Op-Ed: Jeremy Harrell, Drew Bond, and Zach Graves: How to unleash American energy dominance financing to win on Energy and AI

American leadership in reliable, affordable and abundant energy is non-negotiable for our national security, economic growth and global competitiveness. Today, this leadership is at risk. While domestic energy demand surges, our adversaries — led by China, the world’s dominant energy financier — are outpacing us in investments in innovative R&D and critical infrastructure. To win this competition, the federal government must enable the U.S. energy sector to compete in technology areas where the financial risk is too high for the private sector to bear alone. One of the U.S. government’s more powerful tools is loan guarantees.

History shows this approach works. Federally sponsored partnerships with industry have sparked major technology advancements that are foundational to our defense and economy. In fact, a study from Commonweal Ventures found that, between 2003 and 2023, government expenditures catalyzed nearly a quarter of all venture-backed companies that ultimately achieved a valuation of $1 billion or more. This strategic public investment is why key programs, such as the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF), are necessary: they bridge the critical “bankability gap” that impedes the deployment of transformational technologies.

That is why we applaud the Trump administration for establishing a new Energy Dominance Financing Program within EDF via the Working Families Tax Cut package. Enacted in July, this law authorizes DOE to guarantee up to $250 billion in loans to U.S. companies that expand energy generation or transmission capacity, and support grid reliability and power supply through 2028. This revised approach to loan guarantees focuses DOE’s work on fiscally responsible, strategic investments that de-risk essential, large-scale energy and critical minerals projects by attracting private capital and strengthening America’s workforce.

The EDF Program arrives at a critical moment as the U.S. faces two significant energy challenges.

First, how do we win the AI race with American power? The United States’ decades of investment in our national laboratory system give us a competitive edge in scientific computing — a crucial foundation for global AI dominance. Maintaining this advantage requires the rapid deployment of reliable, affordable power. With electricity demand projected to grow 35-50 percent by 2040, we must swiftly finance and permit new power generation on an accelerated timeline. DOE’s Energy Dominance Financing Program provides the signals needed to attract capital, ensuring America’s technology leadership is never constrained by a lack of American energy.

Nowhere is the government’s role more vital than in the commercial nuclear power industry. These essential projects demand massive capital and involve cost and schedule uncertainties that private financing simply will not bear alone. The EDF can serve as a critical tool to de-risk early deployments of reactors. Notably, this financing gap that EDF fills is being exploited by our adversaries: China and Russia are actively deploying state-funded nuclear fleets globally to cement their geopolitical influence.

In this area, DOE loans have already proven essential for reinvigorating the American nuclear industry, underwriting the construction of new AP1000 reactors and first-of-their-kind reactor restarts. Most recently, EDF provided critical support to restart the operation of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, protecting essential baseload power from permanent closure. EDF also helped advance other innovative firm power technologies, such as geothermal, by providing financing to Ormat to support three geothermal power plants in Nevada. Now, with the new authorities provided in the Energy Dominance Financing Program, EDF is perfectly timed to support the next wave of American energy ingenuity.

Second, how do we secure critical mineral supply chains? Rapid technology innovation requires secure, domestic access to mineral resources. China has actively weaponized its control over these resources against the U.S. and our allies, posing a direct threat to our energy independence and national security. By explicitly making critical minerals projects eligible for financing, the Energy Dominance Financing program builds on the EDF’s previous successes to reduce our dangerous reliance on foreign adversaries.

When we fail to provide sufficient scale-up capital for American technology, we create a vulnerability for others to exploit. In the past, U.S. companies in sectors vital to our energy future — such as advanced battery components and manufacturing — failed to secure adequate financing domestically, leading them to partner with or sell intellectual property to state-backed entities in China. This failure led to the loss of American jobs and a competitive advantage overseas.

Critically, EDF should serve as an essential tool for American innovation. By betting on American entrepreneurs, EDF can leverage public and private support for energy projects that could generate significant economic and environmental spillovers.

If we do not strategically invest in American industry, our adversaries will. By deploying the Trump administration’s Energy Dominance Financing Program, we can strengthen our national security and ensure our world-leading culture of technological innovation remains a bulwark against foreign competition. This is how we ensure American technology — not Chinese or Russian — powers the future.

Jeremy Harrell is CEO of ClearPath Action, Drew Bond is the Co-Founder, President and CEO of C3 Solutions, and Zach Graves is President & CEO at the Foundation for American Innovation.