Thursday, November 17, 2011

$35.9 Billion = Obama's Investment of Your Money in 'Clean Energy'

J. James Estrada

President Obama is spending yours and your children's and their children's money on what is amounting to a sinkhole (can you say Solyndra?).  The total amount of "loans" made to the solar power and "clean energy economy" is an astounding $35.9 billion between 2009 and 2011.  
Speaking of Solyndra, it's still on the list.  Apparently, the Department of Energy (the department Rick Perry famously wants to do away with) didn't remove the bankrupt company from the list yet. And oh, yes, BrightSource, the new outrage in crony loans is on the list too.
Read it and weep. Then vote a year from now to end this nonsense.

The Financing Force Behind America’s Clean Energy Economy
The Department of Energy’s Loan Programs enable DOE to work with private companies and lenders to mitigate the financing risks associated with building out commercial-scale clean energy projects, thereby encouraging the broader and more rapid growth of the sector. The Loan Programs Office is one of the largest and most active project finance operations in the world and, since 2009, has supported a robust, diverse portfolio of more nearly 40 projects. Projects include the world’s largest wind farm, several of the world’s largest solar generation facilities, one of the country’s first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants, and the first new nuclear power plant in the U.S. in the last three decades.  Collectively, these projects plan to employ more than 60,000 Americans, create additional tens of thousands of indirect jobs, provide enough clean electricity to power three million homes, and save more than 300 million gallons of gasoline a year. Many of these projects are first-of-a-kind that, when completed, can be replicated entirely but the private sector across the U.S., creating even more jobs and increasing our nation’s ability to compete successfully in this critical field on a global basis.
Some of the projects LPO supports include:
  • The nation’s first nuclear power plant in the last three decades. (Vogtle)
  • The world’s largest wind farm. (Shepherds Flat)
  • One of the nation’s first cellulosic ethanol power plants.  (POET’s Project Liberty)
  • The largest rooftop solar project in our nation’s history.  (Project Amp)
  • Several of the world’s largest photovoltaic generation facilities when completed, including the largest in the world. (Agua Caliente)
  • Several of the world’s largest concentrating solar power (CSP) generation facilities that will triple the nation’s currently-installed CSP capacity.
  • Solar manufacturing plants that will help reduce the cost of solar power, one by up to up to 50% per panel. (1366, Solopower)
  • The nation’s first purpose-built wheelchair-accessible vehicle that will run on compressed natural gas.  (VPG)
Department of Energy
Program Technology Loan
Guarantee
Amount
Jobs
(permanent/
construction)
Date
of
agreement
Locations Status
1703
AREVA Front-end Nuclear $2 billion 310/1,000 May 2010 Idaho Falls, ID Conditional Commitment
Georgia Power Company Nuclear Generation $8.33 billion 800/3,500 Feb 2010 Waynesboro, GA Conditional Commitment
Red River Environmental Products, LLC Energy Efficiency $245 million 70/500 Dec 2009 Coushatta, LA Conditional Commitment
SAGE Electrochromics, Inc. Energy Efficiency $72 million 160/210 Mar 2010 Faribault, MN Conditional Commitment
1705
1366 Technologies, Inc. Solar Manufacturing $150 million 70/50 Sept 2011 Lexington, MA Closed
Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas LLC Biofuel $132.4 million 65/300 Aug 2011 Hugoton, KS Closed
Abengoa Solar, Inc. (Mojave Solar) Solar Generation $1.2 billion 70/830 Sept 2011 San Bernardino County, CA Closed
Abengoa Solar, Inc. (Solana) Solar Generation $1.446 billion 60/1,700 Dec 2010 Gila Bend, AZ Closed
Abound Solar Solar Manufacturing $400 million 1,200/400 Dec 2010 Longmont, CO and Tipton, IN Closed
AES Corporation Battery Storage $17.1 million 5/30 Aug 2010 Johnson City, NY Closed
Beacon Power Corporation Energy Storage $43 million 14/20 Aug 2010 Stephentown, NY Closed
BrightSource Energy, Inc. Solar Generation $1.6 billion 86/1,000 Apr 2011 Baker, CA Closed
Caithness Shepherds Flat Wind Generation partial guarantee of $1.3 billion 35/400 Oct 2010 Gilliam and Morrow Counties, OR Closed
Cogentrix of Alamosa, LLC. Solar Generation $90.6 million 10/75 Sept 2011 Alamosa, CO Closed
Exelon (Antelope Valley Solar Ranch) Solar Generation $646 million 20/350 Sept 2011 Lancanster, CA Closed
Granite Reliable Wind Generation partial guarantee of $168.9 million 6/198 Sept 2011 Coos, NH Closed
Kahuku Wind Power, LLC. Wind Generation $117 million 10/200 July 2010 Kahuku Oahu, HI Closed
LS Power Associates (ON Line – formerly known as SWIP-S) Transmission $343 million 15/400 Feb 2011 Ely to Las Vegas, NV Closed
Mesquite Solar 1, LLC (Sempra Mesquite) Solar Generation $337 million 7/300 Sept 2011 Maricopa County, AZ Closed
Nevada Geothermal Power Company, Inc. Geothermal partial guarantee of $98.5 million 14/200 Sept 2010 Humbolt County, NV Closed
NextEra Energy Resources, LLC (Desert Sunlight) Solar Generation partial guarantee of $1.46 billion 15/550 Sept 2011 Riverside County, CA Closed
NextEra Energy Resources, LLC (Genesis Solar) Solar Generation partial guarantee of $852 million 47/800 Aug 2011 Riverside County, CA Closed
NRG Energy (California Valley Solar Ranch) Solar Generation $1.237 billion 15/350 Sept 2011 San Luis Obispo, CA Closed
NRG Solar, LLC (Agua Caliente) Solar Generation $967 million 10/400 Aug 2011 Yuma County, AZ Closed
Ormat Nevada, Inc. Geothermal partial guarantee of $350 million 64/332 Sept 2011 Jersey Valley, McGinness Hills, and Tuscarora, NV Closed
POET, LLC. Biofuel $105 million 40/200 Sept 2011 Emmetsburg, IA Closed
Prologis (Project Amp) Solar Generation partial guarantee of $1.4 billion 42/Over 1,000 Sept 2011 28 States Closed
Record Hill Wind Wind Generation $102 million 8/200 Aug 2011 Roxbury, ME Closed
SolarReserve, LLC (Crescent Dunes) Solar Generation $737 million 45/600 Sept 2011 Nye County, NV Closed
SoloPower Solar Manufacturing $197 million 450/270 Aug 2011 Wilsonville, OR Closed
Solyndra Inc. Solar Manufacturing $535 million N/A/3,000 Sep 2009 Fremont, CA Closed
US Geothermal, Inc. Geothermal $97 million 10/150 Feb 2011 Malheur County, OR Closed
Program Loan Amount Jobs
(created/
saved)
Date of
agreement
Number of
Projects
Status
ATVM
Fisker Automotive $529 million 2,000 Apr 2010 2 Closed
Ford Motor Company $5.907 billion 33,000 Sep 2009 13 Closed
Nissan North America, Inc. $1.448 billion 1,300 Jan 2010 2 Closed
Severstal Dearborn, LLC $730 million 260/2,500 June 2011
Conditional Commitment
Tesla Motors $465 million 1,500 Jan 2010 2 Closed
The Vehicle Production Group LLC $50 million 900 Mar 2011 1 Closed

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