Meet the Obama Administration’s New Clean Energy Loan Man

The Department of Energy (DoE) yesterday chose venture capitalist Jonathan Silver to head up its loan programs, which include $25 billion in loan guarantees for low-emissions cars and $32 billion in loan guarantees for renewable energy projects.

Jonathan Silver (Photo: DC Business Journal)

Silver may have his work cut out for him on the latter program. While the auto industry loans have been coming at a more than healthy clip in recent months, three renewable energy companies have received a total of less than $600 million from the $32 billion pot for green power.

And as the Wall Street Journal notes, renewables industries aren't happy about the slow pace:

The recent letter comes after a May missive [PDF] from solar, wind, hydropower, biomass, and nuclear producers that lamented the slow pace of loan approvals and requested multiple changes to the process. The first solar company to win a DoE loan this year had to spend three years and $10 million before winning a final deal from the government.

In response to the concerns, Energy Secretary Steven Chu promised to speed up the process -- and Silver's appointment appears to be the first step in that effort.