Tuesday, October 15, 2013

USA, Idaho:

Loan Program Boosts U.S. Geothermal (The Idaho Statesman)

U.S. Geothermal now has its 22 MWe power plant near Vale, Ore., online, sending electricity produced from Neal Hot Springs into Idaho Power’s grid.

But two years ago, the loan guarantee it got from the U.S. Department of Energy was under fire.

The $97 million loan guarantee was part of the 2009 stimulus program, the same place solar-energy company Solyndra got a $528 million loan before it went bankrupt and laid off 1,100 workers in 2011.

Because of the political controversy, DOE did additional reviews of U.S. Geothermal’s loan and the investments of its partner Enbridge. Each review showed a clean slate. Idaho’s congressional delegation supported U.S. Geothermal, which estimates that 95 percent of the new Oregon plant’s infrastructure and parts were U.S.-made.

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