A jaw-dropping revelation came to light in December 2011 by the Trib Total Media, yet it was ignored by the media and even missed by those of us watching the solar world unfold.
China's major solar panel companies — whose low-cost products led some American factories to close, helped create the Solyndra controversy and spawned talk of a trade war — were bankrolled in the United States by the world's largest investment banks.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, USB Investment Bank and others raised $6.5 billion for seven young Chinese solar panel makers in the mid-2000s by underwriting their securities on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, a Tribune-Review investigation has found.
The Trib goes on, "It's not clear how the idea of using offshore tax havens to get listed on U.S. exchanges developed. But the Trib learned through SEC reports how Chinese solar companies grabbed onto the idea." The first was Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd., now the world's largest solar company. It began operating as a Chinese company in May 2002, and by 2004 reported sales of $85.3 million..."
However, Bloomberg News reported last week, "Suntech Power Holdings Co. (STP) [was] forced to put its Chinese solar unit into bankruptcy last month, "becoming the latest casualty of a painful slump in the global solar industry,” wrote Townhall.com. But Bloomberg noted that Suntech "began that slide into insolvency in 2009 when customers linked to the founder couldn’t pay their bills and the company booked the sales as revenue anyway, regulatory filings show."
What most don’t know is that Suntech is a tiny fraction of "Obamanomics Outsourced," whereas his administration is responsible for steering billions in stimulus funds (and other "green" money) to foreign companies and shipping green jobs overseas. This is clearly a broken 2008 energy campaign promise, but worse, a violation on how the 2009 trillion-dollar stimulus package was sold –– to create jobs and grow the economy here in America.
And I will invest $15 billion a year in renewable sources of energy to create five million new energy jobs over the next decade –– jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced; jobs building solar panels and wind turbines and a new electricity grid; jobs that will help us eliminate the oil we import from the Middle East in ten years and help save the planet in the bargain. That's how America can lead again.
Senator Barack Obama, October 27, 2008
Oh NO, he didn't...
Last fall, Marita Noon (energy columnist at Townhall.com and my cohort in unearthing the massive amount of clean-energy dirt) and I debunked the president's 5 million energy jobs target as well as the his administration’s labor department's ludicrous claims on what constitutes a green job –– from oil lobbyists, to bus drivers, to garbage men, and so on.
Furthermore, if you've been following my blog (now the Green Corruption Files), you know that since 2009 I've been tracking President Obama's trillion-dollar stimulus spending spree, of which at least $90 billion was earmarked for renewable energy and energy efficiency, and doled out through various programs and agencies.
For a year now I've been covering the Department of Energy's (DOE) Loan Program, more specifically the stimulus-created 1705, whereas over $16 billion of taxpayer money was used to fund 26 alternative energy projects; of which 23 were junk rated –– as revealed by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in March 2012.
The DOE’s "junk bond" portfolio (the entire $34.4 billion loan guarantee program for that matter) is where you’ll discover that 96 percent of the firms representing these projects have meaningful ties (bundlers and donors) to President Obama and other high-ranking Democrats; or both –– with five to Senator Harry Reid alone.
The Mesquite Solar Project and the $337 Million DOE "Junk" Loan
Over a week ago, I submitted an update, noting that we've covered all but three out of the 26 DOE "junk bond" portfolio, which included the Mesquite Solar project. What's interesting is that this was the ONLY DOE excessively risky loan that I could not locate a direct connection to the Obama White House or any "green crony."
But once again, we find that despite the fact that the Mesquite Solar I, LLC (Sempra Mesquite) project received a non-investment grade rating by Fitch in August 2011, our Energy Department went ahead and awarded them a $337 million loan guarantee for a solar power plant in Arizona that is scheduled to be up sometime in 2013, which projects that it would create more than 300 construction job and 7 operating jobs.
Hold up…
Let's go back to early 2010 when Suntech had been awarded a $2.1 million credit from the Energy Department’s stimulus-funded Advanced Energy Manufacturing (48C) Tax Credit, and according to the Heritage Foundation, in November 2012 Suntech shed some employees, claiming that it was the "U.S. International Trade Commission’s 35.95% tariff on Chinese solar panels was partially responsible for the 50 impending layoffs at its Arizona production facilities" –– thus Suntech ended up on my 2012 Green-Energy Failure Alert List, in the troubled category.
But a year before Suntech's troubles were made public (remember their slide into insolvency began in 2009), and in the midst of the September 2011 solar hoopla, Bloomberg News reported that the Mesquite project (with $337 million of taxpayer money), would be purchasing its solar panels from the China-based Suntech Power Holdings Co. Also, Sempra Energy, California’s third-largest utility (a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2012 revenues of approximately $10 billion), will sell electricity from the Mesquite Solar 1 plant to California’s largest utility, PG&E Corp., under a 20-year contract –– adding two more to our list of BIG ENERGY (General Electric, NextEra Energy and NRG Energy) that are making big money at the "green" Bank of Obama.
Pacific Gas & Electric Packed with Green Cronies and Invested Interest in $7.7 Billion of Stimulus Funds
PG&E maintains a strong political presence in Washington, D.C., and is actively involved in California politics as well. We’ve already highlighted their Democratic "cronyism footprint," of which much of it was exposed by the Washington Free Beacon last March: “Pacific Gas & Cronyism: Politically connected utility plays corporate bully, makes bank on green energy...”
It turns out that "former PG&E employees currently hold, or previously held, high-ranking government positions at the state and federal level, furthering the company’s influence," of which we know that Peter Darbee, then-CEO and chairman of PG&E, wasn't shy about using his leverage with President Obama on at least the $1.6 billion BrightSource Energy DOE deal.
The most controversial former PG&E employee to hold an influential government post is Cathy Zoi, a former energy analyst for the company, who also served as chief of staff for environmental policy under President Clinton and was CEO of Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection. Zoi was the former Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, and oversaw the disbursement of more than $30 billion in green-energy stimulus funds in her DOE position at the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) –– a post which began in April 2009, and later she briefly filled the role of Acting Undersecretary for Energy.
We've already labeled Zoi as one of the “DOE dirty dozen" –– those inside the Energy Department with ties to tens of billions of clean-energy stimulus funds. However, in March 2011, Zoi jumped the DOE ship to work for left-wing billionaire George Soros, Obama’s "Agent of Green," whom just last month I chronicled his dark money and how he has bankrolled Obama victories since 2004. After discovering Soros' part in crafting the 2009-Recovery Act and his early 2009 series of regular private meetings and consultations with White House senior advisors, as usual, I followed the money.
Soros' suspicious 2009-first quarter stock-buying spree was a huge winner –– a big portion (that we know of) benefited from the federal stimulus, including twelve alternative energy and utility companies. Add in more Soros clean-energy investments, and I concluded that his "green tab" exceeds $11 BILLION of stimulus (taxpayer) money, with the entire Cathy Zoi Green Corruption story still left to tell.
PG&E may have gotten the "cold shoulder" on the their smart-grid grant requests, but with their high-powered connections all the way up to the president and inside the DOE, PG&E won a significant amount of stimulus money: at least seventeen transactions to date and over $55.4 million. Better yet, PG&E has an invested interest in "six solar projects that will sell power to PG&E, which have received a combined $5.5 billion in taxpayer-backed DOE loans," as exposed by the Washington Free Beacon, however, I found $7.7 billion.
#1. Agua Caliente Solar Power Project located in Yuma, Arizona, of which "PG&E will purchase the project’s power and deliver it to customers in California." Project by NRG Solar: $967 million loan guarantee
#2. BrightSource Energy development located in Baker, CA, of which "electricity from the project will be sold under long-term power purchase agreements with Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison Company (SCE)." Project by NRG Energy, Inc. (BrightSource): $1.6 billion loan guarantee
#3. California Valley Solar Ranch of which the 250-megawatt is under construction in eastern San Luis Obispo County, and "is generating clean, reliable solar power for transmission over PG&E’s utility grid." Project by NRG Solar and SunPower is still involved: $1.237 billion loan guarantee
#4. Desert Sunlight Project located in Riverside, CA, with the PPA (purchase power agreement) listed as Southern California Edison and PG&E. This is a First Solar Project that is co-owned by NextEra Energy Resources, GE Energy Financial Services, and Sumitomo Corporation of America: partial guarantee of $1.46 billion
#5. Genesis Solar Energy Project located in Riverside County, CA of which "power from the project will be sold to Pacific Gas and Electric Company." Project by NextEra Energy Resources, LLC: partial guarantee of $852 million loan
#6. Mesquite Solar 1, LLC located in Maricopa County, AZ, of which Bloomberg News had reported at the time the DOE loan was approved, "Sempra will sell electricity from the Mesquite Solar 1 plant to California’s largest utility, PG&E Corp., under a 20- year contract." Project by Sempra Mesquite: $337 million loan guarantee
#7. Mojave Solar located in San Bernardino County, CA, of which at the time of the DOE loan approval (September 2011), "Abengoa signed a power-purchase agreement with PG&E to buy the energy produced by the project for a period of 25 years." Project by the Spanish firm Abengoa Solar, Inc.: $1.2 billion loan guarantee
Suntech, Bankrolled by Early Goldman Sachs and other Big U.S. Banks
As revealed in the beginning of this story, Goldman Sachs and other Big Banks here in the United States bankrolled Suntech, and this year in my January post on Kleiner Perkins (John Doerr and Al Gore), I highlighted some of Goldman Sachs' "green."
But old information came to light by the Trib Total Media, leading to more "Wall Street Solar" corruption: "Goldman Sachs (Asia) was with Suntech all along. A branch of the investment bank bought 10.8 million shares of Suntech BVI for $2.31 a share. When Suntech switched to the Cayman Islands to go public, Goldman Sachs (Asia) followed, grabbing an 8.66 percent ownership share of the solar company."
In 2010, along with old PDF file (April 2011) of Goldman Sachs Environmental Markets (link no longer valid), I had alerted to the fact that Goldman Sachs was cashing in on the "green" stimulus, and as my research developed, I found their DNA all over this green-energy scheme.
Then in 2012, I dug deeper I chronicled the Kleiner Perkins and Goldman Sachs connections as well as various renewable energy stimulus winners including, "The First Solar Three Billion Dollar Swindle," which involves three of the DOE's junk loans.
Besides their investment in First Solar, Goldman Sachs received two large loans from the 1705 DOE "junk bond" portfolio: Cogentrix of Alamosa, LLC for $90.6 million and U.S. Geothermal, Inc for $97 million –– the former a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs.
While U.S. Geothermal snagged millions more in green subsidies, through the Cogentrix transaction, Goldman Sachs cashed in every step of the way –– and their "green cronies" too. This was a striking detail that I found when reviewing the June 19, 2012 House Oversight Hearing, where the CEO of Cogentrix Mr. Robert Mancini testified.
Even without extensive research, we find that Goldman Sachs is tied to many other clean-energy projects that received loans, grants and special tax breaks from the Obama administration, and what I've tracked so far are billions of stimulus money that go beyond the four listed above. They are also credited as the “exclusive financial adviser” for the highly publicized bankrupt Solyndra, and in 2010, handled the IPO of both Tesla Motors and Amyris. Other than Solyndra, we find more Goldman stimulus winners that have gone bust: SpectraWatt, Nordic WindPower, and now we place Suntech into the bankrupt category –– all taking millions of taxpayer money down the drain.
Also, with a quick glance at that PDF file, there are many more, of which you can find more details in my January post, and all but two (Cogentrix and U.S. Geothermal) that I've personally tracked are on my 2012 Green-Energy Failure Alert List.
But it seems, that Goldmanites are not done, and in May 2012, they announced their plan "to channel investments totaling $40 billion over the next decade into renewable energy projects, an area the investment bank called one of the biggest profit opportunities since its economists got excited about emerging markets in 2001," wrote Reuters. This mean that Goldman Sachs will be pursuing more government aid, and they have a "friend" in the White House that is willing to oblige...
Despite, the rhetoric and deception, President Obama has his fair share of "Wall Street Buddies," which gave him $16 million for his successful 2008 campaign and dished out more in 2012.
We've already established that Goldman Sachs was a top Obama donor (#2 as a matter of fact), giving more than $1 million dollars to his 2008 campaign coffers. Also, two Goldman executives sat on Obama's 2008 Finance Committee, Bruce Heyman and David Heller, while Jennifer Scully and Bruce Heyman were 2008 bundlers.
Even though Goldman Sachs turned "red in 2012," supporting Mitt Romney, Goldman employees participated as top donors for President Obama's re-election, and Heyman bundled for Obama again in 2012.
Moreover, according to Open Secrets, "47 out of 51 Goldman Sachs lobbyists in 2012 have previously held government jobs." And now find that the infiltration of Goldman Sachs and Citigroup executives inside the Obama administration is extraordinary, even shaping his economic policy, however, more amazing is their footprint inside green energy and the tens of billions of taxpayer money that followed.
And “the "Too-Big-to-Fail" Citigroup –– the nation's third-largest bank that snagged the largest amount of federal bailout money, was the #7 top donor to candidate Obama with a few executives lined up as campaign bundlers, and Cit's massive 'Green' Money Machine is even too big to list here, but I unleashed it this past February, which tie them to approximately $16 billion of clean-energy money paid for by the taxpayers.
Sempra: More Solar, More Taxpayer Money
As mentioned, the Mesquite solar project is owned by Sempra Energy of San Diego, a Fortune 500 Company, and one the “big-three" utility companies in California, and in 2011, I had noticed Sempra Generation, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, of which their "Energy Solutions" have projects in solar, wind and natural gas.
Other than the Mesquite Solar Project and its $337 million DOE loan, in December 2010, Sempra announced the completed construction on the largest photovoltaic solar power plant in the U.S. called the Copper Mountain Solar facility, located in Boulder City, Nevada, of which the usual Green Corruption culprits are involved: PG&E and First Solar.
Delen Goldberg of the Las Vegas Sun had this to say in April 2011, "The federal government gave Sempra Generation about $42 million in tax credits, 30 percent of the price tag for Copper Mountain," which cost $141 million –– and the stats at that time on Copper Mountain were as follows:
- Temporary construction jobs created: 350. Not bad.
- Nevadans employed: 262. That’s a good share.
- Solar power coming to Nevada: 0. Zip.
- Parts manufactured in Nevada: 0. Zilch.
- Permanent jobs created: 5. That’s not a typo.
- State incentives developer Sempra Generation received: $12 million. That’s not a typo, either.
About a year later (March 21, 2012 to be exact), President Obama made a special visit using Copper Mountain as "an impressive backdrop" –– now at 10 jobs –– to celebrate his green energy efforts, whereas even Reuters had to cede that "the millions of green jobs Obama promised have been slow to sprout, disappointing many who had hoped that the $90 billion earmarked for clean-energy efforts in the recession-fighting federal stimulus package would ease unemployment –– still above 8 percent in March" –– not much better now at 7.7 percent, yet as I predicted, the president is demanding new "green" spending.
Sempra in Cahoots with BP, another Top Obama Donor: Where We Find More "Green" Taxpayer Money
Now, "formerly known as entities Sempra Generation, Sempra LNG and Sempra Pipelines & Storage have now been realigned under Sempra International." But after a few hours of digging in 2011, I found that Sempra is in cahoots with British Petroleum (BP) on a number of green ventures, more specifically, all five of their wind projects, and of course the majority are using GE wind turbines, another Big Energy White House buddy, making bank off of "green” stimulus money.
Like the entire Big Wind industry, BP subsidiary BP Wind Energy took advantage of the then expiring "provision that had previously been extended by President Obama’s politically unpopular 2009 stimulus" (AKA the 1603 Grant Program), reported the Los Angeles Times in early October 2011. This was for the Flat Ridge 2 Wind Farm, located in a wind-rich region near Wichita, Kansas, and is a joint venture of Sempra U.S. Gas & Power and BP Wind Energy, of which Sempra says, "The 419-megawatt (MW) project will be the largest wind farm in the state of Kansas when complete."
As you probably know, Congress’ January “Fiscal Cliff” bill renewed the PTC for 2013, and tweaked it so that money would be available to any project breaking ground by the end of the year. And to give you an idea on how BP will make out on the Kansas project alone, "Each of BP’s turbines will receive a 2.2 cent tax credit for every kilowatt-hour generated during the first 10 years of operation –– about $1 million per turbine –– adding up to $274 million for BP," recorded the Reactor.
Just last week, Big Wind got an early Christmas present: "The Internal Revenue Service adjusted the Wind Production Tax Credit for inflation — an increase that will cost taxpayers $545 million dollars, according to the Institute for Energy," reported the Daily Caller.
Hold up...
Ironically April has been a very energetic month so far, because also last week more wind blew up the airwaves. With quite the "wind portfolio" (16 wind farms across nine states), BP is abandoning wind –– a story Marita Noon covered in her Sunday column at Townhall.com.
On April 3, BP announced that it was selling its US wind assets — estimated to be worth $1.5 to 3.1 billion. The announcement stated that BP has decided sell the US wind energy business “as a part of our continuing effort to … re-position the company for sustainable growth” and that it would “unlock more value for shareholders.”
Surprised?
Apparently, speculation has been surfacing that BP "is slowly losing faith in the renewable energy sector," and according to the Christian Science Monitor, "[BP] exited the wind sector in Europe, and then near the end of last year announced that it would also sell its solar business." Yet, the motivating factors behind this BP move are "part of a continuing effort to become a more focused on oil and gas, and in part, "by the company's need to sell about $38bn of assets to help finance the costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010."
Climate Change Radical, Big Oil Investor, Obama Bundler and Billionaire Buddy, Tom Steyer
Still, BP's renewable energy ventures won plenty of green-government subsidies from the Obama administration, and they have an advocate close to the White House, "Climate Change Radical" Tom Steyer, of which last September I took notice and wrote a blog entitled, Obama’s Green Cronies Made DNC Cameo: Beneficiaries of Billions of Taxpayer Money," highlighting Obama bundler and billionaire buddy, Tom Steyer.
As divulged by the Washington Free Beacon in September 2012, "Steyer is reportedly one of the backers of Greener Capital, which invests in alternative fuel companies that benefit from the anti-oil policies of the Obama administration. Steyer is also the founder and senior managing partner of Farallon Capital Management, a $20 billion hedge fund that ranks as one of the largest of its kind in the world," and they stand "to profit from government policies that increase consumption of natural gas."
The Beacon goes on to give more interesting tidbits about Steyer being a Goldman Sachs protégé of Robert Rubin, but what caught my attention was this: "a successful investor, Steyer knows to hedge his bets. His fund owns millions of dollars worth of shares in Big Oil companies such as BP [970,000 shares as of the end of 2013]."
Hold up...
Did I mention that Mr. Steyer retired from Farallon Capital Management at the end of 2012, and according to Forbes, "sold his stake in the hedge fund firm to his partners?" And did you know that Steyer is also anti-keystone? So much so that early this month Politico reported, "The former hedge fund trader-turned-philanthropist is bankrolling a far-flung political operation pushing environmental causes and candidates, including his pricey effort to torpedo the Keystone XL oil pipeline."
OK, so we have a ferocious "greenie" that invested in Big Oil, and besides BP, "among the oil and gas companies that Steyer and Farallon financed and got rich from were Energy Partners, Ltd., Link Energy LLC, Halcon Resources Corporation, Devx Energy, Inc., and a gold mining company named Global Gold Corporation," recently recorded by Darwin Bond-Graham at CounterPunch.org.
This reminds me of a vegan –– and activist against meat eaters –– who gains their wealth by investing in slaughterhouses. Too graphic, but definitely we see a hypocrite here, and possibly now Captain Planet meets Robin Hood.
Steyer's firm may only be a BP shareholder, but they have plenty of "green" that stand to benefit from Obama's radical and expensive climate change agenda, and already have. Besides Steyer's money raising efforts, he has "considerable influence in the White House," as pointed out by the Washington Post. From Steyer's wealth and political connections that have "played a critical behind-the-scenes role in helping shape the country’s national energy policy” to the fact that "he has spoken with President Obama about how to pursue climate and energy policy in a second term." Steyer was even considered as a replacement to outgoing Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.
Mr. Steyer also has strong and expensive connections to the left-wing think tank Center for American Progress (CAP), who is closely aligned with Obama and has taken over key White House positions. CAP is heavily engaged in this green-energy scheme, and they have been on my radar since 2010, which I've mentioned in several of my Green Corruption files –– most recently in my post: Left-wing Billionaire George Soros: Obama’s "Agent of Green," however, the entire CAP Green Corruption piece of this scandal has yet to be exposed.
In the meantime, Steyer's bundling bucks never ended, and even though Obama won a second term, this month Steyer hosted a high-dollar fundraiser for our "Campaigner in Chief," even defending the president's efforts to save our planet.
Moreover, despite President Obama's anti-oil and gas rhetoric, he doesn't seem to mind taking their cash. Because according to Politico in 2010, Obama was the biggest recipient of BP donations over the past twenty years.
Obviously, BP has invested big in clean energy, and it is not limited to their wind projects with Sempra. BP Alternative Energy has other projects and companies in their portfolio that have raked in tons of stimulus funds –– at lease six that I know of.
GMZ Energy that received $8 million from the DOE's Vehicle Technologies Program funded by the 2009-Stimulus, and $11 million from the DOE and DARPA. But the big catch was BrightSource Energy, of which BP is an investor, and we've shed light on BrightSources' $1.6 billion shady deal quite a few times, including my recent "George Soros post" with much more dirt to share in the near future. [#1 and 2]
Still, as exposed by California Watchdog in August 2010, "The federal government is giving a joint venture involving oil giant BP millions of dollars in stimulus money to build a power plant on farmland near the tiny Kern County town of Tupman."[#3]
BP is also "benefiting from a $308 million federal grant over several years for the cutting-edge power plant on cotton and alfalfa fields seven miles from the western edge of Bakersfield. More than half of the money, $175 million, is coming from stimulus funds. The rest is coming from another federal program." Apparently, the DOE gave this grant in 2009 to Hydrogen Energy California, a joint partnership of BP and the multinational mining firm Rio Tinto –– a project considered by the Right as a waste of taxpayer money, with mixed reviews by environmentalists. [#4]
The Goshen North Wind Farm is a 50:50 joint venture between BP Wind Energy and Ridgeline Energy, LLC. BP Wind Energy is operator with a site location approximately an 11,000-acre site located some 10 miles east of Idaho Falls, Idaho. It seems that this Idaho wind farm listed as Goshen Phase II LLC on March 17, 2011 snagged 78,055,029 1603 cash grant [docket #2641]. [#5]
BP Solar unit of BP PLC (based in London) received $11.7 million in 48C credits, despite the fact that this project is creating jobs overseas, aligning them to others greenies that are outsourcing so called green jobs –– promoting more "Obamanomics Outsourced." [#6]
Obamanomics Outsourcing More Green
Now, Sempra may have chosen Suntech, the Chinese solar producer as their contractor, and we can't directly blame the president, however, Suntech is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Obamanomics Outsourced...
Back in February, we said good-by to President Obama’s Jobs Council –– a panel full of "deep-pocket Democratic donors and high-profile financiers" of Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns, noted ABC News in 2011. Meanwhile several were Obama campaign bundlers and it included its share of union representatives like AFL-CIO’s left-wing "elitist" Richard Trumka.
I’ve already unraveled the series "Spreading the Wealth to Obama's Ultra-Rich Jobs Council," exposing the five panel members that have raked in tens of billions of “green” funds (directly and indirectly), the majority coming from the 2009-Recovery Act. More insulting is the fact that this fired Jobs Council is "packed with outsourcing companies."
Also, as emphasized in my Big Wind Story "A Hurricane of Carnage, Cronyism and Corruption," the Energy and Commerce Committee “in-depth report on its ongoing investigation into the implementation of President Obama’s green-energy stimulus spending,” states that as of December 5, 2012, nearly $16 billion in federal funds has been awarded under the 1603 Grant Program –– which does not factor in regional or state funding –– “approximately $10.8 billion (68%) of the total amount in Section 1603 grants awarded was for wind and another $3.8 billion (24%) was for solar projects.”
Nevertheless, the most shocking aspect is that "despite skyrocketing debt, and the "Obama green and recovery promises," the committee found that approximately one out of every four dollars of $16 billion spent on “Section 1603” Renewable Energy Stimulus Program" went to foreign-owned entities.
Just this week we find out that despite the sequester, the DOE awarded "more than $1.2 billion in cash payments to renewable energy projects by the Department of Energy and the Treasury" –– more free money through the 1603 grant program. However, the expensive 1603 program is not the only place where we find that the Obama administration has been outsourcing clean-energy stimulus funds, energy money, and green jobs.
NOTE: This list is compliments of the GOP, created sometime in July 2012, and reflects duplications of the foreign entity owned wind projects that I just outlined above, however it looks like they missed British Petroleum (BP). I also took the liberty of placing the list alphabetical order, and made some additions and updates for those transactions that are familiar to my research*.
In keeping with my green energy topic, non-renewable energy outsourcing transactions have been deleted.
Hold up...
GOP, what's up with ALL THE CAPS?
China:
STIMULUS FUNDS
North Carolina-Based LED Maker Cree Inc. Received Over $39 Million Through The Stimulus And Later Opened Its First Plant In China. Over Half Of The Company's Employees Are Now Located In China And Cree's CEO Says The Company's Strategy Is "Cree Chip, China Heart."
LOAN GUARANTEES
Sempra Received A $337 Million Loan Guarantee For An Arizona Solar Plant. The Solar Panels Will Be Supplied By SunTech, A Chinese Solar Panel Manufacturer.
JOBS COUNCIL
- General Electric Cancelled An Order From Wind Turbine Manufacturer ATI Casting In Order To Get The Parts Cheaper From China. After ATI Offered To Match The Price, GE Still Refused The Order. ATI Was Forced To Layoff 302 Workers Due To The Move.
- General Electric Has Also Been Criticized For Using Chinese Made Wind Towers Over American Towers At The Stimulus Funded Shepherds Flat Wind Farm In Oregon.
STIMULUS FUNDS
Solar Power Industries Received A $5.4 Million Stimulus Grant Before Laying Off American Workers Based On An Increased Reliance On Imports From China.
STIMULUS GRANTS*
A123 Systems received $390 million, of which $249 million of it was a Recovery Act Grant, and filed for bankruptcy October 16, 2012. In January of this year, China's Wanxiang Group Corp. won U.S. government approval and acquired A123 Systems Inc. for a $256.6 million bid.
Smith Electric Vehicles –– another Obama touted green investment –– received $32 million in federal grants from the stimulus package. However, since 2009 they have "racked up $128 million in losses," and in February 2011, Smith Electric Vehicles announced a potential partnership (signed a letter of intent) with Wanxiang Group, one of the largest non-government owned companies in China that was on a "green USA buying spree." Then in September 2012, struggling, and "short on cash," Smith Electric scrapped its IPO to “pursue private financing opportunities.” Not sure if they are China-owned yet, but the USA is.
CLEAN ENERGY TAX CREDITS*
MiaSolé received two Advanced Energy Manufacturing tax credits totaling $101.8 million from the Obama Administration in January 2010, see my Summer 2010 report on Kleiner Perkins, yet it also a VantagePoint investment. In October 2012, "struggling" and "desperate" MiaSole agreed to be sold to China's Hanergy Holding Group for $30 Million, which is considered to be dirt cheap.
Recently, the Washington Free Beacon added more outsourcing to this story, which is coming from another taxpayer-funded program that not only hands out tons of "green loans" but also instigates more corporate welfare and crony capitalism.
"The U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) is financing the purchase of solar panels from a manufacturer now owned by the Chinese that had previously attracted investments from prominent Democrats..." "Ex-Im approved a loan to an Indian developer who wants to buy solar panels from MiaSolé, a California-based solar panel manufacturer. A bank spokesman said the loan amount has not been issued yet, as the financing terms are still under negotiation."
Denmark:
STIMULUS GRANTS*
Subsidiaries of Danish wind mill maker Vestas received $51.6 million in stimulus grants to build U.S. based factories, and they have announced plans to layoff 180 U.S. workers and possibly another 1,600 by the end of the tear. Well, it seems Vestas kept their promise, because in October 2012, "[they] cut more than 800 jobs in the United States and Canada this year and may be forced to lay off another 800 employees in North America."
STIMULUS GRANTS
The Windy Flats Project Began Construction Before The Stimulus Was Passed, Received A $218 Million Stimulus Grant And Used Wind Turbines Assembled By Seimans In Denmark.
STIMULUS FUNDS
Danish Catalyst Company, Haldor Topsoe, Received A $25 Million Stimulus Award For The Construction Of A Demonstration Scale Biorefinery.
Dominican Republic:
STIMULUS FUNDS
Parago Used Stimulus Funds to Hire Hundreds of Workers in El Salvador and the Dominican Republic to Administer a Renewable Energy Appliance Rebate Program.
El Salvador:
STIMULUS FUNDS
Parago Used Stimulus Funds to Hire Hundreds of Workers in El Salvador and the Dominican Republic to Administer a Renewable Energy Appliance Rebate Program.
Finland:
LOAN GUARANTEES*
After receiving over $500 million loan guarantee (from the ATVM program), Fisker Automotive is producing their $100K luxury electric sports car in Finland. However, Fisker, which has been having issues for a while, just this month was reported that "160 Fisker employees were let go, and 53 employees will stay on to manage further negotiations with the Department of Energy and a potential sale of assets."
Furthermore, according to Gigaom.com, "The news follows reports that Fisker has hired a law firm to advise it on bankruptcy options. It owes a loan repayment to the Department of Energy this month, and has been cutting costs and furloughed its employees last month. The company hasn’t made a car since the summer of 2012."
However, it seems that Gigaom has their GPS on Fisker, and in February 2013, they too (like many of Obama-selected green firms), were seeking Chinese assistance, "Fisker Automotive is reportedly weighing investment and acquisition offers from Chinese auto tech companies. Bloomberg reports that there’s a $350 million offer for 85 percent of the company from Chinese state-owned car maker Dongfeng Motor Corp, and Reuters reports that China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (which owns Volvo) has another offer for a majority stake with a deal between $200 million and $300 million."
We'll keep our eye on this one because "Congress set hearing on Fisker troubles for April 24, 2013."
France:
CASHING IN
French Wind Farm Developer EnXco Pulled In Over $69 Million In Cash Grants Through The Stimulus' 1603 Program.
LOAN GUARANTEES*
In May 2010, the DOE offered AREVA Enrichment Services, LLC a conditional commitment for a $2 billion loan guarantee to support the Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility in Idaho Falls, Idaho. This loan was part of the 1703 loan program, and while AREVA is a France-based company that offers technological solutions for nuclear power generation with worldwide presence, at least the jobs are here in the USA. We think...
Germany:
STIMULUS GRANTS
E.ON Climate & Renewables Received Over $440 Million In Stimulus Grants For Wind Farms That Began Construction Before The Stimulus Was Passed.
STIMULUS GRANTS
At Least 25 Wind Turbines For Stimulus Funded Projects Were Supplied By German-Based Nordex.
Great Britain:
STIMULUS FUNDS
$39 Million In Stimulus Funds Went To Navistar For Electric Delivery Trucks That Are Manufactured In Coventry, England.
STIMULUS GRANTS
British Private-Equity Firm Terra Firma Received Over $40 Million In Stimulus Funds Through An American Wind Consortium It Bought Just Days Before The Stimulus Funds Were Awarded.
India:
STIMULUS GRANTS
India-Based Suzlon And Its Subsidiaries Installed Over 200 Wind Turbines Under Obama's Stimulus Grant Program With Most Of The Materials Coming From Its Operations Overseas.
Indonesia:
STIMULUS FUNDS
The EPA Gave A $1.5 Million Grant To Indonesia To Reduce Air Pollution In Jakarta.
Italy:
STIMULUS FUNDS
Brevini Wind Was Given A $12.75 Million Tax Credit To Build A Facility To Manufacture Wind Turbine Gearboxes In Indiana. Over Two Years Later The Company Has Only Hired 70 Of The 450 Workers Promised And The Company Has Announced They Do Not Expect To Be Operating The Facility Until Late-2013.
CASHING IN
Italian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Pulled In Over $84 Million In Cash Grants Through The Stimulus' 1603 Program.
Japan:
STIMULUS GRANTS
Japanese-Subsidiary Eurus Energy Received $91.4 Million In Stimulus Grants For A Wind Farm Completed Before The Stimulus Was Passed And Used 180 Turbines Manufactured Overseas By Mitsubishi.
Luxembourg:
STIMULUS FUNDS
Luxembourg-Based ArcelorMittal's Subsidiary Received $31.5 Million In Stimulus Funds For A Waste Heat Recovery Unit.
Malaysia & Germany:
STIMULUS LOAN GUARANTEES*
First Solar was privy to $3 billion through the 1705 loan guarantee program for three projects, plus suspicious Export-Import bank funding. Then during the May 16, 2012 House Oversight Committee hearing, CA Representative Darrell Issa surmised that First Solar (Germany 560, Ohio 280, and Malaysia with 1680 jobs) is "not an American company." It turns out that the numbers don't lie because CEO Michael Ahearn admitted, "in sheer numbers, most of our full time [employees] are outside the US."
Mexico:
STIMULUS LOAN GUARANTEE*
SunPower admitted that some of the solar panels for the $1.2 billion stimulus backed California Solar Valley Ranch would be manufactured at their facility in Mexico rather than their facility in California.
UPDATE: Despite SunPower's well-known financial issues, and the fact that it was under a shareholder suit alleging securities fraud and misrepresentations, just days (September 2011) before the 1705 Loan Guarantee Program’s deadline, along with four other solar companies, its $1.2 billion loan guarantee from the DOE was approved.
SunPower never directly got the DOE cash because they sold the California Valley Solar Ranch to NRG Energy, a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 Index company, of which NRG and its subsidiaries was the recipient of most of 1705 stimulus loans ($5.2 billion of taxpayer money and counting). But SunPower is still involved in this project and stands to profit if it succeeds.
STIMULUS FUNDS
ABB Inc. Received Over $16 Million in Stimulus Funds to Create Green Energy Manufacturing Jobs, the Company Has Laid Off Workers in the U.S. and Transferred Work To Mexico.
Russia:
STIMULUS FUNDS
Ener1 Received Over $118 Million In Stimulus Funds To Produce Vehicle Batteries. After Going Bankrupt, It Was Acquired Outright By A Russian Investor, Sparking Security Concerns Surrounding The Company's Work for The U.S. Military.
South Korea:
STIMULUS FUNDS*
Two South Korean companies –– LG Chem and Dow Kokam –– were given $303 million to produce car batteries in the U.S., but then brought in foreign workers. Local unions have criticized the company for filling jobs with foreign workers. The DOE has admitted that 11 of the 18 contractors on site are Asian firms.
STIMULUS GRANTS
The Gulf Wind Project Received A $179 Million Stimulus Grant And Sourced The Parts From South Korea, As Well As Japan And Mexico.
Spain:
STIMULUS LOAN GUARANTEES*
The Spanish company Abengoa received more than $2.8 billion in loans and grants, making them the second largest recipient of the $16 billion doled out through the DOE 1705 loan guarantee program.
STIMULUS FUNDS
Spain-Based Iberdrola Renewables Received $1.5 Billion In Loans And Grants And Claimed It Created Over 15,000 American Jobs But The Company Only Has 850 U.S.-Based Employees
STIMULUS GRANTS
Madrid-Based EDP Renewables Received Over $100 Million In Grants For Their Wind Farms and Announced In September 2011 That They Were Planning To Lay Off 10% Of Their North American Workforce.
Switzerland:
Swiss-Based Landis+Gyr Received Over $50 Million In Stimulus Contracts For Their Smart Grid Meters. Cathy Zoi, A Former Obama Energy Department Official, Held Over $250,000 Worth Of Stock In The Company As They Profited From Her Department's Policies. Zoi Had Previously Served As An Executive Director At Landis+Gyr Before Joining The Obama Administration.
Thailand:
BAILOUT FUNDS
After Taking A Taxpayer-Funded Bailout, General Motors Opened A $200 Million Plant In Thailand To Supply Diesel Engines For The Chevrolet Colorado Pickup Truck.
Vietnam:
JOBS COUNCIL
General Electric Opened A $61 Million Factory In Hai Pong To Produce Wind Turbine Components. GE's CEO Jeffery Immelt Chairs The President's Jobs Council And The Company Has Received Over $1.2 Billion In Stimulus Funds.
In closing...
If we dug deeper, we'd find much more, however, I'm sure you get the point. But is this just another tally in Obama's long list of broken promises?
It's much worse than that. Whether the Obama administration is sending green jobs to Finland, Malaysia, or Mexico and billions of our tax dollars to Spain, Britain, and even China, it's more evidence that this administration –– Congress for that matter –– doesn't give a damn about our economy. Obviously, the president's clean-energy dirt has fueled corporate welfare and crony capitalism, and the massive amount of "green outsourcing" is pure deception and an insult to American taxpayers and those of us seeking jobs.
Stay tuned for more Green Corruption Files...
Two Women –– one Citizen & one energy columnist –– join forces on our "mission" to expose one piece of the Green Corruption scandal at a time.
