Director of Outreach and Business Development
U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office
Mr. Robert H. Edwards Jr. is the Director of Outreach and Business Development for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO). He leads LPO’s business development activities to communicate the LPO value proposition and support innovative energy projects in the U.S. that will accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy and drive the nationwide deployment of electric vehicles and the necessary charging infrastructure. An accomplished executive, Mr. Edwards has been active as an attorney and banker in the energy sector for over 20 years in the U.S. and abroad.
Previously, Mr. Edwards was an appointed member of the non-career Senior Executive Service serving as DOE’s Deputy General Counsel for Energy Policy during the Obama Administration. He advised DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewal Energy, Office of Electricity, and Office of Fossil Energy as they deployed the majority of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds appropriated to the DOE. He reviewed LPO transactions before they were presented to the Credit Review Board. Mr. Edwards structured and led negotiations of the groundbreaking $465 million loan to Tesla issued under LPO’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program. Mr. Edwards was a partner on the energy and projects teams of two Am Law 100 firms where he led over $15 billion in clean energy sector project finance, M&A transactions, and advisory engagements located in the U.S., Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Africa. Mr. Edwards executed project finance deals as a member of the J.P. Morgan Global Commodities Group in New York City. Mr. Edwards earned his AB in Economics magna cum laude from Harvard University, and his joint JD/MBA from Stanford University.