Director of Program Behind Solyndra Loan Resigns

Jonathan Silver, former director of the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office, which oversaw the loan guarantee of Solyndra.
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Jonathan Silver, the director of the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, has handed in his resignation, the Washington Post reported Thursday.

Silver was appointed to the position in November 2009, well after the Loan Program Office made its now-controversial decision in March 2009 to grant solar company Solyndra a $535 million loan guarantee, only for the company to wind up bankrupt in September 2011.

As he noted in his testimony during the Republica-controlled House’s September 14 investigative hearing into the Solyndra collapse: “Although I was not at the Department when the Solyndra loan guarantee was considered or issued, it is my understanding that the transaction went through nearly three years of rigorous and exhaustive internal and external due diligence before any taxpayer funds were put at risk.”

Silver, who’s last day will be Friday, is reported to be joining a Washington think tank, the “centrist Democratic” Third Way, National Journal reported.

Also, Silver isn’t capitulating to the political pressure from Republicans, namely House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), who in September called for Silver to be fired.

According to the Washington Post: “Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a statement Thursday that Silver had informed him in July, when it was clear that no significant new funds were being budgeted for the loan program, that he would leave at the end of the fiscal year.”

Indeed, Chu strongly defended Silver’s performance at the helm of the program, which was actually launched under the Bush Administration back in 2005. “Under his [Silver’s] leadership, the loan program has demonstrated considerable success, with a broad portfolio of investments that will help American companies compete in the global clean energy market,” Chu told the Post, adding that he would have transferred Silver to another position within the Energy Department, had Silver wished to remain there.

As the Department of Energy’s website profile of Silver noted:

“Among the many transactions the Loan Programs Office has underwritten, are financings for the world’s largest wind farm; two of the of the world’s largest solar thermal power plants; the next generation of solar and wind manufacturing companies; the nation’s first nuclear power plant in three decades; several large geothermal projects; and one of the country’s first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants. His group has also made significant investments in transmission and electric vehicle manufacturers including Ford, the Nissan Leaf, Tesla and Fisker.”

The Department of Energy in May announced it was pulling the plug on the Loan Programs Office on September 30. That day, it granted another $4.7 billion in loan guarantees to four projects. In total, the program has granted nearly $40 billion to 40 companies.

Meanwhile, the House subcommittee continues its investigation of the office and Solyndra’s loan guarantee in particular, although it is not revealing exactly how many House staffers are working on the effort, even though it claims to be wanting to expedite the investigation and that more staffers could certainly help.

The House began investigating Solyndra and the office in February, after the company “experienced a number of setbacks” financially, laying off 40 workers in November 2010.

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