US Loans to Rivian, Plug Under Threat From Federal Shutdown

(Bloomberg) -- Billions of dollars in federal loans to Rivian Automotive Inc., Plug Power Inc., PG&E Corp. and other companies are under threat because of a potential US government shutdown.

The Biden administration’s Energy Department has been racing to cement more than $41 billion in conditional financing before the Jan. 20 inauguration of Donald Trump, who could block closing the loans. But work to finalize deals could grind to a halt if Congress isn’t able to agree on a plan to fund the government. 

“A federal government shutdown will turn off the taps,” said Peter Davidson, who previously served as executive director of the Loan Programs Office, or LPO “Both the federal work force and the contractors are not allowed, by law, to work, even out of the office — so all loans, conditional commitments and due diligence in process will come to a full stop.” 

An Energy Department spokesman said the agency would continue to fund loans in the event of a shutdown. “Each office that has prior year balances, which includes LPO,  will continue to operate as long as those balances remain available,” he said.

The office, which has about $400 billion in spending authority after receiving an infusion through President Joe Biden’s signature climate law, has been churning out financing commitments and closing deals at a record pace following the election of Trump. Among the conditional commitments it has made is a record $15 billion loan commitment announced Tuesday for Californian utility PG&E Corp., a $6.6 billion commitment to Rivian Automotive Inc. and an offer of almost $1.7 billion in financing for hydrogen maker Plug Power Inc. 

Other deals the office has yet to close on include a $4.9 billion loan guarantee to Invenergy LLC for the construction of a high-voltage power line, $1.4 billion for a biofuel plant being constructed by a Calumet Inc. subsidiary and $671 million to battery materials company Aspen Aerogels Inc.

Time is of the essence. Any deal that isn’t closed by the time Trump takes over could be in jeopardy. The president-elect proposed eliminating the Loan Programs Office during his first administration, and conservative opponents of the program, along with the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, are seeking to have it killed. It’s also possible Trump opts to keep the program, but uses it to finance fossil fuels and other projects favored by Republicans. 

The Trump transition team didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kennedy Nickerson, who formerly worked as a policy adviser in the Loan Programs Office, said it’s possible some work could be done behind the scenes — paid for with user fees from loan applicants. But since the office coordinates with other agencies that could be completely shuttered, a sustained government shutdown could affect the agency’s ability to close on the conditional deals, Nickerson said. 

“It’s definitely not good,” said Nickerson, who now serves as a vice president at Capstone, a Washington-based research group. “For the loans that are more at risk under Trump, that definitely adds a layer of concern to them never getting to financial closing.”

(Adds comment from Energy Department.)

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