The head of the Energy Department’s stimulus loan program, which has been attacked by conservatives but revered by Democrats, is retiring, the department announced Tuesday.
Peter Davidson is leaving the department’s Loan Programs Office at the end of the month after more than two years on the job. He replaced Jonathan Silver, who oversaw the office during the federal stimulus rollout and the controversial Solyndra incident.
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz credited Davidson with turning around the program after the fallout from Solyndra, a solar panel-maker that went bankrupt in 2011 after receiving a $535 million federal loan guarantee.
“When Peter joined DOE in May 2013, he brought more than three decades of entrepreneurial and financial expertise to the department. Under Peter’s leadership, [the Loan Programs Office] restarted its loan activities and many of the projects in its more than $30 billion portfolio began operation and commenced loan repayment and [the Loan Programs Office] is now recognized as a leader in the financing of clean energy,” Moniz said in a memo to staff.
Mark McCall, managing director and the chief financial officer for Lime Rock Partners, a private equity firm focused on the energy sector, has been tapped to lead the program. He will be taking over an effort loaded with partisan politics.
Republicans had claimed Solyndra earned its loan guarantee in return for supporting President Obama’s election bid, but an internal probe by House Republicans found no evidence that was the case.
But the Solyndra bankruptcy put the loan program into hibernation as opponents said it represented government interference in the free market. Bankruptcies outside of Solyndra, such as the $139 million hit taxpayers took from the bankruptcy of electric vehicle-maker Fisker Automotive through a loan executed under a program created under former President George W. Bush, added to the opposition.
The Energy Department has touted the program since Davidson came aboard. The program came out of dormancy in April 2014 when it issued a call for applications for new financing for renewable-energy and efficiency projects.
Despite a handful of failures outside of Solyndra, the department has defended the federal loan program’s record, noting losses have accounted for far less than what Congress set aside when it established the program.
“The success of [program’s] portfolio to date would be welcomed by any commercial lender, while at the same time advancing clean energy solutions to the risks and effects of climate change,” Moniz said.
