The Daily Populous Wednesday August 6th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by energy.gov and submitted by Bitter-Lengthiness-2

HOW MUCH DID THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT OF 2022 PROVIDE LPO FOR ISSUING NEW LOANS?

IRA appropriates approximately $11.7 billion in total for LPO programs to support issuing new loans. These amounts increase LPO’s existing loan programs by approximately $100 billion in new loan authority. The IRA also adds a new loan program, the EIR Program (section 1706), which can help repurpose energy infrastructure that has ceased operations or are still operating. The IRA provides $5 billion to support this new authority, with a total cap on loans of $250 billion.

WHAT IS LPO’S TRACK RECORD HISTORICALLY FOR MAKING THIS KIND OF INVESTMENT?

Prior to the September 30, 2011, sunset date of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) Section 1705 program, LPO guaranteed $16.1 billion in loans to 25 ARRA projects. These projects supported more than 10,000 jobs and have the capacity to power more than 1 million average American homes annually. Through Fiscal Year 2021, the projects have cumulatively avoided 39.2 million tons of CO2 emissions. And several of the projects that LPO financed have served as springboards to market acceptance for technology sectors that are readily financed by commercial lenders today, such as utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind.

A decade ago, LPO provided loan guarantees for the first five utility-scale solar PV projects in the United States larger than 100 megawatts. The United States now has more than 71,000 megawatts of utility-scale PV projects installed while prices are now competitive with all other forms of electricity generation. LPO also guaranteed a loan to Shepherds Flat, one of the largest wind farms in the world. At a time when only one large wind deal had been done in the bond market, LPO’s partial guarantee helped boost the project’s credit rating and attract new investors in multiple markets. The deal was awarded as the 2011 Renewable Energy Deal of the Year by Environmental Finance for its innovative financing. Since 2011, utility-scale wind projects have been able to attract commercial lenders and continue to grow as one of the largest sources of new electricity in the United States.