We introduce and study the $ρ$-Loewner energy, a variant of the Loewner energy with a force point on the boundary of the domain. We prove a large deviation principle for SLE$_κ(ρ)$, as $κ\to 0+$ and $ρ>-2$ is fixed, with the $ρ$-Loewner energy as the rate function in both radial and chordal settings. The unique minimizer of the $ρ$-Loewner energy is the SLE$_0(ρ)$ curve. We show that it exhibits three phases as $ρ$ varies and give a flow-line representation. We also define a whole-plane variant for which we explicitly describe the trace. We further obtain alternative formulas for the $ρ$-Loewner energy in the reference point hitting phase, $ρ> -2$. In the radial setting we give an equivalent description in terms of the Dirichlet energy of $\log|h'|$, where $h$ is a conformal map onto the complement of the curve, plus a point contribution from the tip of the curve. In the chordal setting, we derive a similar formula under the assumption that the chord ends in the $ρ$-Loewner energy optimal way. Finally, we express the $ρ$-Loewner energy in terms of $ζ$-regularized determinants of Laplacians.