WASHINGTON — Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is being questioned about whether she stands to make a financial windfall from stocks she owns in an electric bus company that President Joe Biden has singled out for notice.
This week, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a member of the House Oversight Committee, asked Granholm to explain why she hasn't divested what are potentially millions of dollars' worth of shares of Proterra and whether Biden's virtual tour of the electric bus maker last month could be a financial boon to her.
"You have spent much of your time as secretary of DOE (the Department of Energy) actively pushing a public relations campaign to endorse electric vehicles, batteries and charging infrastructure," Norman wrote. "I want to ensure that you are taking your ethics requirements seriously, and not using your position to profit financially."
Late last month, U.S. Sen, John Barrasso, R-Wyo., also asked the Energy Department's inspector general to look into Granholm's ties with the company and whether they present a potential conflict of interest.
Granholm's spokesman, Kevin Liao, said neither she nor the department had anything to do with the planning of the White House event in April, where Biden met with officials and workers at Proterra's South Carolina facility remotely. And while Biden has clearly made the transition to electric vehicles a priority, Granholm — while part of that effort — has not had any involvement in any programs involving electric buses such as those made by the company.
That said, Granholm is still central to the government's push to address climate change by reducing greenhouse gases — a goal that requires addressing emissions from buses as well as other modes of transportation, which accounts for nearly a third of all emissions. And that very push could make investments in companies that stand to benefit from government initiatives more attractive.
Granholm, a former Michigan governor, resigned a position on the board of Proterra upon being confirmed, as she agreed to do under her agreement with the Office of Government Ethics. That same agreement calls for her to divest herself of shares in the company but gives her 180 days from her confirmation by the U.S. Senate in February to do so.
Her office reiterated Thursday that Granholm intends to make those divestments in accordance with the agreement, but it wasn't immediately clear why they couldn't, or hadn't, already occurred. A spokeswoman with the Office of Government Ethics, however, said that when its staff works on an agreement with a government official, it takes into account what might be considered a reasonable amount of time to divest of a stock, given various aspects, such as how easily such shares may be sold.
Proterra is a privately traded company but is expected to go public through a merger with ArcLight Clean Transition, an acquisitions company, in the first half of this year.
