NEW YORK, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Joe Biden administration will provide a record 15 billion U.S. dollars low-interest loan commitment to California utility company PG&E to support hundreds of projects aimed at fighting the effects of climate change and improving the electrical grid.
"The loan by the Energy Department's Loan Programs Office is slated to fund projects that refurbish PG&E's hydroelectric infrastructure and upgrade power lines to support renewable-energy projects, data centers and electric vehicles," report The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Tuesday about the development.
The loan office had planned to provide a 30-billion-dollar loan to PG&E a few weeks ago. The amount was cut in half, in part because of PG&E concerns about the hefty upfront payments such a large loan would have required.
The loan commitment, the largest in the loan office's nearly two-decade history, will provide PG&E cash in installments over several years as it develops projects that will have to be approved by loan-office officials, said the report.
The second-largest commitment during the Biden administration is a 9.6 billion dollars loan for a Ford Motor battery joint venture, which the office completed on Monday. The loan office plans to close the PG&E loan before President-elect Donald Trump assumes office, according to people familiar with the matter, it added.
