DOE would have unbridled control of federal loan guarantees under energy
bills pending in both the House and Senate, representatives of special
interest groups said October 18.
The Senate-passed bill, HR 6, would exempt the DOE program from the
Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990, said Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers
for Common Sense. She said that the 1990 law requires any federal loan
guarantees to be included in the annual budget resolution and to be part of
the annual appropriations, even though real dollars would be involved only in
a default, giving Congress oversight of the program.
The House-passed bill (HR 3221) has a provision preventing appropriators
from excluding any category of eligible energy projects from the guarantee
program, said Ben Schreiber, staff attorney with US PIRG (Public Interest
Research Groups). Nuclear power is not on the list of energy projects eligible
for federal loan guarantees, under the House energy appropriations bill for
fiscal 2008.
All of these changes are being made to help the nuclear power industry,
said Alexander. Industry officials have said new reactors will need $25
billion in federal loan guarantees in FY-08, alone.