American leadership in reliable, affordable and abundant energy is non-negotiable for our national security, economic growth and global competitiveness. Today, this leadership is at risk. While domestic energy demand surges, our adversaries — led by China, the world’s dominant energy financier — are outpacing us in investments in innovative R&D and critical infrastructure. To win this competition, the federal government must enable the U.S. energy sector to compete in technology areas where the financial risk is too high for the private sector to bear alone. One of the U.S. government’s more powerful tools is loan guarantees.
History shows this approach works. Federally sponsored partnerships with industry have sparked major technology advancements that are foundational to our defense and economy. In fact, a study from Commonweal Ventures found that, between 2003 and 2023, government expenditures catalyzed nearly a quarter of all venture-backed companies that ultimately achieved a valuation of $1 billion or more. This strategic public investment is why key programs, such as the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF), are necessary: they bridge the critical “bankability gap” that impedes the deployment of transformational technologies.
That is why we applaud the Trump administration for establishing a new Energy Dominance Financing Program within EDF via the Working Families Tax Cut package. Enacted in July, this law authorizes DOE to guarantee up to $250 billion in loans to U.S. companies that expand energy generation or transmission capacity, and support grid reliability and power supply through 2028. This revised approach to loan guarantees focuses DOE’s work on fiscally responsible, strategic investments that de-risk essential, large-scale energy and critical minerals projects by attracting private capital and strengthening America’s workforce.
