The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) wants some answers from the Department of Energy and Congress about why the Renewable Energy Loan Guarantee Program is not working.

In a post on RFA’s The E-Xchange Blog today, RFA president and CEO Bob Dinneen says the program “has been defined by inaction and obstruction and is largely seen as a complete failure to date in terms of bringing next generation biofuel technologies to the marketplace.” With the funding not being used for the loan program, Congress has seen this as a piggy bank they can break into and raid to pay for other programs.

DOE officials are set to testify this week before a Senate committee and Dinneen proposes a few questions that need to be answered. When do DOE officials anticipate making the necessary changes to the program to make it more accessible to next generation biofuel technologies? How do DOE officials view the loan guarantee program? Is it for power generation technologies only? Or, should it apply to all renewable energy technologies including biofuels, as Congress intended? For members of Congress, assuming DOE gets on track to dispense funds from this critical program, when will you act to restore funding raided for various programs unrelated to renewable energy infrastructure development?

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is holding the hearing, specifically to examine DOE’s loan guarantee program, at 9:30 Eastern.