The Hill News

A key House Republican who has been highly critical of the Obama administration for providing loan guarantees to now-bankrupt solar energy firm Solyndra urged the Energy Department to help fund a Michigan solar company that has now also suspended operations.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) sent a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu in 2009 recommending a loan for United Solar Ovonics, a solar company in his home state, according to the Washington Post. But the company announced earlier this month that it would be laying off 140 workers at two manufacturing plants.

Democrats argue that Upton's advocacy is exactly the type of choosing "winners and losers" that the chairman has denounced in the Solyndra case. But Upton's office dismissed the comparison, saying that the Energy Department is the one tasked with making decisions about backing loans, and that Upton had simply asked the Department to evaluate United Solar.

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