Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Federal Financing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DOE loan office pitches Title 17 financing to New Mexico officials, highlights $200 billion authority
Summary
Tom Hucker of the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office told a Science, Technology & Telecommunications committee the agency can provide long-term, low-cost loans (up to about 80% of project cost) for energy projects that reduce greenhouse gases and are creditworthy; he encouraged New Mexico officials to pursue follow-up consultations about transmission, geothermal and manufacturing projects.
Tom Hucker, senior adviser at the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office, told the Science, Technology & Telecommunications committee that LPO functions "essentially [as] a bank inside the Department of Energy" and has roughly $200 billion in lending authority across seven programs.
Hucker said LPO was created to help projects that have proven technology but limited access to commercial credit, citing the office's early loan to Tesla as a model. Under Title 17 and related authorities, he said projects must be U.S.-based, energy related, demonstrably reduce greenhouse gas or air pollutants, show a reasonable prospect of repayment and avoid being repaid with prohibited federal grant funds.
"We can provide very low cost patient capital," Hucker said, noting that loan pricing is typically tied to the federal treasury rate plus roughly three-eighths of a point. He described the office's flexibility on tenor and custom structuring: "we can lend out to 30 years at very low rates."
Committee members asked about the program's limits and potential downsides. Senator Solis said the terms seemed "too good to be true" and asked whether LPO had capacity and what the tradeoffs might be. Hucker replied the main constraint is outreach and process burden: applicants must go through detailed diligence, but the office offers iterative pre-application consultations and works with applicants to shape viable proposals. "Everything prior to conditional commitment is completely confidential," he said, noting the Trade Secrets Act protects those conversations.
Lawmakers pressed on likely New Mexico use cases: municipal utilities, university solar canopies, geothermal projects, and high-speed rail infrastructure. Hucker said most of those are eligible under Title 17 if creditworthy and if state law authorizes the entity to take on such projects. He pointed to recent large LPO loans to utilities to fund transmission upgrades and fire-hardening efforts as examples the committee could use when weighing state plans.
The presentation concluded with Hucker offering to accept follow-up consultations and bring technical staff into more detailed outreach to state agencies, utilities and potential borrowers.
The committee did not take formal action on any motion during the presentation. Follow-up conversations and targeted outreach were the next procedural steps reported by the witness.
