Industry analysts are predicting a massive bout of bankruptcies for hundreds of American solar firms as the market for solar panels, inflated by zealous government backing, begins to cool down. The fallout could be dramatic, CNN reported Wednesday. “Of the few hundred or so solar panel makers worldwide, just 20 to 40 are expected to remain standing in a few years time, said Mark Bachman, a renewables analyst at Avian Securities.” “A combination of slack demand and massive oversupply” is leading to rapidly declining prices for solar panels, CNN reports. …
Taxpayers will likely shell out another $14.3 million in federal aid to the 1,100 people formerly employed by defunct solar company Solyndra. The Labor Department announced Monday that it had approved Trade Adjustment Assistance payments for those former employees, which may pay out about $13,000 for each. TAA is designed to compensate American workers laid off as a direct result of foreign competition, and to train them for other occupations – though the program has shown few signs of success. The Labor Department’s move is a tacit assertion that Solyndra’s …
The White House will not say whether it will comply with a subpoena from a House committee related to its involvement in the Solyndra scandal. Instead, the administration has opted to open its own investigation into the loan program that backed the defunct solar company – though that investigation will not examine Solyndra itself. The House Energy and Commerce Committee announced Friday that it will vote to subpoena a host of White House documents related to Solyndra, including messages from the president’s Blackberry. Reps. Fred Upton (R-MI) and Cliff Stearns …
If clean-energy means “low-carbon” (a definition to which I object), then the U.S. is way, way ahead of China in the clean-energy race. If it means low-everything-else, we are still way, way ahead, since China has a pathetic record on controlling genuine pollution. Getting hung up on commoditized solar-panel or wind-turbine production ignores the phenomenal increase in coal-generated power in China—an increase that swamps that country’s installed wind and solar production. From parity with the U.S. around 2005, China’s CO2 emissions will grow to roughly double America’s in 2012. Here’s …
As part of its bankruptcy proceedings, defunct solar company Solyndra will auction off thousands of items from its California production facility on Nov. 2 and 3. But taxpayers won’t see a dime of the proceeds, due to the Energy Department’s decision to subordinate taxpayers to Solyndra’s private financiers in repayment of their investments. As I explained in a Friday column in the Washington Examiner, DOE has developed an unprecedented interpretation of the law to allow Solyndra’s private investors to recoup $75 million of their investment before taxpayers are repaid. Heritage …
The economic damage inherent in federal backing for solar power companies extends beyond Solyndra-style bankruptcies, in which taxpayers pour money into unprofitable but politically popular ventures. Even where government-backed companies stay afloat, federal intervention directs resources to less productive and profitable activities. Some solar power companies based in California are succeeding where Solyndra failed (that is, staying in business), due primarily to the state’s renewable energy mandate and restrictions on cheap energy. But while the companies have received significant backing from the federal government, taxpayers are potentially on the hook …
Internal communications and testimonials from former Solyndra employees provide a stunning window into the consequences of federal support for private companies. Political backing, in short, made the company sloppy, wasteful, and spurred it to focus more and more resources on securing federal handouts – even while the company’s everyday business operations faltered. “Solyndra’s ability to secure federal backing also made the company eager for more assistance, interviews and records show,” reported the Washington Post on Thursday. “Company executives ramped up their Washington lobbying efforts, hiring a former Senate aide to …
Solyndra executives scheduled to testify before a House committee on Friday were likely expecting some tough questions. In general, Republicans will wonder whether their political ties got them favorable treatment from the Energy Department. Democrats will want to know why the company said it was financially healthy mere weeks before it collapsed. But the announcement by Solyndra’s chief executive and head financial officer that they will “plead the Fifth” and refuse to answer committee questions will spawn a whole new line of interrogation: what happened over the past week to …
Solyndra has hired a team of five high-powered attorneys to help get it through its bankruptcy proceedings, according to documentation the company has filed in court (embedded below). Their firm, McDermott Will & Emery, also represented the company before it filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month. Some of the attorneys who will represent Solyndra in bankruptcy court are as politically connected as the solar company itself. The Washington Examiner’s Tim Carney provided some details from their impressive political resumes: Former Massachusetts governor and Senate candidate William Weld is Solyndra’s …
A top congressional investigator said on Tuesday that he believes more companies that benefitted from the stimulus bill’s renewable energy loan guarantee program will go bankrupt before all allotted funds are spent. The program, which guaranteed a $535 million loan to Solyndra before the company declared bankruptcy last week, still has $8-10 billion in authorized funding that has yet to be spent. Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, said he had called on the administration to hold off on awarding …
