Risk from DOE Loans Less than Expected, Post-Solyndra Audit Finds

A White House-ordered review of the Energy Department's loan guarantee program found room for improvement, but not signs of an agency taking reckless risks with taxpayers’ money.

The review by former Treasury official Herb Allison says DOE could lose as much as $3 billion from companies that default on their guarantees, but that’s much less than the $10 billion that Congress had put aside for losses to the program, according to the report released Friday.

The report includes eight references to Solyndra, the California solar company that ignited fierce congressional scrutiny last year after it failed despite receiving a $535 million loan guarantee. But the report also notes several times that Allison’s study didn’t specifically evaluate that company.

Democrats immediately claimed vindication from Allison’s findings.