WASHINGTON D.C. — Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued the first loan guarantee solicitation for the Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program (TELGP) under DOE's Loan Programs Office. This solicitation provides as much as $2 billion in partial loan guarantees to support economic opportunities for Native American and Alaska Native communities through energy development projects and activities.

“The Department has heard from tribes that they can have difficulty accessing the debt capital necessary to finance energy development projects that will benefit Indian country,” said Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. “Through TELGP, the Department will work in partnership with private sector lenders to help them better understand the unique characteristics of tribal energy opportunities and catalyze future private sector investment that will have a meaningful impact on tribal economies and help advance the Administration’s infrastructure agenda.”

“There is no shortage of ideas and opportunities to build and improve the energy infrastructure in Alaska’s more than 200 villages and rural communities,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). “The main barrier to turning those ideas into actual projects is financing, so I’m glad the Department of Energy is standing up the tribal energy loan guarantee program to help close that gap. New investments in energy development in Native American and Alaska Native communities, where energy and heating costs can be dangerously high, is something we need to do every chance we get.”

“As Chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, I am encouraged to see the Department of Energy's commitment to investing in Indian energy production,” said Senator John Hoeven (R-ND). “This tribal energy loan guarantee program will help Indian tribes develop their energy resources and create economic opportunities for tribal communities.”

“The U.S. Department of Energy’s new Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program represents a significant opportunity for Indian Country,” stated Tina Danforth, President of the Native American Finance Officers Association (NAFOA). “Deploying $2 billion in loan guarantees will strengthen tribal economies through private sector investment in a wide range of energy projects and activities.”

Authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, TELGP would provide partial loan guarantees to leverage private sector lending and help increase the availability of commercial debt financing in tribal energy markets, rather than replace existing debt markets, for commercial technologies. This partial loan guarantee model is based on the successful Financial Institution Partnership Program (FIPP) which DOE has used to help projects leverage public and private lending for energy infrastructure projects.

To date, LPO has helped finance more than $30 billion in energy infrastructure projects and successfully helped catalyze new technology markets. With the issuance of this solicitation today, DOE's Loan Programs Office (LPO) now has open solicitations for more than $40 billion in energy infrastructure loans and loan guarantees in five areas, also including Advanced Fossil Energy Projects, Advanced Nuclear Energy Projects, Renewable Energy and Efficient Energy Projects, and Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) projects.

The full solicitation can be found online HERE. The first Part I application deadline is September 19, 2018. Subsequent Part I deadlines will follow every other month. Potential applicants are encouraged to seek a pre-application consultation with LPO staff by emailing TELGP@hq.doe.gov.