LPO participated in the Tribal Clean Energy Summit hosted by DOE’s Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs, a nation-to-nation conference that welcomed Tribal leaders and others for open and comprehensive conversations on Tribal energy concerns.
October 7, 2022
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This week, DOE’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) participated in the Tribal Clean Energy Summit hosted by DOE’s Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs (IE). This Summit provided a nation-to-nation roundtable discussion between tribal leaders, Secretary Granholm, and other DOE senior leadership to explore how tribes can harness clean energy to enhance energy sovereignty, address climate resilience, and build stronger economies. I was honored to join Secretary Granholm and IE Director Wahleah Johns to better understand how we can serve tribes with our new funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which raised the Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program’s (TELGP) aggregate loan authority from $2 billion to $20 billion. The goal was to listen to their needs and see how our existing and new authorities can best be used to meet them.
Updated Solicitation
Ahead of the Summit, LPO issued a new supplement to the TELGP solicitation to reflect the IRA’s permanent extension of direct loan authority, as well as providing greater clarity for how LPO will consider direct loans.
Discussing Tribal Energy Finance
In addition to engaging with tribal leaders, LPO’s Tribal Energy Finance team was able to connect with other key energy partners to discuss how access to credit from TELGP can help tribes own energy assets. LPO Senior Advisor (contractor) Matt Ferguson led a session about clean energy project financing, including highlighting provisions from the IRA that allow tribes for the first time to utilize investment tax credits and direct payment in lieu of tax credits.
Engaging Early with Tribes for Long-term Success
To learn more about LPO's Tribal Energy Finance products, visit www.energy.gov/LPO/TELGP. LPO encourages potential applicants to engage early on projects to identify hurdles, eligibility, and viability. The best way to request a pre-application consultation is by emailing [email protected].
For a recap of the Summit, click here to read DOE’s press release with comments from several tribal leaders.
Jigar Shah
Former Director, Loan Programs Office
Jigar Shah served as Director of the Loan Programs Office (LPO) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) from March 2021 to January 2025. He led and directed LPO’s loan authority to support deployment of innovative clean energy, advanced transportation, and Tribal energy projects in the United States. Prior, Shah was co-founder and President at Generate Capital, where he focused on helping entrepreneurs accelerate decarbonization solutions through the use of low-cost infrastructure-as-a service financing. Prior to Generate Capital, Shah founded SunEdison, a company that pioneered “pay as you save” solar financing. After SunEdison, Shah served as the founding CEO of the Carbon War Room, a global non-profit founded by Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Unite to help entrepreneurs address climate change.
Shah was also featured in TIME's list of the "100 Most Influential People" in 2024.
Originally from Illinois, Shah holds a B.S. from the University of Illinois-UC and an MBA from the University of Maryland College Park.