The following overview summarizes the Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program. For detailed information on the Clean Energy Financing Program, please refer to:

• Title 17 Program Guidance:  This Guidance provides a comprehensive program overview.

• Title 17 Interim Final Rule: The Rule amends Title 17 regulations to implement changes that expand or modify program authority and to revise for clarity and organization.

• Governing Documents: LPO's programmatic governing documents detail statutory and legislative framework (e.g., foundational legislation, rules, and documents; appropriations; interagency requirements; environmental compliance; federal credit programs).

• Title 17 Overview Handout: This handout summarizes program offerings and requirements.

Under the Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program, LPO can finance projects in the United States that support clean energy deployment and energy infrastructure reinvestment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. Title 17 was created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and has since been amended, most recently by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. The legislation expanded the scope of Title 17 to include certain state-supported projects and projects that reinvest in legacy energy infrastructure, and it leverages additional loan authority and funding available for projects involving innovative energy technologies.

There are four project categories within the Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program:

Innovative Energy: Financing for projects that deploy New or Significantly Improved Technology that is technically proven but not yet widely commercialized in the United States. (See page 15 of the Program Guidance or the Title 17 Interim Final Rule for a definition of New or Significantly Improved Technology.)

Innovative Supply Chain: Financing for projects that employ a New or Significantly Improved Technology in the manufacturing process for a qualifying clean energy technology or for projects that manufacture a New or Significantly Improved Technology.

State Energy Financing Institution (SEFI)-Supported: Financing for projects that support deployment of qualifying clean energy technology and receive meaningful financial support or credit enhancements from an entity within a state agency or financing authority.

Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR): Financing for projects that retool, repower, repurpose, or replace energy infrastructure that has ceased operations or upgrade operating energy infrastructure to avoid, reduce, utilize, or sequester air pollutants or greenhouse gas emissions. 

Through the Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program, borrowers can access:

• Direct loans from U.S. Treasury’s Federal Financing Bank (FFB) backed by 100% “full faith and credit” DOE guarantees, OR
• DOE partial guarantees of commercial debt

Interest Rate: For FFB loans backed by a DOE loan guarantee, the interest rate is: U.S. Treasury curve, plus a liquidity spread equal to “three-eighths” (0.375%), plus a risk-based charge:

• The Treasury rate is fixed at the day or days the funds are drawn, according to loan tenor.
• LPO may buy down the risk-based charge for certain projects.

The Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program project categories share seven key eligibility criteria. Each category also carries additional requirements.

• Access to patient capital: LPO can provide access to debt capital for large-scale clean energy or energy infrastructure reinvestment projects that other lenders might not provide.
• Detailed technical due diligence: LPO bases the financing terms on thorough technical analysis of the specific project and technologies in question. Often, the result is attractive financing that increases commercial lenders’ confidence in LPO-financed technologies and project structures.
• Flexible, custom financing: Options include limited recourse project financings, secured corporate lending, securitizations, transactions involving tax equity, and other deal structures. LPO can finance large projects as a sole lender (FFB loan; DOE guarantee), fill gaps in financing as part of a group of lenders (FFB loan; DOE guarantee), or offer a partial guarantee commercial debt.
• Committed partnership and specialized expertise: LPO brings a team of in-house financial, technical, legal, and environmental professionals with expertise in first-of-kind projects and a variety of deal structures. LPO remains a partner for the life of the loan.

• No application fees
• External advisor fees: Payable directly to advisors starting at due diligence; an eligible project cost financeable by LPO. Expenses accrue and typically range from $1 million to $3 million for deals that reach financial close. The applicant is responsible for accrued third-party fees regardless of whether the deal reaches financial close.
• Facility fee: Due at financial close; an amount equal to 0.6% of the portion of the principal amount of the guaranteed obligation that does not exceed $2 billion, plus 0.1% of the portion of the principal that exceeds $2 billion.
• Maintenance fees: Due annually after financial close; the amount of the Maintenance Fee is typically in the range of $150,000 to $200,000 per calendar year, although can be up to $500,000 per year depending on the complexity of the loan.

While there is no minimum eligible project size, LPO typically finances projects of $100 million or more due to the fixed costs associated with the application process and loan monitoring.

The application process is standard across the four Title 17 project categories and is designed to identify strong candidates for LPO financing, support them in preparing comprehensive applications, and assess the risk and value of the proposed projects. The duration varies based on the applicant’s level of preparation and project complexity, but it typically takes a minimum of six months to more than a year.

Title 17 application requirements are described in the following documents.

• Part I Application
• Part II Application

If you have a project that may be eligible for financing through the Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program, please request a no-cost pre-application consultation.

Q: Who can apply for LPO financing?

Title 17 loan financing can be accessed by a wide range of entities. LPO has experience working with project developers, clean tech manufacturers and service providers, regulated utilities, public power entities, and independent power producers, among others.

Q:  How long does the LPO application process take?

The timeline from first contact with LPO to conditional commitment can take anywhere from six months to more than a year and is largely dependent on the applicant’s preparedness and ability to provide required documents.

Q: When should I approach LPO about a potential application?

Interested applicants are invited to request a pre-application consultation at any time. LPO’s Outreach and Business Development (OBD) staff will meet with potential applicants and provide step-by-step assistance to navigate the application process. Requestors should come prepared with a description of the proposed project and identified financing needs.

Q: What qualifies as a SEFI?

Projects can qualify for Title 17 financing under the SEFI-supported project category if they are from a 1703 eligible technology category and receive meaningful financial support or credit enhancements from a SEFI. A SEFI is an entity established by a State, or an Indian Tribal entity or Alaska Native corporation, to provide financing support or credit enhancements for eligible projects and to take steps to reduce financial barriers to the deployment of existing and new eligible projects. SEFI-supported projects are exempted from the innovation requirement, thereby expanding eligibility for LPO loan guarantees to projects that incorporate commercial technologies and aggregations of technology-diverse projects.

Q: What types of projects can EIR support?

EIR financing can support projects that either: 1) retool, repower, repurpose, or replace Energy Infrastructure that has ceased operations; provided that if the project involves electricity generation through the use of fossil fuels, it is required to have controls or technologies to avoid, reduce, utilize, or sequester air pollutants and anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases; or 2) projects that enable operating Energy Infrastructure to avoid, reduce, utilize, or sequester air pollutants or anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. The scope of a project receiving EIR project financing may include remediation of environmental damage associated with Energy Infrastructure.

Q: How do I know which Title 17 project category is the best fit for my project?

First, potential applicants should familiarize themselves with eligibility criteria described in the Title 17 Program Guidance. LPO’s OBD team will next meet with potential applicants to evaluate best category and if LPO financing is a good fit for their project.

Q: Is there a minimum or maximum project or loan size?

LPO does not set a minimum loan size; however, due to some of the fixed costs associated with receiving a loan guarantee from LPO, LPO loan guarantees are typically $100 million or more. LPO can guarantee up to 80% of eligible project costs, although project cashflows and credit risk considerations often lower leverage ratios with many projects ending up in the 50 to 70% range.

Q: Can I file multiple applications?

Applicants may apply for more than one Title 17 loan guarantee, but an applicant is limited to one application for an Innovative Energy or Innovative Supply Chain Project using a particular technology. An applicant may submit a single application for multiple projects using different technologies or at different sites; however, LPO may require the applicant to separate such projects into multiple applications at any time during the application process.

Q: How do I apply?

Potential applicants are encouraged to engage directly with LPO for no-fee, no-commitment consultations to start a conversation about the project and about LPO's process before formally applying. Click here to request a consultation with an LPO staff member. LPO encourages these inquiries to include relevant project details and likely project category to allow us to direct your inquiry to appropriate staff.

Potential applicants should review publicly available information, including the Title 17 Program Guidance. Potential applicants should also review LPO’s suggestions for a strong Title 17 application here for additional guidance prior to contacting LPO. 

Q: What kind of financial terms can LPO provide?

Please refer to the information contained on this webpage, and please review pages 35-37 of the Title 17 Program Guidance.

Q:  I hear the fee structure is changing. What has changed? 

There are no application fees associated with submission of a Title 17 application. Applicants are responsible for third-party advisor costs, which begin in the due diligence phase. Applicants enter into sponsor payment letters with each third-party advisor costs and pay as these costs are incurred. These third-party expenses constitute Eligible Projects Costs and can be amortized in the loan itself. Additionally, applicants pay a facility fee at close and maintenance fees annually.

Q:  How does LPO financing interact with tax credits, federal grants, and other federal support?

LPO's loan guarantees can be stacked with clean energy tax credits, including energy production and investment tax credits. DOE cannot issue loan guarantees to projects that are expected to benefit from certain other forms of federal support (“Federal Support Restriction”), including grants, cooperative agreements, or other loan guarantees from federal agencies or entities. Please review page 52 of the Program Guidance for detailed information on federal support restrictions.

Q: How are greenhouse gas emissions calculated?

Most Title 17 projects are required to avoid, reduce, utilize, or sequester air pollutants or anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. As part of the Part I Application, applicants must submit a Lifecycle GHG Emissions Data Worksheet to help LPO complete its lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions analysis of the proposed project (see the Program Guidance for exemptions and more information).

Q: Does LPO financing trigger compliance obligations with other federal requirements?

Federal law requires that certain reviews and project requirements be met for a project to receive LPO support under Title 17, including: NEPA compliance, prevailing wage requirements, Cargo-Preference Act, and Build America, Buy America. Information about these requirements is available in the Program Guidance, and through consultation with LPO Staff.

Q: How does LPO treat confidential business information? 

Confidential business information shared with the Loan Programs Office (LPO) is protected by Federal laws, regulations and Department of Energy (DOE) policies. Please refer to the Treatment of Confidential Materials fact sheet.