Washington (Platts)--4Oct2007

The US Department of Energy issued final regulations Thursday for a
program that will provide billions of dollars in federal loan guarantees for
clean-energy projects.

     The loan-guarantee program is a provision of the Energy Policy Act of
2005. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said finalizing regulations for the
program "puts Americans one step closer to being able to use new and novel
sources of energy on a mass scale to reduce emissions and allow for vigorous
economic growth and increased energy security."

     The final rules allow DOE to issue guarantees for up to 100% of the
amount of a loan, subject to an overall cap of 80% of the project cost.
DOE previously had proposed to guarantee only 90% of a project's debt, but
that drew fire from key lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including Senator Pete
Domenici of New Mexico, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural
Resources Committee.

     Domenici, who pressed DOE to revise the regulations, lauded the agency
for making the change. "This represents a significant and important change
from the proposed draft rule," he said, adding that the loan-guarantee program
would help ensure the "long-term success" of clean-energy projects, including
those that use solar, biomass and integrated gasification, combined-cycle
technologies. 

     DOE on Thursday also invited 16 project sponsors -- who submitted
pre-applications last fall -- to submit full applications for loan guarantees.

     These projects include advanced technologies involving the uses of
biomass, fossil energy, solar, industrial energy efficiency, electricity
delivery and energy reliability, hydrogen and alternative fuel vehicles. 

		--Brian Hansen, brian_hansen@platts.com