A bipartisan group of legislators joined the campaign to spare the program, and in a conference call on Thursday with reporters, Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, announced that the cuts had been averted.
Mr. Reid noted that funds for the program would only last until October, however, raising the prospect of another budget fight in 2012.
“We need to get more money to continue this program,” he said. “I’m going to fight very hard for that in next year’s budget.”
The ability of the loan guarantee program to spur private sector investment in alternative energy was highlighted on Tuesday, when Google announced that it was investing nearly $170 million in the Ivanpah solar thermal plant, a 392-megawatt generating station being developed by BrightSource Energy.
The solar plant had previously secured a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, which was finalized this week.
“By driving energy innovation in the field, not just in the labs, the D.O.E.‘s loan guarantee program is playing a vital role in realizing our nation‘s clean energy and economic goals,” Jack Jenkins-Stark, chief financial officer for BrightSource, said in a statement.
In other action on Tuesday, Gov. Jerry Brown of California signed into law the country’s most ambitious renewable energy mandate, which requires utilities in the state to generate 33 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
Mr. Brown signed the legislation at a new solar panel factory in Milpitas, a suburb of Santa Clara County in Northern California.
“This bill will bring many important benefits to California, including stimulating investment in green technologies in the state, creating tens of thousands of new jobs, improving local air quality, promoting energy independence, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” the governor said at the signing.
SOURCE: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/clouds-part-for-u-s-solar-industry/?partner=rss&emc=rss
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