US DOE to Streamline Stimulus Spending, Chu Tells Platts Energy Podium
WASHINGTON, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Platts -- US Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Thursday expanded on what measures the Department of Energy (DOE) is taking to streamline the spending of economic recovery money approved by Congress, including increasing the number of staff to deal with the loans, loan guarantees and grants, and restructuring the way the department charges fees. "The old process required too much paperwork, it required prohibitive upfront costs, and it simply took too long," Chu said at a Platts Energy Podium event in Washington.
The new process will affect the way DOE issues direct loans, loan guarantees and grants. The department has long been criticized for the slow pace that it uses to decide on such assistance.
Under the $787 billion economic recovery bill signed by President Barack Obama on Tuesday, DOE will issue $32.7 billion in grants and another $6 billion in loan guarantees for alternative and advanced energy technologies, according to Matt Rogers, an adviser named to lead the department's efforts to spend that money.
Chu also said DOE would likely disperse 70% of the total $38.7 billion the department received in the stimulus package by the end of 2010.
The loan guarantee program has attracted special criticism for its slow pace. It was called for in a 2005 law, but was not established until 2007, and DOE has yet to approve a single application for loan guarantees under the program. But Chu on Thursday reiterated that he had personally reviewed the program, and was streamlining the processing of loans. This includes a quicker "rolling" review of applications, as well as a "triage" system for rating loan applications, he said.
Chu also said loan guarantees already under consideration would be decided on by April or May. Those loan guarantees applied for under the economic stimulus package will be decided on by early summer, according to the department. Specifically, Chu said applicants could have the opportunity to spread the payment of application fees across the duration of the loan. This would allow smaller companies to become involved, he said. The changes will apply to loan guarantees, the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, and DOE funds under the stimulus package.
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