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Today, the Department’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) expanded its portfolio of loans, loan guarantees, and commitments to support innovative technologies. I’m proud to say that LPO announced the first ever offer for a conditional commitment to guarantee a loan for an Advanced Fossil Energy project.

The Department’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) has added new application deadlines for its current Title XVII loan guarantee solicitations. The Title XVII program provides loan guarantees to accelerate the deployment of innovative clean energy technology. The next Part I application deadline is now scheduled for January 18, 2017. 

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to join Deputy Secretary Sherwood-Randall for a unique celebration in the Nevada desert. The Crescent Dunes concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in Tonopah, Nevada played host to an event commemorating the plant’s deployment of a cutting-edge technology.

Today I participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony at Mesquite Solar 3, a 150-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) solar project in Arizona that will help to power 14 U.S. Navy and Marine Corps bases in California. Mesquite Solar 3 is part of the three-phase Mesquite Solar Complex, which provides an ideal window into how the Department’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) helped launch the utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar industry in the United States.

Several weeks ago, Secretary Moniz recognized the contributions of the Department’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) to U.S. manufacturing when he hit the roads of Detroit in an F-150 EcoBoost pickup truck to learn about how Ford has helped improve the fuel economy of the popular vehicle. He then toured the Dearborn Truck Plant where the F-150 is assembled.

The Energy Department's Loan Programs Office (LPO) released a video of its large-scale projects that are currently powering American homes with clean energy, manufacturing fuel-efficient cars, and creating good jobs. Many of these projects have helped to launch new markets that will help shape our economy and energy sector for years to come. They are also preventing harmful carbon dioxide emissions in a meaningful way.

A new supplement to the Loan Programs Office (LPO) Title XVII Renewable Energy and Efficient Energy (REEE) Projects loan guarantee solicitation clarifies that electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, including associated hardware and software, may be a qualifying technology under the solicitation.

The Energy Department's Loan Programs Office (LPO) has continued to successfully accomplish its goal of deploying clean energy projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and supporting auto manufacturing facilities that help produce more fuel-efficient light-duty vehicles. As of April 2016, LPO's portfolio has prevented 30 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent of taking 6.2 million cars off the road.

To address the interest the Energy Department's Loan Programs Office has received, LPO Director of Origination Douglas Schultz answers six questions about loan guarantees for Distributed Energy Projects under its existing approximately $4.5 billion Renewable Energy and Efficient Energy (REEE) Projects and $8.5 billion Advanced Fossil Energy Projects solicitations.

Counting down our list of top things you didn't know about solar energy -- read on for more on the most abundant energy resource known to mankind.

The Energy Department's updated guide makes it fast and efficient to locate federal financing opportunities for clean energy projects at home and abroad.

U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office (LPO) Executive Director Mark A. McCall presents five of the ways electric vehicles (EVs) can impact the future of transportation in the U.S.

The Recovery Act sparked America's clean energy revolution. See the progress we've made since 2009 and what's on the horizon.

The Energy Department's Loan Programs Office guaranteed $16.1 billion in loans to 25 Recovery Act projects. Beautiful illustrated posters celebrate how LPO has helped create jobs and provide clean energy to homes and businesses across America.

The Recovery Act was passed seven years ago today. Learn how it has laid the foundation for America's clean energy future.

In 2011, the Loan Programs Office (LPO) issued loan guarantees to the first five PV projects larger than 100 megawatts (MW) in the United States. As required by law, LPO stopped issuing new loan guarantees under the Section 1705 Program created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) on September 30, 2011. As of February 2016, the initial investments made by LPO helped build a market that subsequently financed an additional 28 PV projects larger than 100 MW in the United States

Today, the Department’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) released a report highlighting the role it has played in financing commercial-scale deployments of energy technology innovation that are already helping the U.S. to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. As of September 2015, the clean energy and auto manufacturing projects in LPO’s portfolio have avoided nearly 25 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. This is equivalent to taking 5.28 million gasoline-powered cars off the road.

Desert Sunlight, a 550-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) solar power plant located in Riverside County, California, was designated a Top Renewable Plant by POWER Magazine, which has been covering the power industry for more than 132 years.

The Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office announced that $1 billion of additional loan guarantee authority has been finalized and application deadlines have been extended for the Advanced Fossil Energy Projects and Renewable Energy and Efficient Energy Projects solicitations.

At the National Clean Energy Summit in Nevada, President Obama announced how the Loan Programs Office (LPO) can support distributed energy generation. LPO has released supplements to its existing Renewable Energy and Efficient Energy (REEE) Projects and Advanced Fossil Energy Projects solicitations to provide guidance on the kinds of Distributed Energy Projects and project structures it can support under the Title XVII loan program. In addition, the President announced that LPO has initiated the process to increase the loan guarantees available under the REEE and Advanced Fossil Energy Projects solicitations by up to an additional $1 billion.

As financing becomes an increasingly important aspect of continuing clean energy’s rapid growth, I could not have picked a better time to join the Department’s Loan Programs Office (LPO).  As one of the nation’s largest project finance organizations with $40 billion in remaining authority, we have the opportunity to do some amazing things.  I am honored to have been selected by President Obama and Secretary Moniz to serve as LPO’s new Executive Director.

LPO has heard from technology providers and project developers with a wide range of exciting technologies and has received a robust pipeline of applications. However, during the course of our conversations with technology providers and project developers, it became clear that we could provide further clarity to potential applicants on the eligibility of projects. LPO has developed and issued supplemental guidance for each of the open Title XVII solicitations.

Executive Director Peter Davidson marked the the end of his tenure at the Department’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) with another major achievement for the program – the announcement that the Department will guarantee $1.8 billion in loans to three subsidiaries of the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG Power) for the Vogtle advanced nuclear energy project.

In April 2015, Loan Programs Office (LPO) Executive Director Peter Davidson participated in the Obama Administration’s first presidentially-designated Business Development Mission to the People’s Republic China, led by Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and Deputy Secretary of Energy Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall. In this blog, he shares his thoughts about how the trip helped the United States move ouragenda with China forward in elevating our global leadership role in deploying clean energy and addressing the threat of climate change.

The Department announced a conditional commitment for a $259 million Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan to aluminum manufacturer Alcoa, Inc. that would support the company’s Alcoa, Tennessee, manufacturing facility, where the company will produce high-strength aluminum sheet for North American automakers looking to lightweight their vehicles.