LPO Updates • Issue 25 • December 2024
U.S. DOE Loan Programs Office (LPO)
Unleashing American Energy Infrastructure & Innovation
IN THIS ISSUE:
...and more updates below from the U.S. DOE Loan Programs Office!
DOE-Hosted Deploy24 Wraps With Record Participation
Hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy, the DOE Office of the Under Secretary for Infrastructure, and LPO, Deploy24 marked the second annual convening of leaders and capital allocators from across sectors dedicated to accelerating clean energy investment and deployment in the United States. The Washington, D.C.-based event wrapped up on December 5 after two days of record participation in its in-person sessions. Over 1,800 industry executives, investors, community leaders, and other public and private sector decision-makers from across the clean energy ecosystem attended, culminating with a keynote address by outgoing Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm on "American Leadership".
Designed as a unique gathering focused on accelerating the deployment of critical energy and decarbonization technologies across the U.S., Deploy24 showcased cutting-edge innovations, encouraged open and honest discussions about private-sector led, government-enabled deployment strategies and breakthroughs, and forged collaborations to help strengthen America's domestic supply chains and global economic competitiveness. See more videos, pictures, session presentations, and other takeaways from Deploy24 at: DeployTogether.com/Results.
LPO Introduces the "Better Borrower Challenge"
Also at Deploy24, LPO launched its "Better Borrower Challenge"—a leadership initiative challenging LPO borrowers to expand commitments to workers and job creation, strengthen community investment, and build secure supply chains to benefit all Americans. This voluntary challenge highlights the value of community benefits in ensuring project certainty and success.
Over the last few years, LPO has visited projects across the country to meet with borrowers, community leaders, elected officials, Tribes, community colleges, and labor unions, and the "Challenge" incorporates the best practices of our Borrowers and encourages others to consider these practices in their projects. Borrowers who join the Challenge share best practices to help others applicants learn how best to minimize risks in their projects. The Challenge recognizes Emerging Leaders and Champions across one or more of the following areas:
To learn more, visit: Energy.gov/LPO/Challenge
LPO Outlines How the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) Program Offers a Flexible Approach to Lending for Regulated, Investment-Grade Utilities
Following December’s conditional commitment announcement to Wisconsin Electric Power Company, LPO published a short explainer on how it has tailored the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment project category of the Title 17 Clean Energy Financing program to accommodate how utilities plan, finance, and deploy infrastructure. This blog post looks at the flexible loan facility and disbursement approach LPO designed to meet Congress’s stated intention for the program to support regulated, investment-grade utilities. Under EIR, electric utility borrowers are required to pass savings from the low cost of LPO’s debt onto their customers. Read the full blog for more details.
What is Credit Subsidy & How Does it Affect Remaining Loan Authority Estimates Across LPO Programs?
In late November, LPO published a two-part blog series on credit subsidy cost, the mechanism by which the federal government budgets for expected unreimbursed costs of loans and loan guarantees. Analogous to a Loan Loss Reserve Fund for a single project, credit subsidy allows the federal government to budget for the risks inherent to high-impact debt financing. Depending on the various factors of each specific deal, credit subsidy cost can be positive or negative.
Part I of the series explains how LPO and its federal partners use probability of default, likely recovery rate, and other risk-related factors to calculate credit subsidy. Part II explains how credit subsidy calculations impact the estimated or actual maximum amount LPO can lend via each of its programs. For a full overview of credit subsidy and how it relates to LPO's estimated lending authority see: Energy.gov/LPO/Credit-Subsidy
Shortcuts for Finding LPO Content After Recent Energy.gov Website Redesign
Last month, DOE updated the Energy.gov website, redesigning some of the navigation tools that many LPO stakeholders were accustomed to using to access applicant guidance, other content about LPO lending programs, and details about portfolio projects. To help potential applicants and other stakeholders adjust to this update, below is a short list of direct URL shortcuts to some key LPO content. If you are still struggling to find LPO content, please reach out directly to lpo@hq.doe.gov with your content inquiry.
* Note: All of the following URL shortcuts are preceded with: Energy.gov/LPO (e.g. Energy.gov/LPO/Title-17)
LPO Program Guidance:
LPO Applicant & Other Stakeholder Resources:
LPO Announcements and Other Blog Content:
LPO's latest Monthly Application Activity Report (MAAR) tracks key metrics for active applications across 14 LPO major technology sectors and proposed project locations across the United States through November 30, 2024.
Also featured in the MAAR is LPO's latest estimated remaining loan authority for its financing programs, also as of November 30, 2024.
The Energy Act of 2020 and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 directed LPO to engage in outreach activities through conferences and online programs to disseminate information about its programs. Below is an overview of major upcoming events. See LPO's full events calendar at: Energy.gov/LPO/Events to browse events where LPO staff and leadership will be in attendance.
Recent Events
Major Upcoming Events
A sampling of recent third-party media and podcast mentions of LPO and the LPO Team:
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LPO's Financing Programs
Learn more about all of LPO's financing programs at: Energy.gov/LPO/Financing-Programs
Title 17 Clean Energy Financing (via the 1703 & 1706/EIR Programs)
Advanced Transportation Financing (via the ATVM Program)
Tribal Energy Financing (via the TEFP Program)
CO2 Transportation Infrastructure Financing (via the CIFIA program)
Contact LPO to see what financing options may be available for your project, email LPO@hq.doe.gov with questions, and go to Energy.gov/LPO/Pre-App to schedule a no-fee, no-commitment pre-application consultation. Let's talk about your project!