Someone from the Energy Department has been editing old press releases related to Solyndra, CNBC reports.

The changes occurred in two press releases from the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program — the same program that has been the center of controversy surrounding the failed solar company Solyndra.

Both were changed to remove the name of a company that has received negative press attention in recent days, SunPower, and replace it with the name of another company, NRG Energy.

Standard procedure is for the government to release a new version of the press release with the changes explained while retaining the old one for records. Instead, someone from the Energy Department is editing old releases in the hope no one would notice.

In the April case, the Department of Energy loan programs office announced in a press release on April 12 “conditional commitment” to a $1.187 billion loan guarantee to support the California Valley Solar Ranch project, which it said was “sponsored by SunPower Corporation.”

But that release was later changed on one website to say the project was “sponsored by NRG Energy.” The date on the release remained “April 12, 2011.”

The two companies are closely linked. Just before the announcement of the loan guarantee in September, NRG completed its long-in-process acquisition from SunPower of the same California Valley Solar Ranch project that had received federal support.

But in April, that project was still owned by SunPower, not NRG.

In a second instance of retroactive press release revision, someone changed a release from September 30 that announced the finalization of the California Solar Generation project. In an early version of the September 30 press release, the government said the project was “sponsored by SunPower.” That was later changed to “sponsored by NRG Energy.”

CNBC approached the Energy Department with evidence of the alterations. The agency now insists it was all the work of an outside contractor who apparently takes an interest in quietly editing old press releases connected to major scandals. I’m, shall we say, skeptical.