The Biden administration has finalized a $15 billion loan guarantee to California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), the largest payout to a single group in the history of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) . The Jan. 17 announcement comes a day after the outgoing administration said it would provide nearly $23 billion in loans to support ongoing work at eight U.S. power companies. These projects include expanding clean energy generation and upgrading energy infrastructure and grids. The LPO said on Friday that during the Biden-Harris administration, the agency announced 53 deals totaling approximately $107.57 billion in project investments. The group said it provided about $47 billion in 28 conditional commitments in sectors including battery production, critical minerals supply chains, sustainable aviation fuels and virtual power plants. More than $60 billion in funding is spread across 25 closed loans and loan guarantees in industries including nuclear energy, hydrogen energy, critical minerals, virtual power plants and advanced automotive components. The LPO has published its 2024 review, which includes deals struck this month, and is available here . The DOE originally announced its plan to provide funding to PG&E on Dec. 17, meaning the loan took just one month to close, far less than the normal time for such financing. "These infrastructure investments will help PG&E meet forecasted load growth, improve power reliability and reduce costs for California consumers," the agency said at the time. PG&E CEO Patti Poppe said in December "The DOE loan program can help us accelerate the pace and impact of this work, providing thousands of living-wage jobs at a lower cost to our customers," the statement said.

PG&E, which filed for bankruptcy in 2019 as it faces billions in liability claims for its role in a series of devastating and deadly wildfires in California, expects to use the funds to finance multiple projects. The work includes upgrades to the transmission grid, including resiliency and reliability projects, and refurbishment of the utility's hydroelectric facilities. PG&E is also adding battery energy storage systems to its power generation fleet. The utility emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2020, and PG&E said the funding will save customers about $1 billion over the life of the loan. The utility, like many other U.S. electricity providers, has raised rates over the past few years to cover the increased costs of building new generation resources, as well as increased insurance premiums from liability claims. California regulators have pressured PG&E to limit rate increases for its customers, even as state officials approved multiple rate hikes for the utility in 2024. A report last month by the Office of Public Advocacy, which represents consumers in utility rate cases before the state Public Utilities Commission, said PG&E's rate hikes were the highest among investor-owned utilities in the state. PG&E's rates increased 56% in the three years ended last October and 118% over the past decade, the group reported. The DOE Loan Program Office was established in 2005. It has been a key part of the Biden administration's efforts to support renewable energy. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 expanded the LPO's authority to lend to new energy technology research groups, increasing lending capacity from $40 billion to more than $400 billion. —Darrell Proctor is a senior editor at POWER.