Green Energy Reporter

12 November '09
6:29 PM EST
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DOE Turns to Venture Capitalists to Execute Green Energy Policy

A lot of attention was given yesterday to the appointment of venture capital pro Jonathan Silver, as the executive director of the Department of Energy’s loan program office.

As Dan Primack reports on PeHUB, a number of former VC investors have jumped ship over the past year and are now executing President Barack Obama’s green power policy. They include:

Nick Sinai: Sinai was appointed energy and environmental director at the Federal Communications Commission this summer. He joined the FCC from Tenaya Capital, the former venture unit of Lehman Brothers, which focuses on technology and cleantech investments. Sinai also worked as a senior associate with Polaris Venture Partners. Primack reports that Sinai also oversaw corporate development for GreenFuel Technologies, a Polaris portfolio company. Read More »

Tagged: Dan Primack, David Danielson, Department of Energy, John Doerr, Jonathan Silver, Nick Sinai, PeHUB, venture capitalist

11 November '09
3:25 PM EST
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Funding

Policy

DOE Hires Venture Capitalist to Oversee Key Cleantech Funding Program

Back in March, as the first draft of the Obama administration’s massive green energy investment program began to emerge, we asked if the Department of the Treasury was poised to become cleantech’s new venture capital fund (The Treasury: clean energy’s new VC).

It turns out that we were wrong. Treasury only administers the Obama administration’s green energy funds. The Department of Energy is where the power is, since it actually decides who gets the money. For confirmation of DOE’s growing power, look no further than this press release announcing the appointment of Jonathan Silver, a Washington-based venture capitalist, as the executive director of the DOE’s loan program office. DOE (not Treasury) is clean energy’s new VC. The appointment is yet another indication of the agency’s transformation as one of Washington’s leading funding sources.

In this role, Silver will decide what clean energy and automobile companies get money. Besides the energy loan guarantees, Silver is also in charge of the Department’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) program. Read More »

Tagged: ATVM, Core Capital Partners, Department of Energy, Jonathan Silver, loan guarantees, Matt Rogers, McKinsey and Company, Steven Chu