The news comes as the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office is in the final stages of negotiating a $1.6 billion loan to help Plug Power build more domestic hydrogen production facilities.
Plug Power isn't the first financially troubled company with DOE funding to face legal scrutiny.
Last month, the Washington Free Beacon reported that Sunnova, a solar company that was approved for a $3 billion conditional DOE loan, was sued by investors who claimed the company withheld information about its allegedly "Predatory business practices against disadvantaged homeowners and communities." The DOE's loan office has been working to fast-track the $1.6 billion funding approval for Plug Power, the Free Beacon reported in January.
Last month, Plug Power also received $75 million in grants from the DOE to expand its New York manufacturing operations.
The DOE funding to Plug Power could add to concerns about conflicts of interest in the DOE loan office, a subject that is already under investigation by the department's inspector general.
The director of the DOE loan office, former green energy mogul Jigar Shah, had a prior financial relationship with Plug Power, the Free Beacon reported in January.
Plug Power repaid the $100 million to Generate at a 9 percent interest rate last December, while the company was in negotiations with Shah's office for the DOE funding, according to corporate disclosure filings.
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