Approved loan to solar-panel maker and restructuring.
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Energy Secretary Steven Chu is taking responsibility for critical decisions in the Solyndra story. Chu met with experts and senior aides before deciding to grant the California solar company a $535 million loan guarantee in March 2009, a Department of Energy spokesman says. Then, despite warnings signs that the company was about to collapse, Chu approved new terms for Solyndra's loan that allowed private investors, rather than taxpayers, to be paid back first if the company defaulted. During a hearing earlier this month, Republicans demanded to know who was responsible for approving the loan and its later restructuring, but the Department of Energy loan office chief said he didn't know.
