Surprise, Another Green Energy Stimulus Recipient Goes Belly Up

[Randle Pat McMurphy]

Like throwing money down a green, black hole, but its just taxpayer money, right?

Already on the list: Solyndra, Evergreen Solar Inc., SpectraWatt, Mountain Plaza Inc., Olsen's Crop Service and Olsen's Mills Acquisition Co. Now you can add 3 more. How were these companies chosen again? Can you say crony.......



Drip, Drip, Drip: Yet Another Green Energy Stimulus Recipient Hits the Skids (the third this week!)

Drip, Drip, Drip: Yet Another Green Energy Stimulus Recipient Hits the Skids (the third this week!)

Earlier this week, Stimulus beneficiary Evergreen Energy bit the dust. Then, Ener1, a manufacturer of batteries for electric vehicles and recipient of Stimulus largesse, filed for bankruptcy. And today, the Las Vegas Sun reports that Amonix, Inc., a manufacturer of solar panels that received $5.9 million from the Porkulus, will cut two-thirds of its workforce, about 200 employees, only seven months after opening a factory in Nevada.

I foresaw this spate of bad news last November. As I explained yesterday,

In a previous post, I compared renewable energy spending in the 2009 Stimulus to a green albatross burdening the President. I argued that Stimulus spending was inherently wasteful, because politics invariably corrupts government’s investment decisions. The result is taxpayers losses on bankrupt companies that existed only by the grace of political favoritism, a la Solyndra. I predicted the green stimulus would haunt the President, in the form of a slow drip public relations nightmare, as a litany of bad investments go belly-up in the run up to the 2012 elections.

Mr. President, are you still sure you want to “double down” on renewable energy giveaways?

[MightyMike]

Is this the one were Biden Called it Enron1 a year or so ago ?
would love to know how much money was wasted on all these?
Wonder if they were jobs created or saved or were saved and now lost did he mention this in the state of the union ?

[JR7302001]

I would love to know how much oil was wasted on this project!

[FalconFreak]

Originally Posted by JR7302001

I would love to know how much oil was wasted on this project!

If Obama wasnt a left wing radical nut, you would know. The press would be all over this.

[Randle Pat McMurphy]

And the beat goes on. Surprise, surprise! More crony details on Amonix.

Another Energy Company Lays off Hundreds of Workers

“Just seven months after California-based solar power company Amonix Inc. opened its largest manufacturing plant, in North Las Vegas, the company’s contractor has laid off nearly two-thirds of its workforce,” reports the Las Vegas Sun.

The company was also highly-praised by the White House and has close ties to top Obama donors and fundraising bundlers.

“Flextronics Industrial, the Singapore solar panel manufacturer that partnered with Amonix to staff the new $18 million, 214,000-square-foot plant, laid off about 200 of its 300-plus employees Tuesday,” the Las Vegas Sun reports.

Eric Culberson, Amonix’s director of manufacturing operations, claims that the mass firings are a necessary part of “retooling” the factory so that the company can “roll out its next-generation product.”

“The new 8700 utility-scale CPV solar power system is a higher efficiency and lower cost,” Culberson said. “Once it is ready, we will ramp back up to meet the demands of the industry.”

Culberson said the job cuts are “temporary and expects to begin hiring more people in the second half of the year to meet demand.” Layoffs were made at all levels of the company.

However, given that the company was hiring as recently as three months ago — from entry-level assemblers, process engineers, production supervisors and quality-control techs, according to one employee — the firings seem very odd.

They were hiring “production supervisors” and “processes engineers” and then promptly fired them?

Many critics contend that no normal, long-lasting business would operate in this manner. Indeed, the time and money it would cost to hire and train new employees (once that market “demand” goes up) would far outweigh the cost of, say, scaling back current employee’s hours.

Unless, of course, the company has no intention of ever hiring new staff and the “we’ll rehire soon enough” promise is far from factual, the firings, from a financial point of view, make very little sense.

One employee, Theodore Lewis, was working at the plant for six months before he and several other employees were called into a “mandatory meeting” Tuesday.

“There was no excuse,” said Lewis, who was never told his job was temporary. “They just said our job was done.”

Lewis said he and other staff members were “confused and disappointed” when they heard the news and were directed by human resources to “look for other local jobs in retail,” according to the report.

The firings and mass layoffs are contradictory to what was promised when the plant first opened its doors, namely, to bring hundreds of clean energy jobs and boost the local economy.

In fact, the plant was praised as a success earlier this month by Mayor Shari Buck in her state of the city address. Buck said Wednesday that she was aware of the layoffs but has “faith the company will bring back the jobs.”

“They were temporary employees brought in to handle a major project,” she said.

Wait. Two-thirds of the company’s workforce was “temporary”?

“Amonix is taking the opportunity to automate their system better and get ready for the next big project. I expect Amonix to continue to be successful and have a great future in their solar production,” Buck said.

Her words are reminiscent of the warm praise President Obama had for the company in 2010.

“A solar panel company — a solar power company called Amonix received a roughly $6 million tax credit for a new facility they’re building in the Las Vegas area, a tax credit they were able to match with roughly $12 million in private capital,” Obama said, while touting his policy of subsidizing green-tech companies, according to the Daily Caller.

“The only problem we have is these credits were working so well, there aren’t enough tax credits to go around,” Obama said. “When we announced the program last year, it was such a success we received 500 applications requesting over $8 billion in tax credits, but we only had $2.3 billion to invest.”

Yes, it’s true: Amonix was given a $5.9 million investment tax credit through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) in 2010, and another $12 million in private capital helped finance the plant.

And, as mentioned in the above, three of the company’s investors have close ties with the current administration.

Neil Munro of The Daily Caller reports:

The investors include John Doerr’s venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Daniel Weiss’ Angeleno Group LLC and Steve Westly’s eponymous Westly Group, according to Amonix’s website.

These three investors have also invested heavily in Obama and other Democrats — and the president’s aides are now trying to minimize the political damage.

According to a database maintained by the Center for Responsive Politics, Doerr has donated $171,900 since 2008. Weiss has donated $26,480 and Westly has donated $181,250. Nearly all of those contributions went to Democrats.

Together, the three have also bundled at least $700,000 for Obama.

Therefore, much like Solyndra and Ener1, Amonix is simply the most recent “green energy” company to have received the White House’s blessing and generous financial backing, only to fail to make good on its promise of creating jobs.

[Randle Pat McMurphy]

Another Gov’t-Sponsored Clean Energy Project Results in Layoffs

In a Nutshell:

1. Fisker Automotive is given $193 million of a $529 million DOE loan to produce two lines of plug-in hybrid cars and, presumably, create jobs

2. The company is unable to find a contract manufacturer in the United States, so it outsources manufacturing jobs to Finland (the company vehemently denies charges that it has used any part of the federal loan to fund manufacturing operations in Finland)

3. The automaker falls behind its production schedule and experiences“delays” in its sales (i.e. poor sales), depleting its capital

4. But to qualify for the rest of the $529 million loan guarantee, the company has to maintain a certain amount of capital

5. Therefore, in order to meet this DOE benchmark, Fisker Automotive decides it will save money by laying off an “undisclosed number” of employees





Clean energy loan recipient lays off staff - POLITICO.com

Clean energy loan recipient lays off staff

In another setback for President Obama's clean energy loan programs, the recipient of more than a half-billion dollars in federal loans is laying off workers at their Delaware and California operations.

Delaware's News Journal reports that Fisker Automotive, a California-based electric car start-up company, is laying off an undisclosed number of staff to try to reserve enough capital in order to qualify for more federal help from the Department of Energy, according to a Delaware state development official.

"They're trying to preserve the cash that they have," said Alan Levin told the News Journal. "And unfortunately, until they meet the milestone that DOE continues to set … they're not able to access the additional capital that they need."

The company also came under fire last year for taking federal loans while producing cars in Finland. Company officials told ABC News at the time that "there was no contract manufacturer in the U.S. that could actually produce our vehicle." The company was working on reopening a shuttered General Motors plant in Wilmington to produce vehicles — an effort that top Obama administration officials lauded.

“While some wanted to write off America’s auto industry, we said no. We knew that we needed to do something different – in Delaware and all across the nation,” Vice President Joe Biden said about Fisker in Delaware in 2009. “We understood a new chapter had to be written, a new chapter in which we strengthen American manufacturing by investing in innovation. Thanks to a real commitment by this Administration, loans from the Department of Energy, the creativity of U.S. companies and the tenacity of great state partners like Delaware – we’re on our way to helping America’s auto industry reclaim its top position in the global market.”

“This is proof positive that our efforts to create new jobs, invest in a clean energy economy and reduce carbon pollution are working,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “We are putting Americans back to work and reigniting a new Industrial Revolution that is paramount for the economic success of this country.”

The company received $529 million in loans to produce two lines of plug-in hybrid cars.

“Our loan guarantees have strict conditions in place to protect taxpayers. The Department only allows the loan to be disbursed as the company meets certain milestones and demonstrates results. As has been widely reported, Fisker has experienced some delays in its sales and production schedule -- which is common for start-ups. As Fisker works through those issues and incorporates lessons learned from the production of the Karma, the Department is working with Fisker to review a revised business plan and determine the best path forward so the company can meet its benchmarks, produce cars and employ workers here in America," DOE spokesman Damien LaVera said in a statement.

[cuse_man]

Yes lets just let China dominate the renewable energy sector.

Who needs it.... Far-righty will get elected soon enough, and help send us back to the gilded age anyways.

[cuse_man]

Why does it seem like many on the FAR right of things seem to cheer on bad news.

These are the same people that are supposedly obsessed with their so-called patriotism.

Bashing their president many time for no reason..making racial remarks.. Actually cheering on bad economic news

Now even cheering when an American company fails.

How can this stuff bring smiles to people's faces who at the same time claim to be so patriotic.

[Randle Pat McMurphy]

For those who have followed this topic, here is another article exposing the rampant crony capitalism this administration has engaged in with a more in depth look at green energy companies and the venture capitalists who were paid off for supporting the Obama campaign. From the very far right Washington Post:

Federal funds flow to clean-energy firms with Obama administration ties


By Carol D. Leonnig and Joe Stephens, Published: February 14

Sanjay Wagle was a venture capitalist and Barack Obama fundraiser in 2008, rallying support through a group he headed known as Clean Tech for Obama.

Shortly after Obama’s election, he left his California firm to join the Energy Department, just as the administration embarked on a massive program to stimulate the economy with federal investments in clean-technology firms.

Following an enduring Washington tradition, Wagle shifted from the private sector, where his firm hoped to profit from federal investments, to an insider’s seat in the administration’s $80 billion clean-energy investment program.

He was one of several players in venture capital, which was providing financial backing to start-up clean-tech companies, who moved into the Energy Department at a time when the agency was seeking outside expertise in the field. At the same time, their industry had a huge stake in decisions about which companies would receive government loans, grants and support.

During the next three years, the department provided $2.4 billion in public funding to clean-energy companies in which Wagle’s former firm, Vantage Point Venture Partners, had invested, a Washington Post analysis found. Overall, the Post found that $3.9 billion in federal grants and financing flowed to 21 companies backed by firms with connections to five Obama administration staffers and advisers.

Obama’s program to invest federal funds in start-up companies — and the failure of some of those companies — is becoming a rallying cry for opponents in the presidential race. Mitt Romney has promised to focus on Obama’s “record” as a “venture capitalist.” And in ads and speeches, conservative groups and the Republican candidates are zeroing in on the administration’s decision to extend $535 million to the now-shuttered solar firm Solyndra and billions of dollars more to clean-tech start-ups backed by the president’s political allies.

White House officials stress that staffers and advisers with venture capital ties did not make funding decisions related to these companies. But e-mails released in a congressional probe of Obama’s clean-tech program show that staff and advisers with links to venture firms informally advocated for some of those companies.

David Gold, a venture capitalist and critic of Obama’s investments in clean tech, said that even if staffers had been removed from the final decision-making, they had the kind of inside access to exert subtle influence.

“To believe those quiet conversations don’t happen in the hallways — about a project being in a certain congressman’s district or being associated with a significant presidential donor, is naive,” said Gold, who once worked at the Office of Management and Budget. “When you’re putting this kind of pressure on an organization to make decisions on very big dollars, there’s increased likelihood that political connections will influence things.”

Rest of the article here: Venture capitalists play key role in Obama’s Energy Department - The Washington Post

[FalconFreak]

Originally Posted by cuse_man

Why does it seem like many on the FAR right of things seem to cheer on bad news.

These are the same people that are supposedly obsessed with their so-called patriotism.

Bashing their president many time for no reason..making racial remarks.. Actually cheering on bad economic news

Now even cheering when an American company fails.

How can this stuff bring smiles to people's faces who at the same time claim to be so patriotic.

As opposed to you and yours who cheered the deaths of American soldiers during the Bush Administration. For 8 years the FAR extreme left couldnt wait for a defeat of our action in Iraq. Death counts nightly constantly harboring on every failure and overlooking every thing positive .
This story is not to celebrate a failure in American business but to point out the corruption of a presidential administration. Cuse its not hard to see where a market is in need of product and green energy is not a booming are to be investing billions of dollars, another example of the most corrupt prez ever

[cuse_man]

Not sure of anyone cheering on the deaths of American soldiers. Sounds like another right wing lie to me.

I do however remember many on the left saying it would be a mistake to invade Iraq though.

I could however say the same thing:

"Those on the right who cheered the deaths of American soldiers during the Obama Administration. For 4 years the right couldn't wait for a defeat of our action in Iraq & Afghanistan & Libya. Death counts nightly constantly harboring on every failure, and overlooking every thing positive. Hell many even tried to somehow turn the Obama assassination around as a NEGATIVE hah!! This story by is to celebrate a failure in American business and to point out that CHINA needs to make these products instead. "

Its not hard to see that we need to move away from fossil fuels.. You guys do at least realize that, right ??? Green energy is booming and we should be investing billions of dollars. Instead some want to slow progress down for some reason.

This thread is a great example of what I meant about some on the right seemingly wanting America to fail, and you holding the troops up as a shield/diversion is a pretty weak excuse.

[cuse_man]

By the way where was the talk about "crony capitalism" during Bushy

Halliburton, Bechtel, and all of the military contractors that made out like bandits because of the Iraq war.

[Randle Pat McMurphy]

Such wise use of our tax dollars


Green company gets $390M subsidies, lays off 125 | Campaign 2012 | Washington Examiner


Green company gets $390M subsidies, lays off 125

A123 Systems, an electric car battery company once touted as a stimulus "success story" by former Gov. Jennifer Granhom, D-Mich., has laid off 125 employees since receiving $390 million in government subsidies -- but is still handing out big pay raises to company executives.

"[T]he company has laid off 125 employees and had a net loss of $172 million through the first three quarters of 2011," the Mackinac Center for Public Policy reports, observing that the company's primary customer, Fisker Automotive, is also struggling financially. "Yet, this month A123’s Compensation Committee approved a $30,000 raise for [Chief Financial Officer David] Prystash just days after Fisker Automotive announced the U.S. Energy Department had cut off what was left of its $528.7 million loan it had previously received."

This month has seen significant pay boosts for other A123 executives, as well:

Robert Johnson, vice president of the energy solutions group, got a 20.7 percent pay increase going from $331,250 to $400,000, while Jason Forcier, vice president of the automotive solutions group, saw his pay increase from $331,250 to $350,000. Prystash’s raise was 8.5 percent, going from $350,000 to $380,000.

"It looks like they are trying to pad their top people’s wallets in case something really bad happens," Paul Chesser, associate fellow for the National Legal & Policy Center, suggested.

The Department of Energy gave the battery company $249.1 million in grant money, while the Michigan government provided A123 with another $141 million in tax credits and subsidies, according to the Mackinac Center.

[MightyMike]

Originally Posted by Randle Pat McMurphy

Such wise use of our tax dollars





Green company gets $390M subsidies, lays off 125

What's 390M between friends the Fed can Print that in a day or two ship it off to another Green Company Re Hire the same 125 People that were laid off from this company and call it jobs saved or created
Mean while the Dollar is worth less and the the price of everything goes up
The Cycle continues

[Randle Pat McMurphy]

The beat goes on--such wise use of tax payer money


More Green Energy Layoffs: Colorado Solar Firm Cuts Workforce in Half

Abound Solar Lays Off 180 Workers - ABC News

Another recipient of Energy Department loan funds has run into financial trouble.

Colorado-based Abound Solar announced this week it has been forced to lay off 180 of its 400 workers as it tries to retool to produce a more efficient type of solar panel in order to keep a technological edge on Chinese manufacturers who are flooding the market with less expensive models. Abound received approval in 2010 for a $400 million government loan.

"As you know the solar market has been extremely difficult for all manufacturers," said Craig Witsoe, the CEO of Abound Solar, in an interview with ABC News on Wednesday. "To continue to make the panel we make today, to have to sell it below cost, it's a tough environment to operate in."

It is one of four companies that have been issued a combined $1.3 billion in loans by the Obama administration to operate in the highly competitive field of solar manufacturing. Solyndra, the best-known of those recipients, filed for bankruptcy last year, touching off a wave of controversy about the role of government money in backing high-risk start-up firms in the alternative energy field, and an investigation by Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Energy Department officials noted Wednesday that the federal loan to Abound had Republican support, including an $11.8 million tax credit from an Indiana economic development board chaired by Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels.

"We will continue to work with Abound as we do with all of our loan recipients as it works through these issues," said Damien LaVera, a DOE spokesman. "While the challenges facing solar manufacturers have been widely reported, we continue to believe that supporting innovative companies like this is important to ensuring our nation has the ability to compete for the clean energy jobs of tomorrow."

The Energy Department loans cut across a range of "green" technologies, and several of the recipients have been exhibiting signs of distress in recent weeks. Earlier this month, electric car start-up Fisker Automotive announced it was being forced to halt production at its Delaware facility and lay off several dozen workers. In November, the company developing batteries for Fisker announced the temporary layoff of 125 employees. A123 Systems had received a $249 million Department of Energy stimulus grant.

Witsoe said the solar manufacturing sector has been especially hard-hit because of stiff competition from Chinese companies, which he says have selling below cost and dumping solar panels on the American market.

"We fully support global competition as long as it's fair," Witsoe told ABC News. "It's a company like us versus a country. China plays very hard."

In order to compete, Witsoe said Abound is retooling its manufacturing facilities to bring to market a more advanced, more efficient solar product that will keep the company ahead of its foreign competitors. But while that work is being done, he said, the company could not maintain the size of its workforce and had to make the painful job cuts.

The company maintains its goal of producing its unique brand of solar panels for commercial customers at facilities in Colorado and Indiana. It has drawn down $70 million so far from a $400 million federal loan and has been in discussions with the Department of Energy about revising the terms of its loan to insure it continues to have access to the federal funds.

"The jobs will definitely come back," Witsoe said. "When we rescale with the new product, we will need to hire back likely as many people as we had. We know this is a really difficult thing. We hate to have any job loss in the company. But it was the right decision for the business."


Obama: Green Energy Loans Based on 'Best Judgments'

Back in October, President Obama responded to questions about the risk assumed by his administration when it decided to back green energy start-up ventures with taxpayers' money. He stood behind the decision, saying it was important for the government to support the push into alternative forms of energy, and the program had the potential to pay dividends in the form of thousands of new jobs.

"There were going to be some companies that did not work out," Obama told reporters. "All I can say is the Department of Energy made these decisions based on their best judgments."

[cptkirk321]

Randle I am just curious do you ever ask yourself why is China pumping billions and billions of dollars into alternative sources like solar when they don't expect to see a return on this money for years to come?

Is it the Chinese are idiots for putting all of this money into something like solar?

Next why did the US government first start handing out all of this tax money to oil companies years ago?

The problem with your thinking and this thread is the biggest problem facing the US when it comes to a real energy plan which the country has talked about for decades now but continues not to have a real one, shortsightedness.

[Randle Pat McMurphy]

ABC FINALLY decided to at least mention this...

Green Firms Get Fed Cash, Give Execs Bonuses, Fail - ABC News


Green Firms Get Fed Cash, Give Execs Bonuses, Fail

1st page of article here--the rest at the link


By RONNIE GREENE and MATTHEW MOSK (@mattmosk)
iWATCH NEWS and ABC NEWS
March 6, 2012

President Obama's Department of Energy helped finance several green energy companies that later fell into bankruptcy -- but not before the firms doled out six-figure bonuses and payouts to top executives, a Center for Public Integrity and ABC News investigation found.

Take, for instance, Beacon Power Corp., the second recipient of an Energy Department loan guarantee in 2009. In March 2010, the Massachusetts energy storage company paid cash bonuses of $259,285 to three executives in part due to progress made on the $43 million energy loan, Securities and Exchange Commission records show. Last October, Beacon Power filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

EnerDel, maker of lithium-ion battery systems, landed a $118.5 million energy grant in August 2009. About one-and-a-half years later, Vice President Joe Biden toured a company plant in Indiana and heralded its taxpayer-supported expansion as one of the "100 Recovery Act Projects That Are Changing America."

Two months after Biden's visit, EnerDel corporate parent Ener1 paid $725,000 in bonuses to three executives -- including $450,000 to then-CEO Charles Gassenheimer, who led Biden on the tour. This January, Ener1 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.


At least two other firms that benefited from Energy Department funding -- one a $500,000 grant, the other a $535 million loan guarantee -- handed out hefty payouts to executives and later went bankrupt.

The Department of Energy, asked about the payments examined by the Center and ABC, said it is troubled by the practice and intends to convey that message to loan recipients.

"We don't begrudge companies or their executives for their success, but it is irresponsible for executives to be awarded bonus compensation when their workers are losing their jobs," said department spokeswoman Jen Stutsman. "We take our role as stewards of taxpayer dollars very seriously, and as such, we will make clear to loan recipients our view that funds should not be directed toward executive bonuses when the rest of the company is facing financial difficulty."

The bonuses and bankruptcies come against a growing wave of trouble for companies financed with Energy Department dollars. Of the first 12 loan guarantees the department announced, for instance, two firms filed for bankruptcy, a third has faced layoffs and a fourth deal never closed.

The nonprofit Citizens Against Government Waste counts nearly 20 energy companies that have gotten federal loan guarantees or grants that have run into financial trouble ranging from layoffs to losses to bankruptcies. An outside consultant hired by the White House said the Energy Department's loan pool includes $2.7 billion in potentially risky loans and suggests the agency hire a "chief risk officer" to help minimize problems.

To watchdogs, the pattern of firms awarding bonuses only to file for bankruptcy raises questions about how well the Energy Department chose its winners, and how thoroughly it kept an eye on them once selected.

"Giving a bonus to the executives under these circumstances is rewarding failure with our money with no chance of getting it back," said Leslie Paige, spokeswoman for the nonpartisan Citizens Against Government Waste.

"Taxpayers need some representation here. They didn't really get it."

The setbacks have sharpened the focus on the president's environmental mission, already under scrutiny following the collapse of Solyndra Inc., the first recipient of an Obama green energy loan.

[cuse_man]

Originally Posted by cptkirk321

Randle I am just curious do you ever ask yourself why is China pumping billions and billions of dollars into alternative sources like solar when they don't expect to see a return on this money for years to come?

Is it the Chinese are idiots for putting all of this money into something like solar?

Next why did the US government first start handing out all of this tax money to oil companies years ago?

The problem with your thinking and this thread is the biggest problem facing the US when it comes to a real energy plan which the country has talked about for decades now but continues not to have a real one, shortsightedness.

This is simple.. those that fall on the far-right side of things basically want to take us back in time... to the gilded age if you will. All you have to do is look at the policies they support.

They don't even want to invest in our own infrastructure. Think they want to invest in alternative energies ?

Starting to see why they have such a hard on for the middle east... they miss "the good ole days"

[Randle Pat McMurphy]

Evergreen Solar to Abandon Massachusetts Factory - WSJ.com

Evergreen Solar to Abandon Massachusetts Factory

Evergreen Solar Inc. said it has failed to find a buyer for its Devens, Mass., plant and plans to walk away from the facility, which was launched with some $50 million in state aid.

The company asked a bankruptcy judge for permission to abandon the property before a $543,000 property tax bill comes due.

Evergreen has a deal with its landlord, Massachusetts Development Finance Agency, to get out of the ground lease for the facility, according to papers filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. The plant was shut down last year and 800 jobs were cut as Evergreen struggled to survive.”

Overall, the plant cost about $450 million to build just five years ago. Oh, and this is probably important to note: “the development authority was one of the Massachusetts state agencies that pitched in to get Evergreen Solar going.”

During the final stages of its planned bankruptcy liquidation, Evergreen cut deals with some of its creditors to “share the pain of its demise.”

“Judge Mary Walrath signed off last week on a stipulation under which secured creditors who expect to be out more than $100 million at the end of the bankruptcy proceedings agreed to allow general unsecured creditors to get at least a penny on the dollar recovery out of Evergreen’s Chapter 11 case,” Brickley writes.

If the scenario set out in court filings plays out, Evergreen’s ultimate fate will be similar to that of Solyndra LLC, the California maker of solar-power technology that shut its pricey new plant, filed for bankruptcy and struggled to find a buyer in a market glutted with the departures of failed solar-power-equipment makers.

Because it took more than $500 million in federal loans and one of its major backers was a fund-raiser for President Barack Obama, Solyndra became the focus of a Republican-led congressional investigation aimed at finding a political taint on its financing.

When Evergreen filed for bankruptcy in August, it sold its technology to a Hong Kong joint venture, but failed to raise enough cash to help pay off its mounting debts.

In fact, a claim for payment in the Lehman Bros. bankruptcy case is actually worth more than all the technology that powered Evergreen Solar

How does that work?

“Bondholders ‘credit bid’ $21.5 million for the Lehman claim, meaning they offered to cancel that much of the debt Evergreen owed them,” the Journal explains. “Evergreen’s solar-power technology sold for less than $10 million. Others bits and pieces are still being sold, including equipment at the Devens plant. But the plant itself hasn’t sold despite more than a year of marketing.”


Another $50 million of state aid up in smoke. Easy when it is taxpayer money

[cptkirk321]

Originally Posted by cptkirk321

Randle I am just curious do you ever ask yourself why is China pumping billions and billions of dollars into alternative sources like solar when they don't expect to see a return on this money for years to come?

Is it the Chinese are idiots for putting all of this money into something like solar?

Next why did the US government first start handing out all of this tax money to oil companies years ago?

The problem with your thinking and this thread is the biggest problem facing the US when it comes to a real energy plan which the country has talked about for decades now but continues not to have a real one, shortsightedness.

Randle just curious on your thoughts on this?

[FalconFreak]

Originally Posted by cuse_man

This is simple.. those that fall on the far-right side of things basically want to take us back in time... to the gilded age if you will. All you have to do is look at the policies they support.

They don't even want to invest in our own infrastructure. Think they want to invest in alternative energies ?

Starting to see why they have such a hard on for the middle east... they miss "the good ole days"

Really? Cuse cmon it acnt be possible that you think the right doesnt want to have a solid infrastructure. Rethink this so you dont sound so_______________fill in your own adjective, rhymes with ruking pignorant

The issue with the right is not what we want to spend on or not spend on. We reject the far left's premise that it is urgent. Wanna invest in alternative energy then get behind (invest your own money) a company that wants to risk its own money to research the market and get it done. Thats not what is happening. The feds are CREATING companies to do this and it is not working.

There is an ample oil supply for 100's of years that we know, Need to control more of the market and thus having more of an impact on market prices. It is economics 101. But we need to drill.
Get the far far left extremeists out of the White House, whose own secretey of energy said in 08 that prices need to rise....Obama is a joke

[Randle Pat McMurphy]

Originally Posted by cptkirk321

Randle I am just curious do you ever ask yourself why is China pumping billions and billions of dollars into alternative sources like solar when they don't expect to see a return on this money for years to come?

Is it the Chinese are idiots for putting all of this money into something like solar?

Next why did the US government first start handing out all of this tax money to oil companies years ago?

The problem with your thinking and this thread is the biggest problem facing the US when it comes to a real energy plan which the country has talked about for decades now but continues not to have a real one, shortsightedness.

Once again, it appears you already have arrived at your own conclusion regarding what I think.

[cptkirk321]

yes Randle it doesn't take much to figure out what you think but that wasn't what I was asking. I was asking......


Randle I am just curious do you ever ask yourself why is China pumping billions and billions of dollars into alternative sources like solar when they don't expect to see a return on this money for years to come?

Is it the Chinese are idiots for putting all of this money into something like solar?

Next why did the US government first start handing out all of this tax money to oil companies years ago?

[Randle Pat McMurphy]

When you ask a question and immediately follow it with this statement:

The problem with your thinking and this thread is the biggest problem facing the US when it comes to a real energy plan which the country has talked about for decades now but continues not to have a real one, shortsightedness.

the question becomes rhetorical as you have already reached your own conclusions. Now spin it and say I cant comprehend what you wrote or that I am afraid to answer--isnt that normally how the game goes?

Quite simple, not engaging in that type of psuedo intellectual dialogue in this forum anymore.

[cptkirk321]

Blah, blah, blah more of the same from you Randle. I forgot you are the pure, white virgin.

But at least I do my best when asked a question.