Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) is asking the Energy Department’s inspector general to investigate whether the agency’s lending director has shown favoritism toward so-called “green” energy companies tied to to a trade association he founded before taking office. actual position.
Barrasso, 71, said he was “urgently calling for a thorough investigation” into the Loan Programs Office (LPO) and its director, Jigar Shah, citing concerns that the office “has become a profit center” for a private trade association called the Clean Technology Leaders Roundtable (CTLR), according to a Wednesday missive sent to Energy IG Teri Donaldson and obtained by The Post.
Shah founded the renewable energy association in 2017 and served as its president until March 2021, when he was appointed to dole out $400 billion in loans at the Department of Energy during Biden’s presidency.
Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) is calling on the Energy Department’s inspector general to investigate whether its loan officer has shown favoritism toward “green” energy. Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock Director Jigar Shah’s Office of Loan Programs “has become a profit center” for a private trade association called the Cleantech Leaders Roundtable (CTLR), Barrasso said. Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
Shah has maintained in previous congressional testimony that he “has no role to play in choosing who gets a loan,” but Barrasso believes the appointee has clearly violated the so-called “revolving door” prohibition of Biden’s ethics pledge. .
During Shah’s tenure, the office green-lighted loans to Cleantech-related companies, including a $3 billion partial loan guarantee to solar company Sunnova, which has allegedly defrauded elderly dementia patients out of tens of thousands. dollars, reports show.
A member of Sunnova’s board of directors, Anne Slaughter Andrew, was also simultaneously on Cleantech’s board of directors when the loan was awarded, Barrasso noted in her letter, but has since left that position.
Shah has approved “green” loans for Cleantech-related companies, including a $3 billion partial loan guarantee for solar company Sunnova, which allegedly defrauded elderly dementia patients. Fox News
That departure came after Barrasso and House Energy Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) asked about his dual role.
On Dec. 7, Shah wrote to Barrasso that he “did not individually choose which entities receive a loan or loan guarantee from the Department” and that he had not been “affiliated” with Cleantech since taking office, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The charge.
“New evidence flatly contradicts Director Shah’s claims to disassociate himself from CTLR,” Barrasso refuted in his letter to Donaldson, which noted that the loan czar was listed on the trade association’s website as “chairman emeritus of the board” until March 2023.
The Wyoming Republican asked the Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General to determine whether Shah had conflicts of interest related to his trade group. fake images
“Director Shah’s impact within the LPO extends beyond direct involvement in loan approvals,” Barrasso continued. “As he himself points out in his letter of December 7, his influence is more nuanced and subtly guides the direction of the LPO. This indirect but significant influence on LPO activities underlines his integral contribution to the strategic operations of the office.”
Shah’s “influence” is further demonstrated by his status as a “titan” on Time magazine’s Most Influential Climate Leaders in Business 2023 list, as well as the praise heaped on him by Cleantech members, Barrasso added. .
The Wyoming Republican asked Donaldson to determine whether Shah had conflicts of interest related to his business group, whether he improperly made any loans or whether there were discrepancies in his account of his Cleantech affiliation.
Barrasso also asked the watchdog office to determine whether Andrew had conflicts of interest related to the Sunnova loan.
“An investigation is critical to ensuring that the LPO operates with the highest standards of integrity, fairness, and transparency,” he said in the letter, a copy of which was also sent to Susan Beard, the Department of Energy’s designated ethics official.
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