GOP Senator Barrasso accuses Energy Department loan czar of making misleading statements to Congress

Sen. John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, says the director of the Department of Energy’s loan office is making inconsistent statements regarding his involvement in funding decisions for his office.

The Wyoming senator is particularly concerned with a $375 million federal loan apparently OK'd by the director, Jigar Shah, to a battery recycling company that Barrasso says was “on the brink of collapse.”

Shah testified before the committee last week that he had “no role to play whatsoever in choosing who gets a loan.”

In a letter to Shah on Thursday, Barrasso said Shah’s testimony contradicts a Wall Street Journal article in July that suggested Shah has been instrumental in the process of giving loans to companies that he personally identifies.

Among those companies was Li-Cycle Holdings.

According to the Journal story, Ajay Kochar, the company’s chief executive, expressed hesitation with taking loans it wasn’t sure it could repay quickly. Shah assured Kochar the company could generate the revenue needed for repayment, and five months later, Shah’s office announced a $375 million federal loan for Li-Cycle Holdings.

On Monday, the company notified employees it was pausing a major construction project and laid off 200 workers.

“It is now clear that you personally recruited and facilitated a federally-backed loan of $375 million to a company that is on the brink of collapse," Barrasso said in his letter. "The bad judgment of pushing for a taxpayer-backed loan to a company with a huge risk profile demonstrates the lack of internal controls in your loan-making process.”

Barrasso asked Shah to provide further clarity on his role and influence at the Loans Program Office.

The Energy Department did not return calls from Just The News seeking comment.