http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/02/energy-department-loan-guarantees-low-risk-projects-report_n_1126023.htmlWASHINGTON -- A new independent report on the Department of Energy's 1705 loan guarantee program found it to be in good financial health, with the majority of the projects it supported to be much lower risks than the now-bankrupt solar panel manufacturer Solyndra. Of the 28 loans backed by the program, 18 went to power generation projects that show minimal risk of default.
What's more, the report notes, Congress planned for failure. Even if none of the loans to the remaining higher-risk projects (including Solyndra) were repaid, the losses incurred could easily be covered by a $2.4 billion loan loss reserve Congress specifically set aside. If all 10 higher-risk projects defaulted, the fund would still have a $446 million surplus.
"This report reaffirms that the loan program is working as Congress intended, and highlights the strength of the Department's overall portfolio of clean energy loans," said DOE spokesman Damien LaVera via email. "Ultimately, this debate comes down to a simple choice: will America compete for and win the jobs of the future, or will we stand on the sidelines and allow China and other countries to dominate a market that Americans have pioneered."
The dense report, released Friday by Bloomberg Government, comes as Congress and countless media outlets have given extensive scrutiny to the circumstances surrounding the collapse of Solyndra, which received $535 million in DOE loan guarantees. In their executive summary, the report's authors wrote that such scrutiny has overshadowed the need for a substantive evaluation of the overall loan guarantee program.
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