Other loans issued in the final weeks of the previous administration included a $9.6 billion loan to support Ford's electric vehicle battery manufacturing, $7.5 billion for Stellantis's electric vehicle battery projects, $6.6 billion for electric vehicle maker Rivian's manufacturing plant, $1.7 billion for a sustainable aviation fuel plant, and $1.5 billion for South Korean solar panel maker QCells's assembly plant.
“The Biden administration’s attitude toward lending programs is to give as much money as possible and ask questions later,” Tom Pyle, chairman of the Energy Institute and a member of Trump’s transition team in 2016, told The Free beacon.
“This is irresponsible management of taxpayer dollars. Secretary Wright should cancel as many such loans as possible, especially loans issued during the transition period.”
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