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Politics : The Solyndra Scandal -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hope Praytochange who wrote (335)	12/30/2011 10:33:48 AM
From: joseffy	Respond to of 1400

Solyndra--one of many companies to dine sumptuously at taxpayers' expense

To: Hope Praytochange who wrote (335)	1/4/2012 11:07:53 PM
From: joseffy	1 Recommendation Respond to of 1400

Utility may cut off power to solar plant January 1, 2012 by Don Surber Idaho Power plans to cut off electricity on Tuesday to plant in Pocatello, Idaho, that makes material for solar energy, because the factory owes $1.9 million in unpaid utility bills. The dispute is with Honolulu-based Hoku Scientific, Inc., which is backed by Chinese financing and enjoys federal and state incentives. Officials for the utility said Idaho Power agreed to hold off until March on collecting the $1.8 million Hoku already owed, providing the company stayed current in its bills. It didn’t. That’s a telltale sign of trouble as thanks to hydroelectric plants and thermal energy, Idaho enjoys some of the lowest electric rates in the nation. The Associated Press reported the company’s stock now sells at “well below” $1 a share, down from a 52-week high of $3.24. State and company officials were extremely upbeat when they announced the plans for the plant on August 30, 2006: Hoku Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOKU), a materials science company focused on clean energy technologies, today announced it has selected the State of Idaho as the location for Hoku Solar and Hoku Materials, its solar module and polysilicon business units, respectively. Dustin Shindo, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Hoku Scientific, said, “We are pleased to have selected Idaho as the location for our new businesses. We believe that Idaho is the best location in terms of cost, resources, labor and government support.” “We are very excited that Hoku Scientific has chosen Idaho as the location for its new high technology renewable energy-focused businesses,” said Idaho’s Governor Jim Risch. “We have met with their management team, and were impressed with their growth strategy. We expect Hoku Scientific to have a significant long-term positive impact on our economy.” The State of Idaho and the municipal governments have offered Hoku Scientific a variety of incentives to attract the Hoku Solar and Hoku Materials businesses, including tax incentives, financial support for infrastructure improvements around the facilities, and grants to fund the training of new employees. “Idaho is a very attractive place for us to expand our business,” said Shindo, “and we look forward to contributing to Idaho’s growing and diversified economy.” But like many other alternative energy projects, this one has hit bad times. Here is an idea: No more tax incentives, subsidies or free rides. Make people go out, find investors and come up with a product that is cheaper and better than what is on the market. Instead of helping Idaho, it looks as if Hoku may stiff Idaho Power — a $1.9 million bill its other customers will have to cover... blogs.dailymail.com

To: Hope Praytochange who wrote (335)	1/8/2012 9:37:23 PM
From: joseffy	Respond to of 1400

Solar power failures adding up BP bails on the subsidy-dependent business. Dec. 27, 2011 ocregister.com International competitors, particularly China, turn out solar panels more cheaply, even as global demand has slowed. When supply outstrips demand, higher-cost providers suffer, as BP learned. Even government subsidies, without which solar manufacturers couldn't begin to compete with less-costly, conventional energy, couldn't keep BP competitive. A similar lesson was learned this year by Solyndra, the bankrupted Northern California solar-panel maker that burned through $535 million in federal guaranteed loans. Last week, First Solar, the only pure-play solar-panel maker in the S&P 500 stock index, issued a profit warning for 2012, as profit fell to a four-year low, and the company said it will shift to large-scale utility projects rather than residential solar panels. "Beyond the United States," the Journal reported, "there have been a rash of recent solar company failures in Germany as well." The failures come as China, which heavily subsidizes its solar manufacturers, flooded the market with less-expensive products, and as other governments ratcheted back their own tax-financed subsidies. Solon became the first publicly traded solar company to file for bankruptcy in Germany, unable to repay loans of 275 million euros. Since 1990 Germany has imposed mandates that utilities must pay higher-than-market prices for solar and other so-called renewable energy sources, driving retail costs 46 percent higher than conventional sources, Bloomberg New Energy Finance says. California government mandates designed to stimulate renewable energy mean that utilities "are committed to spending - and their ratepayers to financing - at least $6 billion in above-market power costs, with more to come," according to columnist Dan Walters. Electric bills for U.S. consumers skyrocketed in the past five years, adding $300 a year to household costs, USA Today reported. This should be unsurprising. President Barack Obama three years ago said to move the nation off traditional energy sources and on to these impractical alternatives, "electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket." So-called renewable energy is possible only if government demands those sources replace conventional energy, and subsidizes their manufacture, purchase or operation with tax dollars. Even then, there isn't enough subsidy – let alone demand – to make these systems cost-effective. Sooner or later, economic reality prevails.

To: Hope Praytochange who wrote (335)	1/13/2012 9:08:40 PM
From: joseffy	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1400

Twelve More Solyndras Crony capitalism and coercive ideology march blindly onward. by John Hayward 01/13/2012 humanevents.com You loved that half-billion-dollar Solyndra disaster, didn’t you? Sure, who didn’t? Over $500 million of taxpayer loot recklessly stuffed into the pockets of top Obama contributor George Kaiser, to bankroll a failed company that currently rots in bankruptcy… but is still trying to ladle out huge bonuses to its six-figure employees. Well, great news! CBS News found a dozen more Solyndras – “green energy” companies pumped full of your money in defiance of all business sense: Take Beacon Power -- a green energy storage company. We were surprised to learn exactly what the Energy Department knew before committing $43 million of your tax dollars. Documents obtained by CBS News show Standard and Poor's had confidentially given the project a dismal outlook of "CCC-plus." Asked whether he'd put his personal money into Beacon, economist Peter Morici replied, "Not on purpose." "It's, it is a junk bond," Morici said. "But it's not even a good junk bond. It's well below investment grade." Was the Energy Department investing tax dollars in something that's not even a good junk bond? Morici says yes. "This level of bond has about a 70 percent chance of failing in the long term," he said. You read that right, folks: Beacon Power had a CCC-plus toxic rating from S&P before investment genius Barack Obama poured $43 million of your money into it. They did indeed go bankrupt, two months ago. No, you probably aren’t getting your money back. But wait, there’s more! CBS News counted 12 clean energy companies that are having trouble after collectively being approved for more than $6.5 billion in federal assistance. Five have filed for bankruptcy: The junk bond-rated Beacon, Evergreen Solar, SpectraWatt, AES' subsidiary Eastern Energy and Solyndra. Others are also struggling with potential problems. Nevada Geothermal -- a home state project personally endorsed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid -- warns of multiple potential defaults in new SEC filings reviewed by CBS News. It was already having trouble paying the bills when it received $98.5 million in Energy Department loan guarantees. Well, at least all this is stimulating American business, right? SunPower landed a deal linked to a $1.2 billion loan guarantee last fall, after a French oil company took it over. On its last financial statement, SunPower owed more than it was worth. On its last financial statement, SunPower owed more than it was worth. SunPower's role is to design, build and initially operate and maintain the California Valley Solar Ranch Project that's the subject of the loan guarantee. (Emphasis mine.) Oh. Well, at least the French will be grateful that Barack Obama forced American taxpayers to subsidize one of their American corporate acquisitions. These disasters couldn’t have been corrupt examples of politicians raiding the federal refrigerator for bacon they could drag back to their home states, could they? Naaaaaah…. Others are also struggling with potential problems. Nevada Geothermal -- a home state project personally endorsed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid -- warns of multiple potential defaults in new SEC filings reviewed by CBS News. It was already having trouble paying the bills when it received $98.5 million in Energy Department loan guarantees. Oh, but that’s not all. On top of those loan guarantees, Nevada Geothermal also received “at least $66 million in grants,” as the New York Times reported back in October. At the time, company executives were “expressing confidence that they can recover,” and assuring everyone in earshot that “the government investment is not at risk.” The poisonous reasoning behind these “green energy” debacles was made abundantly clear by a Reid spokesman: Mr. Reid has received some support from the industry, in the form of at least $43,000 worth of campaign contributions from the geothermal industry since 2009, according to an analysis of federal campaign finance records. Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Mr. Reid, said that the senator was proud of his work as an advocate for geothermal power and a broad array of other clean energy projects in his state. But Mr. Jentleson, and the Energy Department spokesman, said Nevada Geothermal company had not received, nor been offered, any special treatment. “If projects like this did not contain a certain level of risk, alongside their enormous potential for creating jobs and generating clean energy, there would be no need for the bipartisan loan guarantee program,” Mr. Jentleson said. Precisely. These projects don’t make any economic sense, so they can’t attract enough willing investors. Therefore, high-powered politicians and lobbyists force the rest of us to “invest” in them, so we can Win The Future. Meanwhile, these phony politically-invented “opportunities” attract investors who like the idea of government using compulsive force to make taxpayers cover any losses that might be incurred. Capital is thus diverted away from truly viable and useful opportunities. If you’re still wondering how deranged levels of government spending actually kill jobs, instead of merely failing to create enough of them, this is part of the answer: polluting the market with false data. As the Times pointed out, plenty of Republicans and the Bush Administration supported this type of thinking too, which is why it’s important to dismantle the whole diseased system, rather than simply installing new management. Or we could just re-elect Barack Obama, keep Harry Reid in charge of the system, and get ready for the next dozen Solyndras.