WASHINGTON – U.S. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., joined a bipartisan group of eighteen Senators, led by Senator Pete Domenici, R-N.M., in urging President Bush to ensure that the Department of Energy’s (DOE) loan guarantee provisions are implemented.

The loan guarantee program was established through the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and would encourage early commercial use of new or significantly improved technologies in energy projects.

“As the largest net exporter of energy in the nation, Wyoming stands to benefit greatly from the loan guarantee program,” Barrasso said. “The program will play a significant role in furthering clean coal technologies and coal gasification projects in our state. I am proud to join my colleagues in calling on the President to ensure the program is fully implemented.”

“As we examine ways to strengthen our energy security, increase our global competitiveness, and reduce our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, it is essential that we enhance the federal assistance to the development of the clean energy technologies within the United States ,” the Senators stated in the letter. 

The Energy Policy Act’s loan guarantee provision authorizes DOE to grant guarantees for up to 80% of a project’s cost.  However, DOE has issued a proposed rule that limits guarantees up to 90% of the face value of the loan, a limitation which is not required by the law.  

The Administration has also put a cap on the total amount of loans that can be guaranteed, thereby limiting assistance to only a few projects in small sectors of the energy industry.

Among the Senators who joined Barrasso and Domenici on the letter are Senators Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Larry Craig (R-Idaho), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), George Voinovich (R-Ohio), Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.).