After months of financial turmoil, an Energy Department-backed lithium ion battery company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company, Ener1, received a $118 million grant from DOE in 2010 as part of the president’s stimulus package. The money, which went to Ener1 subsidiary EnerDel, aimed to promote renewable energy storage battery technology for electrical grid use. But despite generous federal support for the company, Ener1 was racked by problems last year. In October, NASDAQ delisted the company due to non-compliance with Securities and Exchange Commission filing requirements. A …
Because the concept of opportunity cost is fundamental to all of economics, it is covered in the first chapter of every principles-of-economics textbook. Opportunity cost tells us what we give up when make decisions on consumption and production. There are no free lunches. In spite of the universal agreement on the importance of opportunity cost, there is nearly universal omission of the concept in studies purporting to show job creation from regulation, subsidies, and mandates. The recent study for the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) follows this disturbing pattern. Hoping …
The Washington Post put together a handy infographic examining the distribution of $36 billion in Energy Department financing for renewable energy companies. Solar power generation companies were the largest beneficiaries of DOE’s “investments,” with twelve companies having received a third of the financing under the program.
Government-backed solar companies have taken a beating over the last few months, with Solyndra garnering most of the attention. But since the solar company’s bankruptcy in late August, another sector of the “green economy” has moved to the edge of a financial cliff: the renewable electricity grid. Like Solyndra, a number of “smart grid” companies have received taxpayer backing. But federal financing was not enough to keep Beacon Power, a manufacture of flywheel energy storage technology, from going bankrupt. They may not be the last smart-grid company consigned to that …
Major donors to President Obama have received favorable treatment throughout his administration. Today’s news that solar company Solyndra is going bankrupt demonstrates the consequences of that apparent cronyism. The company’s demise is likely to cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Solyndra suspended operations Wednesday and will soon file for chapter 11 bankruptcy and lay off its 1,100 employees. The company cited “regulatory and policy uncertainties in recent months” as the cause of its financial hardships, which have “created significant near-term excess supply and price erosion,” according to the company’s …
Gas prices are on the rise again. The national average is now just under $4.00 a gallon, and it’s sure to rise as the summer driving season rolls near. The pesky detail not often mentioned is that our ethanol policy is a contributing factor toward these higher fuel prices. The United States is the world’s largest producer of ethanol, with Brazil a close second. However, Brazil’s sugar-based ethanol is cheaper, more efficient, and cleaner burning than our corn-based product. Yet special interests have managed a rather sweet deal for our …
Since the Gulf oil spill nearly a year ago, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement has issued just one deepwater drilling permit — but oil rig owners aren’t alone when it comes to permitting problems. Renewable, coal, natural gas, nuclear and transmission energy projects across the country also face delays and cancellations. What’s worse: These stalled energy projects cost the American economy both GDP and jobs, according to an economic study released Thursday by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The study, conducted by American Consumer Institute President …
Aiding and abetting the solar and wind energy industries in their continuing efforts to mislead the American people, Energy Secretary Steven Chu called for a shift to renewable energy to insulate us from petroleum price spikes. Recent events in Egypt are partially responsible for a recent jump in oil prices, but renewables are not the answer. A few facts will show why. First, according the Obama Administration’s own Energy Information Administration, petroleum accounts for less than 1 percent of electricity production. Since wind and solar produce electricity and not transportation …
Speaking before a new Congress in his State of the Union address, President Obama gave an alternative suggestion for Congress now that cap and trade is out of the picture. He pitched an aggressive clean energy standard, saying he wants 80 percent of our electricity to come from carbon-free sources of energy by 2035. For reference, the Energy Information Administration shows that carbon-free sources generated 31 percent of our total electricity in 2009 (20 percent nuclear, 7 percent hydroelectric, and 4 percent other renewables). As Kim Strassel points out in …
What was normally a peaceful, quiet way of life for residents of Vinalhaven, an island off the coast of Maine, suddenly became loud and unbearable when utilities operating three new wind turbines flipped the switch to “on.” A recent New York Times article reports that some Vinalhaven residents are learning “the hard way” that wind power has its costs. While residents welcomed the arrival of the turbines in late 2009, it is apparent that they did so with certain expectations. Those expectations came from what schoolteacher Sally Wylie call an …
