Risky Business

Established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Department of Energy's loan guarantee program was designed to give federal support to risky, innovative, clean energy technology. Under a federal loan guarantee, instead of the private sector taking on risk to fund the scaleup of new technology, the government steps in, risking federal dollars on the hopes for success of these energy projects. Through the section 1703 and 1705 programs, the Department guaranteed loans to 30 energy companies, putting about $28 billion of taxpayer money on the line. Easy money combined with political pressure to issue loans before the temporary subsidy program expired led the DOE to rush loan applications. Both the DOE Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office found that DOE did not have the necessary expertise or the metrics to effectively evaluate these loans. A number of companies that received section 1705 loans went into default. In total, over $800 million in taxpayer money has been wasted by this DOE loan program. The GAO estimates that the cost for the current loan guarantees is $2.2 billion. Supporters argue the cost is justified if we can help innovative technologies make the leap to the commercial market. But what if federal meddling in the market actually hurts innovation?