The ONLY reason you are not seeing this [or GUNRUNNER] in the news, is because Obama continues to fan the flames of class envy with the idiots in the bogus OWS movement TO KEEP THE REAL NEWS OFF THE FRONT PAGES - and the press is totally complicit in burying these scandals!
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This administration definitely has a problem that should be of growing concern to all. Here are updates (in red) of the notorious and not so notorious solar company issues facing an administration that hung its hat and credibility on 'green' energy. Some are quite incestuous.
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8/15/2011: ASCENT SOLAR TECHNOLOGIES - On Monday, struggling solar thin-film maker Ascent Solar Technologies said it plans to sell a stake in the company and license its technology to Chinese conglomerate TFG Radiant Group. TFG Radiant Group promises to spend roughly $165 million to build a factory in China [1]
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10/31/2011: Beacon Power Corp., a Massachusetts company that received a $43 million Energy Department loan guarantee last year, filed for bankruptcy Sunday (10/30/2011) - a step certain to fuel criticism of federal green energy financing in the wake of the solar company Solyndra’s collapse. Beacon Power Corporation develops energy storage systems.
Beacon Power had received federal loan guarantee to help build an energy storage plant in Stephentown, New York that began operating in January. The Treasury Department’s Federal Financing Bank provided the loan. [13]
Beacon Power drew down $39 million of its government-guaranteed loan to fund a portion of a $69 million, 20-megawatt flywheel energy storage plant in Stephentown, New York.
There are several key differences between the two loans, an Energy Department spokesman said on Sunday, noting the Beacon plant continues to operate, unlike Solyndra, which shut down shortly before filing for bankruptcy.
Beacon currently operates at a loss and its revenues are not enough to support its operations, it said in court documents. The case is Beacon Power Corp, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, No. 11-13450. [17]
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3/27/2010: BP SOLAR - BP will close its solar-panel manufacturing plant in Frederick MD, the final step in moving its solar business out of the United States to facilities in China, India and other countries. Just 3-1/2 years ago, in an announcement widely hailed by Maryland officials and promoters of "green jobs," BP unveiled a $70 million plan to double output at the facility and erected a building to house the production lines. But on Friday the company said it would lay off 320 workers and keep only a hundred people involved in research, sales and project development. [7] BP Solar received $11,670,754 in tax credits in January, 2010 [4]
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9/16/2011: CALISOLAR, INC. - Calisolar Inc., a solar manufacturer that withdrew its application for a U.S. Energy Department loan guarantee, is firing 23 percent of its workforce as it shifts its business model.
Closely held Calisolar is firing 80 people at a solar-cell plant and will focus on manufacturing polysilicon used to make the cells, the Sunnyvale, California-based company said today in an e-mailed statement. Calisolar has 350 employees, according to its website.
The job cuts come as solar manufacturers are struggling with foreign competition and plummeting prices for their products. Prices for solar cells have dropped 43 percent in the past year, and solar-panel manufacturers Evergreen Solar Inc., SpectraWatt Inc. and Solyndra LLC have filed for bankruptcy in the past month. [8] Calisolar received a tax credit in January, 2010 of $51,563,980 [4]
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8/15/2011: EVERGREEN SOLAR - Evergreen Solar Inc., the Massachusetts clean-energy company that received millions in state subsidies from the Gov. Deval Patrick administration for an ill-fated Bay State factory, has filed for bankruptcy, listing $485.6 million in debt. Greg Bialecki, Patrick’s economic development czar, defended the administration’s support for the once-promising Evergreen. The state is still trying to recoup about $4 million in cash from the Marlboro-based company. [2]
Evergreen, which closed its taxpayer-supported Devens factory in March and cut 800 jobs, has been trying to rework its debt for months. The cash-strapped company announced today has sought a reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware and reached a deal with certain note holders to restructure its debt and auction off assets [2]
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8/15/2011: FIRST SOLAR, INC. – First Solar reported lackluster second-quarter financial results. The company’s net income dived 61.6 percent down to $61.1 million from $159 million in the same quarter a year ago. That led to earnings of $0.70 per share, down 63 percent from $1.84 per share a year ago.
At the same time, sales dropped 9.4 percent to $532.8 million from $587.9 million during the same period. [1] First Solar received a tax credit in January, 2010 of $16,320,000 [4] First Solar, an American company, is one of the world’s largest solar power vendors. But most of its products are made overseas. [16]
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10/8/2011: GRANITE RELIABLE POWER: Owners of Zuccotti Park Recently Received $135 Million in Tax Money for Wind Farm…New Hampshire’s largest wind farm, the Granite Reliable Power project under construction in Coos County, is jointly owned by BAIF Granite Holdings, LLC and Freshnet Wind Energy, LLC. BAIF owns 75 percent of Granite Reliable. BAIF Granite Holdings was created earlier this year by Brookfield Renewable Power, which is a subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management of New York.
That company, which runs clean energy operations around the world, has deep pockets. It reported net income of $454 million in 2009 and $3.2 billion in 2010. Brookfield Renewable Power financed the creation of BAIF Granite Holdings from its Brookfield Americas Infrastructure fund, which was reported in February to have $2.7 billion in assets. With that kind of backing, it is curious that the U.S. Department of Energy announced it would guarantee up to 80 percent of a $168.9 million loan for the Granite Reliable wind farm project last week.
Now why does a company worth billions need taxpayer funding for some green energy project? Something surely smells here. Let's see: They opened the park in mid-September, and magically on September 23, here's a windfall of taxpayer cash. You'll never guess who lobbies for Brookfield. The firm of Oldaker, Biden & Belair, founded by Joe Biden's son. Well, isn't that a cozy relationship? [15]
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9/16/2011: LIGHTSQUARED - LightSquared Scandal Explodes. Allegations… first made in February about White House political favors for a company called LightSquared are starting to get the attention they deserve. It’s being reported that Obama was an early investor in LightSquared, before he became president
… The White House is facing accusations that it tried to pressure an Air Force general to change his testimony on the GPS interference issue. The accusation that Gen. William Shelton was pressured came at the same time the White House was attempting to explain its role in the awarding of $500-million loan guarantee to now-bankrupt Solyndra, in which billionaire Obama bundler George Kaiser was a major investor. [5] Julius Genachowski, another former Obama fundraiser and big party donor who was named to head the FCC, was called to testify before Congress about fast-tracking waivers to LightSquared, but he refused to appear, said Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) [12]
10/7/2011: LightSquared and its backer, Philip Falcone's Harbinger Capital, is facing rising political heat over its national LTE plans, to add to its problems with GPS interference. Iowa senator Charles Grassley, the ranking Republican on the US Senate Judiciary Committee, has called for the companies to make public all records of their communications with White House officials, amid accusations that campaign contributions to the Democrats influenced the FCC's decision to give the green light to LightSquared - despite the dangers of disruption to GPS services. [12]
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9/7/2100: SOLARWORLD - Major Solar Manufacturer SolarWorld Shuts Down California Solar Module Factory, Cuts Workforce in Germany. It plans to lay off 186 employees at the end of October, more than half of its local workforce. Employees at SolarWorld Industries America were told Tuesday they were being let go, said spokesman Ben Santarris. They will receive pay and benefits through Oct. 28, plus severance pay. Outplacement services also will be provided." [3] SolarWorld received a tax credit in January, 2010 or $82.5 BILLION. [4]
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8/16/2011: SOLON SOLAR - German solar maker Solon announced that it will shutter a Tucson, Ariz. panel factory and cut 60 jobs. The news is yet another sign that competition from Chinese solar manufacturers and low costs of panels are leading to consolidation in the solar manufacturing industry. Combine that with declining solar subsidies in key European markets such as Italy and Germany, and sales for many solar companies have been significantly disrupted. [1]
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9/12/2011: SOLYNDRA – In May, 2010, accounting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP warned that Solyndra, the recipient of $535 million in federal loan guarantees, had financial troubles deep enough to “raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.”
The Obama administration stood by Solyndra through the auditor’s warning, the abandonment of a planned initial public offering and a last-ditch refinancing where taxpayers took a back seat to new investors. That unwavering commitment has come under increasing scrutiny since the company’s travails culminated in its filing for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 6 and a raid on its headquarters by the Federal Bureau of Investigation two days later. [6] Billionaire Obama bundler George Kaiser was a major investor. [5]
A second top fundraiser for President Barack Obama was linked to a federal loan guarantee program that backed Solyndra. Steve Spinner, who helped monitor the Energy Department’s issuance of $25 billion in government-backed loans to renewable energy projects, was one of Obama’s top fundraisers in 2008 and is raising money for the president’s 2012 re-election campaign. [10] Spinner’s wife’s law firm represented Solyndra, Inc. Spinner was named an advisor to Energy Secretary Steven Chu and was charged with helping oversee a loan guarantee program authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the economic stimulus program. In the Solyndra scandal, the White House pressured the U.S. Department of Energy to provide a half-billion dollar grant to a financially questionable solar energy company in pursuit of the president’s agenda for “green” technology. [11]
The Energy Department also had agreed to restructure Solyndra's debt in a last-ditch effort to keep the company alive, a deal which put taxpayers behind $75 million in private investment. Did Obama campaign donors who were investors in Solyndra play a role in decisions on the loan? -- allegations denied by the White House and Department of Energy (DOE). [17]
[and herein lies the illegality with Solyndra (and finally being investigated by Congress) – NEVER EVER are the interests of the OWNERS put first in a bankruptcy‼!]
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8/26/2011: SPECTRAWATT, INC. - New York-based solar company SpectraWatt Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection this week - the second US solar company to do so this month. Like Evergreen Solar which filed last week, SpectraWatt blames increasing competition from low-cost manufacturers in China and the falling prices of solar panels, caused by an oversupply on the market and a dip in the pace of solar installations. [9]
10/30/2011: SAN DIEGO, Sep 30, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Canadian Solar, Inc. acquired all capital equipment of SpectraWatt, Inc. for $4.945 million at the court-ordered public auction held Wednesday, September 28, in front of a live audience and broadcast over the internet from the SpectraWatt facility at the Hudson Valley Research Park in Hopewell Junction, NY. At approximately 1:30 pm EDT, Ross Dove, Managing Partner of Heritage Global Partners let the hammer fall, awarding Canadian Solar, Inc. all capital assets in a single lot, subject to US Bankruptcy Court final sale approval, scheduled for Thursday, October 6th. [18]
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8/15/2011: SUNPOWER - SunPower widened its second-quarter losses to $147.9 million, or $1.51 per share, from $6.2 million, or $0.07 per share, for the year-ago quarter. At the same time, SunPower reported $592.3 million in revenue for the third quarter, up 54 percent from $384.2 million in the year-ago period. [1] SunPower received $10.8 BILLION in tax credits. [4]
10/11/2011: SUNPOWER UPDATE: How did a failing California solar company, buffeted by short sellers and shareholder lawsuits, receive a $1.2 billion federal loan guarantee for a photovoltaic electricity ranch project—three weeks after it announced it was building new manufacturing plant in Mexicali, Mexico, to build the panels for the project.
The company, SunPower (SPWR-NASDAQ), now carries $820 million in debt, an amount $20 million greater than its market capitalization. If SunPower was a bank, the feds would shut it down. Instead, it received a lifeline twice the size of the money sent down the Solyndra drain.
Two men with insight into the process are SunPower rooter Rep. George R. Miller III, (D.-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee and the co-chairman of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, and his SunPower lobbyist son, George Miller IV. [14]
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