DOE Seeking Loan Applicants for U.S. Energy Projects Favored by Trump

Written by John Egan for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

Summary

With about $250 billion to lend, and potentially more on the way, the federal government's energy dominance banker was warmly received last week at an oil and gas conference in Denver. But only projects that aligned with President Donald Trump's vision of energy dominance should seek loans.

Money to Lend: DOE Seeking Energy Loan Applicants

When Donald Trump assumed the presidency a second time, in 2025, high on his agenda was reorienting America's energy strategy as well as the types of energy projects the federal government funded. Sustainability and renewable energy were out, for the most part, replaced by a more muscular, nuclear and fossil fuel-based posture he termed "energy dominance."

The Department of Energy's (DOE) Loan Program Office, which under prior administrations lent money to renewable energy projects and early-stage technologies connected to energy, was renamed the Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) in 2025. It began life with about $350 billion to lend to energy technologies that aligned with the president's vision.

Mirroring Trump's passion for deal-making, an EDF official who spoke at an oil and gas conference in Denver on August 19 said it is looking to lend, and that loans were getting approved much faster than was previously the case.

Jeffrey McClure, senior adviser to EDF, said the office has a goal of completing loan application reviews within six months, down from an average of 18-24 months in prior administrations. He told attendees at EnerCom Denver -- The Energy Investment Conference, sponsored by EnerCom Incorporated, that review of one loan was completed in four months, but that was "very aggressive." The office is "moving pretty fast," he added.

He said the office has made about US$100 billion in loans in its first year of life. The EDF has about $250 billion in remaining loan authority, and is seeking added loan authority from a Republican-led Congress.

"We are open for business," McClure told a session attended by hundreds of oil and gas executives, analysts, bankers and consultants.

McClure said the EDF is lending to projects in these six industry verticals:

• Oil and Gas
• Nuclear Energy
• Critical Minerals
• Utilities
• Transmission, and
• Advanced Manufacturing

By the Numbers

• US$100: Billion dollars of loans made to energy projects during the first year of the DOE Office of Energy Dominance Financing
• US$250: Remaining loan authority, in billions, that the office is seeking to lend to energy projects that align with Trump's vision of energy dominance
• US$27.5: Largest loan to date, in billions of dollars, made to the Southern Company to support construction of new gas-fired generation and other projects.

Projects the EDF Has Financed To Date

McClure said his office will provide senior secured loans for up to 80% of a project's cost with 30-year terms at a rate that is three-eighths of a percent above the going interest rate of Treasury bonds. Yields on 30-year Treasuries have soared recently, to levels unseen in nearly two decades, as lenders' fret over a variety of things, including the Mideast war, tepid economic growth and the growing appetite for debt by companies building data centers that power artificial intelligence (AI).

McClure said the office's biggest loan, for about US$26.5 billion, went to the Southern Company to fund construction of 5 gigawatts (GW) of new gas-fired generation, 6 GW in nuclear uprates and license extensions, battery energy storage system (BESS) deployments, hydroelectric modernizations and construction of over 1,300 miles of transmission and grid-enhancement projects.

Other loans have been made to projects in Texas, Puerto Rico, Michigan, Alaska and Native American Tribes.

He also said the 10 AP1000 nuclear reactors that Westinghouse wants to build received DOE funding, as did the restart of three idled nuclear reactors that will be used to power America's AI race against China.

"I have been in rooms where China's AI aspirations were discussed," he told hundreds of conference attendees. "Those are not meeting(s) you walk out of and say, 'OK, that's a good thing.' We must win the AI race with China. The struggle is real. We can't put our head in the sand and let China win that race."

Another $5 billion in loans have been inked to support a lithium mine, he added.

Mindful that he was speaking to professionals in and around the oil and gas industry, McClure said produced water is becoming a challenge to continued growth of oil and gas production. "In the Permian Basin, produced water is becoming an issue. Wells there produce five barrels of water for every barrel of oil. The problem will become acute in 2030, and could cause (the) loss of 1 million barrels of oil per day by 2035. We can't have that."

What the Office Wants to Fund

To be considered for a loan, McClure made it clear that the project must align with the president's energy dominance viewpoint. "We want a more reliable, affordable and secure energy system," he said August 19.

He also specified natural gas pipelines were another industry to which the department is willing to lend.

"If you have a project that needs financing, please pick up the phone and call us," he urged. If the DOE office can't make a loan, it could refer applicants to other Cabinet agencies, such as the Department of the Interior, Department of Defense and Department of Commerce.

His talk also included the administration's requisite jab at California: "We have severe national security concerns in the Pacific. We're desperately trying to convince California not to become an energy island. We'll how that goes."

Key Takeaways

• The U.S. DOE's Office of Energy Dominance Financing has made about US$100 billion of loans to projects that align with Trump's vision of energy dominance over the last year.
• The office has about $250 billion of lending authority remaining, and is seeking additional lending authority from Congress.

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