In September 2011, the Department of Energy issued a $1.2 billion loan guarantee to support the construction of California Valley Solar Ranch (CVSR), a 250 MWac photovoltaic (PV) solar generating facility in rural San Luis Obispo County, California. The project reached commercial operation in October 2013.
When he announced the creation of the White House Rural Council, President Obama said, “Strong rural communities are key to a stronger America.” Strengthening America’s energy generation and transmission will play an important role in this opportunity for rural communities.
Today, I moderated a panel at the White House Rural Opportunity Investment Conference about the challenges and opportunities for energy generation and transmission in rural America. We had a robust discussion with our distinguished panel that included Jim Barry, Managing Director at BlackRock, Leslie Biddle, Partner at Serengeti Asset Management, Timothy S. Howell, Managing Director at GE Energy Financial Services, and Richard L. Kauffman, Chairman of Energy and Finance for New York State and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
While rural America certainly faces some challenges, the panel agreed that an abundance of energy investment opportunities exist. The existing portfolio of the Department’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) highlights some of those opportunities.
In the desert Southwest, LPO helped to finance ten of the world’s largest and most innovative photovoltaic solar and concentrating solar power projects, which helped to provide these growing communities with both clean energy and good jobs.
In the Midwest, LPO also helped to finance one of the first cellulosic biofuel facilities in the United States in Hugoton, Kansas.
All of America can benefit from rural investments. The One Nevada Transmission Line, which received a $343 million loan guarantee, is viewed as part of the transmission backbone that will bring wind and solar resources from rural areas of Wyoming, Idaho, and Nevada to California and urban areas with a high concentration of energy consumption.
To help encourage future opportunities for investment in energy generation and infrastructure, LPO is making available $8 billion in loan guarantees for advanced fossil energy projects and up to $4 billion in loan guarantees for renewable energy and efficient energy projects. Through these solicitations, we hope to work in public-private partnership with commercial lenders to co-lend on projects and maximize the total project investment.
If we want to meet President Obama’s goal of strengthening rural communities, the project investments that LPO supports are just the kind of investment that is needed.
Peter W. Davidson
Peter W. Davidson served as Executive Director of the Loan Programs Office (LPO) at the U.S. Department of Energy from May 2013 to June 2015. Mr. Davidson oversaw the program’s more than $30 billion portfolio of clean energy and advanced vehicle loans and loan guarantees, making it the largest project finance organization in the U.S. government. Mr. Davidson was responsible for ensuring that the LPO carries out its mission to accelerate the deployment of innovative clean energy projects and domestic advanced vehicle manufacturing. By providing debt capital to a broad range of renewable energy, advanced fossil energy, and nuclear energy projects, as well as advanced vehicle manufacturing facilities, the LPO is supporting economic development across the U.S., promoting an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Prior to leading the LPO, Mr. Davidson was Senior Advisor for Energy and Economic Development at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and was the Executive Director of New York State’s economic development agency, the Empire State Development Corporation. Prior to his government service, Mr. Davidson was an entrepreneur who founded and managed six companies in Spanish language and other niche markets, broadcasting, publishing, marketing and digital preferred services. Early in his career he was an executive in the investment banking division of Morgan Stanley & Co.
Since 2001, Mr. Davidson has also been Chairman of the JM Kaplan Fund, a New York City based philanthropic organization. Under his leadership, grant making has focused on reducing New York City’s carbon footprint; supporting immigrant integration in the U.S. and archeological conservation world-wide.
Mr. Davidson has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.