How will this shape U.S. policy?

former apollo Gregory Beard, a business owner and longtime New Yorker, says he had no intention of leaving the private sector for any job. But an opportunity arose in the form of Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who appointed Mr. Beard to head the Energy Control Financing Authority.

EDF, formerly known as the Loan Program Office and part of the Department of Energy, is the world’s largest energy lender, with current lending authority of approximately $289 billion.

Beard first joined EDF as a senior advisor from Bitcoin miner Stronghold Digital Mining in April 2025, before officially becoming a director on January 29.

“If I hadn’t felt so passionate about Secretary Wright’s message and why the president chose him, I would still be in the private sector,” Beard said in an exclusive interview with CNBC.

Beard has only been at the helm for a few weeks, but he has big plans for the agency, including distributing capital in record time. And as the energy complex undergoes a generational shift and natural resources increasingly drive geopolitics, EDF could be an important tool in shaping America’s energy future.

Beard said his first task will be to review loans granted during the Biden administration, most of which were approved in the months between Election Day and Inauguration Day in 2024. The results of what he called “reconstruction work” affected more than 80% of the Biden administration’s portfolio, or about $83.6 billion worth of loans, according to the Department of Energy. Most focused on emissions reduction projects.

Beard said the review process included making sure the projects remaining in the portfolio were consistent with the Trump administration’s energy goals. In all, approximately $30 billion in conditional loan commitments have been canceled or withdrawn by applicants, and approximately $53 billion worth of loans have been restructured, the DOE said.

The goal was to protect taxpayers and focus on affordability and reliability, Beard said. “This is not a change in policy, this is protection of the dollar,” he said.

EDF was founded in 2005. The agency has served as a bridge of sorts for U.S. companies that may struggle to raise funds through traditional capital markets due to perceived risk. In theory, the rigorous process for securing an EDF loan could be seen as a seal of approval from the government, opening the door for additional funding to help nascent companies and technologies get off the ground. It has produced hits for over 20 years, including 2010’s Loan. tesla — and, most notably, its support for solar power manufacturer Solyndra, which ultimately went bankrupt.

Under President Joe Biden and his climate-focused administration, the agency has been significantly strengthened to serve as a green bank of sorts. Staff has increased fourfold, and funding available through the Inflation Control Act has increased tenfold.

But with the new administration in place, the White House reversed course, abandoning the green angle that President Donald Trump called a fraud. In addition to the official name change, the agency now focuses on six areas: nuclear power; Coal, oil, gas, hydrocarbons. Important substances and minerals. geothermal; grid and transmission; and manufacturing and transportation.

“Every project we do will make energy more affordable for Americans, help us beat AI, strengthen our power grid, and get us out from under China’s strategy of monopolizing certain critical minerals,” Beard said. “Everything we do has a very specific focus.”

During the first Trump administration, EDF was largely dormant. But Beard said the office is now ready. “We have direction. We are open for business. … I think we will invest this capital in America’s future in record time,” he said.

Beard said his office has about 80 loan applications in progress. This includes a mix of new projects and projects that have been restructured to align with the administration’s priorities, he said.

The restructured EDF made three loans. AEP, constellation energy and Wabash Valley Resources. All three were created during the previous administration. But Beard said the pace will pick up soon, suggesting the upcoming announcement could be the largest loan in the agency’s history.

“The first few quarters were really a rebuilding effort to fix what this office had done in the past,” he said. “Now we are focused on the future.”

The first soup-to-nuts loan from EDF is likely to be the start of a “wave of financing around affordability, reliability and increasing grid generation,” Beard said, adding that “the bulk of the capital” will ultimately be focused on power costs.

As the midterm elections approach, affordability is becoming a bigger issue. Electricity prices are rising faster than overall inflation, hurting consumers who are feeling the squeeze on all fronts.

Electricity demand has been steadily increasing for many years, and power companies are now planning, sometimes decades in advance, to understand future needs. But that is changing. Electricity demand is increasing for several reasons, including artificial intelligence, the return of manufacturing, and the voracious demand for electricity such as widespread electrification.

Reliability is also an important issue. Lack of available power is seen as one potential bottleneck in the AI ​​arms race with China. Increasingly frequent and severe storms, attributed to climate change, are another source of stress on the power grid.

The Trump administration has announced a number of initiatives that it says will help meet demand, including ordering the Pentagon in early February to buy coal-fired power and keep coal-fired power plants open. Coal use in the United States has been declining for years, thanks to competition from cheap gas and renewable energy.

Beard hopes EDF can address the supply shortage. One way is to focus on making the most of existing generations, he said.

“We need to refurbish and refresh the existing generators so that when they stop, they don’t stop, and we don’t make it so difficult to climb up a hill that is already a mountain,” he said.

Newly built properties are also part of this. “We have to remind ourselves again how important it is to do it and build it. That’s what we’re really pushing forward with,” he said.

Allowing delays can create difficulties for new projects. Many parts of the country have had a years-long backlog of projects that want to connect to the grid.

Some have criticized the administration’s decision to cancel several offshore wind projects that were more than 90% complete amid the supply crunch. (Judges have since ordered construction to resume.) Critics think the administration should be more open to wind and solar power, which can be produced more cheaply and, in some cases, connect to the grid more quickly.

One way to compare costs between energy sources is to look at the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE). According to widely cited Lazard data, the cost of new utility-scale solar power ranges from $38 to $78 per megawatt hour. Onshore wind costs $37-86/MWh, gas combined cycle costs $48-109/MWh, and coal costs $71-173/MWh.

However, LCOE does not take into account capacity utilization, the amount of time an asset is producing at maximum output, as well as the value of dispatchable resources. According to the Energy Information Administration, nuclear power has the highest capacity factor, at over 90%. Combined cycle gas is about 69% and coal is 43%. Wind and solar account for 34% and 23%, respectively.

EDF has traditionally been an important supporter of capital-intensive nuclear projects, which at times have gone over budget or behind schedule. And now, with the Trump administration emphasizing nuclear power and claiming it will quadruple U.S. production capacity by 2050, nuclear power is a priority for government agencies.

“We can’t push any further,” Beard said, adding that he expects to see more activity in this area in the coming months and quarters. The agency is willing to finance up to 80% of the project cost, he said.

Tech companies are also turning to nuclear power, the only source of emissions-free baseload electricity, to power their data centers. Hyperscalers have power purchase agreements with companies such as Constellation and Constellation. Vistra Unlike wind and solar power, nuclear reactors operate 24/7. This shows how desirable nuclear power is. Big technology companies are also backing small modular reactor companies (SMRs), which promise faster schedules and controlled costs.

In November, EDF closed on a $1 billion loan to Constellation Energy to restart the shuttered nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island, now known as the Crane Clean Energy Center. The agency had previously provided $12 billion. southern company In addition to the construction of reactors 3 and 4 at Plant Vogtle, a $1.5 billion loan guarantee was also granted to Holtec to restart the Palisades nuclear power plant in Covert Township, Michigan. There are currently no commercial-scale nuclear reactors under construction in the United States, but Westinghouse, the maker of the AP1000 reactor, said it plans to build 10 large reactors with construction starting in 2030.

Beard pointed to President Trump’s extension of the investment tax credit as an advantage for the industry. He said EDF plans to support projects with such long lead times.

“We spent the last year cutting costs and creating incentive structures to get this industry thriving again,” he said. “In our view, everything we need to restart this industry is on the table.”

Another key focus for EDF is critical minerals, as part of a broader push by the United States to strengthen domestic supplies and move away from overseas dependence. China has weaponized metals in the past by restricting rare earth exports, but given China’s control of the metals supply chain, especially when it comes to refining, there are concerns that other exports could also be curtailed.

Beard said that while the Pentagon is working to resolve “crisis-level problems,” EDF plans to help companies trying to break China’s stranglehold on metals that are key to everything from consumer products to the power grid to AI.

“If China is in year 10 of its 20-year plan, we will intervene and support projects and companies that disrupt that strategy,” he said.

Mr. Beard said that while the agency’s reorganization would mean job cuts, it would not slow the pace of lending or compromise the quality of the projects it supports. Instead, he said, fewer people will be needed because EDF will focus on repeatable projects rather than unique projects that don’t make economic sense.

“I’m actually just a professional investor and a new government official,” he said. “Discipline is about making sure we do projects that benefit the American people and are sure to pay off.”