Majority Leader Thwarted House Republican Attempts to Eliminate DOE Loan Guarantee and Kill Thousands of Nevada Jobs

April 14, 2011

Washington, D.C.—Nevada Senator Harry Reid today announced that he successfully protected a critical clean energy jobs program as part of the historic budget agreement he negotiated last week.  The Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee program is a private-public partnership that could help clean energy companies throughout Nevada create more than 2,000 jobs.

While House Republicans voted to eliminate the loan guarantee program entirely in their extreme budget proposal (H.R. 1), Senator Reid made the protection of this important jobs initiative one of his top priorities and was able to thwart their efforts.

“This historic budget agreement not only cuts tens of billions in wasteful spending, but it thwarts House Republicans’ attempt to kill a very successful clean energy jobs creation program that is putting Nevadans back to work,” said Reid.  “The loan guarantee initiative is too important for Nevada companies turning the state’s natural resources like wind, solar and geothermal energy into good paying jobs.”

Senator Reid was joined by SolarReserve CEO Kevin Smith, who is depending on a DOE Loan Guarantee to complete the Crescent Dunes Project in Tonopah:

“Senator Reid's leadership was instrumental in preserving the Department of Energy Loan Guarantee Program in the recent budget negotiations.  This program is critical to job creation and investment in the clean energy sector.  Senator Reid clearly recognized that without this program companies like SolarReserve would not be able to build state-of-the-art projects like our Crescent Dunes Project in Tonopah where we will spend $700 million and create 650 construction jobs and upwards to 4,500 indirect and induced jobs along. Senator Reid continues to be a champion of American clean energy technology and wants to keep Nevada in the forefront of renewable energy development."

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