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Nonpartisan organization releases white paper outlining critical role of DOE’s Energy Dominance Financing program in securing U.S. energy leadership
Washington, D.C. – The Energy Infrastructure Alliance Forum (EIAF) today announced its official launch as a nonpartisan organization dedicated to advancing America’s energy infrastructure and innovation through strategic federal financing programs. Coinciding with the launch, EIAF is releasing a comprehensive white paper examining how the Department of Energy’s newly renamed Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) can accelerate the Trump Administration’s energy dominance agenda.
The white paper, “Energy Dominance Financing Program: A Key Tool for Advancing the Energy Dominance Agenda,” provides a roadmap for leveraging EDF’s expanded authorities under the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) to support critical energy infrastructure priorities, including nuclear energy expansion, artificial intelligence power requirements, critical mineral supply chains, and grid resilience.
“The United States has long led the world in energy infrastructure and innovation, but today we face unprecedented global competition, particularly from adversaries like China,” said Taite McDonald, Co-founder and board member of the new organization. “EIAF was formed to address a critical gap in support for energy innovation and infrastructure development, with a focus on educating policymakers and the public about federal financing programs that can bridge the ‘commercialization valley of death’ for transformative energy projects.”
The newly established 1706 Energy Dominance Financing Program provides expansive statutory authority to finance projects that expand the capacity, efficiency, resilience, and security of U.S. energy infrastructure. EIAF’s white paper identifies key priorities where EDF can play a decisive role:
Nuclear Energy: Supporting reactor restarts, uprates, and deployment of advanced small modular reactors to provide baseload capacity and maintain global leadership.
AI and Data Center Power: Financing large-scale, dispatchable power resources to meet surging electricity demand from artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
Critical Minerals: De-risking mining and processing projects to reduce dependence on foreign adversaries for materials essential to energy and defense systems.
Grid Reliability: Supporting geothermal, long-duration energy storage, and other clean, firm resources that strengthen energy security.
EIAF’s white paper also provides specific policy recommendations to enhance EDF’s effectiveness, including maintaining steady funding and staffing as well as enhancing cross-agency coordination. “The necessary financing tools can help catalyze and commercialize innovative American technologies said Nick Loris, EIAF Board Member and President of C3 Solutions. “EDF has emerged as a critical lever for translating presidential directives into real projects. Our white paper demonstrates how rapid implementation of the 1706 program can deliver infrastructure that hardens the grid, secures critical minerals, expands nuclear power, and meets surging national security applications.”
Throughout its 15-year history, DOE loan programs have financed significant innovation, including the first large-scale solar and wind projects in the U.S., advanced-vehicle manufacturers like Tesla, and the Vogtle nuclear units—the first new nuclear reactors built in America in more than 30 years. The program has demonstrated strong financial performance with a 3% default rate and a track record of interest payments exceeding losses.
The Energy Infrastructure Alliance Forum, with founding board members Taite McDonald, Partner at Holland and Knight, Nick Loris, President of C3 Solutions and John Lushetsky, Senior Vice President of ML Strategies (previously Senior Advisor to DOE LPO/EDFO), will serve as a convenor and coordinator for stakeholders working to optimize federal energy financing programs. The organization will produce policy research and thought leadership to accelerate energy infrastructure deployment.
The full white paper is available here.
About Energy Infrastructure Alliance Forum
The Energy Infrastructure Alliance Forum is a nonpartisan organization that supports effective energy infrastructure financing programs addressing the “commercialization valley of death” for energy projects and energy resiliency initiatives. EIAF educates policymakers and the public on laws and policies that accelerate energy infrastructure and innovation, with a focus on federal financing tools, including the Department of Energy’s Energy Dominance Financing Program.