Senate Energy Committee Needs to Stop the Clean Energy Deployment Administration

We understand that you will be considering legislation this week to create a new federal financing entity known as the Clean Energy Deployment Administration (CEDA). CEDA's goal is to provide loans, loan guarantees, and other forms of credit to various energy projects, but as envisioned the end result could easily be little more than a black hole for hundreds of billions of taxpayer losses on failed projects. In addition to funding high risk capital intensive projects with long-term financial liabilities, the size, scope and lack of accountability and transparency mechanisms make CEDA ripe for waste, fraud, and abuse. We urge you to oppose the creation of CEDA.

CEDA creates a larger financing mechanism for energy technologies and absorbs the existing Department of Energy Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program which already has significant structural problems. The new entity will remain under DOE and distribute direct loans, loan guarantees, and other forms of credit for energy technologies ranging from renewable solar and efficiency to advanced nuclear and coal facilities. With a charge this expansive, it is easy to imagine enormous financial fallout for U.S. taxpayers.

Sincerely,

Duane Parde, President
National Taxpayers Union

William Yeatman, Assistant Director
Competitive Enterprise Institute

Phil Kerpen, Vice President for Policy
Americans for Prosperity

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Taxpayers for Common Sense is an independent and nonpartisan voice for taxpayers, working to increase transparency and expose and eliminate wasteful and corrupt subsidies, earmarks, and corporate welfare. For more information, visit: www.taxpayer.net