The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations interested in improving national, state, and local energy & environmental policies. Our basic position is that technical matters like these should be addressed by using Real Science.
Instead of a science-based approach, our energy and environmental policies are typically written by those who stand to economically or politically profit from them. As a result, anything genuinely science-based in these policies is usually inadvertent and accidental.
A key element of AWED’s efforts is public education. To this end, every three weeks or so a newsletter is put together to balance what is found in the mainstream media about energy and environmental matters. We very much appreciate MasterResource for its assistance in publishing this information (for the two most recent reports, see here and here).
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A sordid story of wind energy in Rhode Island. This is very representative of what is going on everywhere. Watch this video carefully!
Reports about greed energy economics:
Very significant: How AWEA’s Job Claims are Bogus.
More evidence of extra costs required by wind energy.
Phony wind prices harming nuclear industry.
NREL — secret “lab” wasting your money.
Germany’s Unaffordable Wind Energy.
Germany’s “Green revolution” may cost Taxpayers well over $1 Trillion.
Sequester is a Manufactured Crisis.
Sequestration might hamper development of unreliables.
Sequestration results in 8.7% cut in wind 1603 grants.
More good commentary re sequestration and energy impacts.
Wind project’s $30 million in subsidies to be reviewed.
Despite high wind development, Texas has had a net loss in green jobs since 2010!
Ontario may “solve” wind’s intermittency with a Battery Five Times the Size of Niagara Falls. The cost — who cares?
MPs on the Pay of Subsidized Eco-firms…
BC Hydro’s Billion Dollar Climate Bill.
Investors may sue when handouts stop.
Maryland’s Offshore Wind Fiasco.
The latest in the removal of the Falmouth Turbines.
Reports about turbine health matters:
An excellent list where health professionals have expressed turbine concerns.
Health Effects of Infrasound can Cause Death.
Sleep duration predicts cardiovascular outcomes. (Peer reviewed.)
Deaths from various Energy Forms Compared.
Turbine Noise at Fairhaven Massachusetts.
More evidence of Green Energy Pollution.
Health Effects part of WindRush movie.
Reports about turbine wildlife matters:
USF&WS and 30 year Eagle killing permits.
Sierra Club Promotes Industry Over Wildlife.
John Muir and Wind Turbines.
Miscellaneous energy reports:
A superb summary of wind’s deficiencies by an economics PhD.
Wind Running from Demand.
Winds of Change — how communities are destroyed.
Wind Power’s Role Overestimated.
Wind Industry Should be Prosecuted for Fraud
Ten Ways to Kill Big Wind
Power Density Separates Wheat from the Chaff.
Offshore Wind Turbines Can Break Like Matches.
Wind Facts from a Different Angle.
No Wind, No Sun, No Power.
Wind Permits revoked in NYS.
NY State Judge dismisses lawsuit by wind developer.
Renewable Energy’s Big Secret.
Wind farms will create more carbon dioxide, say scientists.
Grass Roots Revolt on Green Energy.
Is Your Church Bowing to the Green Dragon?
An Ill Wind Blows in New Hampshire.
Germany “Reaches the Pain Threshold”.
Peak Oil vs Peak Government —> please follow.
Keystone Pipeline — Pyrrhic Victory Ahead?
Solar energy can be a large consumer of water: see here and here.
An article about the new head of DOE.
Manmade global warming articles of interest:
A new solution to global warming, that might actually make sense!
Climate Change Poised to Enter Classrooms.
Survey says: Decades of climate alarmism have had little effect on attitudes.
Normative Science (really good) by Dr. Judith Curry.
Some scientists conclude that CO2 follows global warming.
IPCC head acknowledges 17-year pause in global warming.
Latest Research: EU & Russian Scientists Confirm Medieval Period Warmer Than Modern Global Warming
Time To Jail The Climate Scamsters?
It’s the Sun, Stupid.
Keystone Pipeline Will Not Affect Climate.
Sierra Club resorts to civil disobedience to promote their religion.
Our Real Manmade Climate Crisis.
Can Global Warmists Get Their Story Straight?
You’ve probably heard that environmentalists (and their media associates) were making dire warnings about global cooling in the 1970’s. This is a fascinating list of dozens of such claims.
Other articles of general interest —
An excellent article on the situation with flood insurance.
A superior short video about Obamacare and morality.
Our proposed national energy slogan is “All of the Sensible” (in contrast to the absurd “All of the Above”). Please pass it on. US citizens should make sure to get up-to-speed with what is on our PTCFacts.Info pages, as this is still a political issue.
Please pass this information on to other open-minded, science-oriented people.
Source
Monday, March 11, 2013
Saturday, March 02, 2013
State justice dismisses suit by wind power developer
A State Supreme Court justice has dismissed a lawsuit brought against the Town of Allegany Planning Board by a wind power development company.
The decision by Justice Michael Nenno against Everpower Wind Holdings was brought to the attention of Concerned Citizens of Cattaraugus County by the group’s lawyer, Gary Abraham.
In December, Everpower sued both the Town of Allegany and the Allegany Planning Board, claiming the board’s request for a supplemental review of noise impacts, in light of the wind power company’s request to use larger turbine blades, was arbitrary.
Nenno threw out the lawsuit against the Planning Board, citing Everpower’s conduct as willfully obstinate.
Source
The decision by Justice Michael Nenno against Everpower Wind Holdings was brought to the attention of Concerned Citizens of Cattaraugus County by the group’s lawyer, Gary Abraham.
In December, Everpower sued both the Town of Allegany and the Allegany Planning Board, claiming the board’s request for a supplemental review of noise impacts, in light of the wind power company’s request to use larger turbine blades, was arbitrary.
Nenno threw out the lawsuit against the Planning Board, citing Everpower’s conduct as willfully obstinate.
Source
Thursday, February 28, 2013
No cause, no answers 7 months after Kahuku wind farm fire
It was a first of it's kind technology - that went up in smoke.
Seven months after they started spinning, the Kahuku wind mills stopped because of a fire.
The fact that they're sitting idle is having an ripple effect that reaches your electric bill.
For seven months they were spinning in the wind.
"First seven months of operation it put about 52k megawatts of energy into the system," said Hawaiian Electric Company spokesperson Darren Pai.
A productive project - capable of powering 7,800 homes.
But these last seven months have been a different story.
Since August, the 12 turbines at Kahuku are at a standstill after a fire inside the facility's battery storage system shut the wind farm down.
Turns out it was the third blaze to break-out inside the building.
"And those we did an extensive investigation and determined the cause of those that was related to the capacitors in the converters," said Wren Wescoatt of First Wind. "We took several steps to remedy that and the new investigation looked into that as one of the possibilities but hasn't yet determined what the cause of the final fire was."
Sen. Gabbard who chairs the Committee on Energy says - no cause is no good.
"I'm a little surprised they haven't found out the cause of the fire, we're still waiting to get results of the investigation, because I think that's a key part of it," said Senator Mike Gabbard (D).
The battery-storage technology was the first of its kind to regulate the flow of power when trade winds aren't blowing.
A system First Wind may decide to ditch.
"We've been working with HECO to remove the battery building, to re-build the control equipment and to get back online and producing as soon as possible," said Wescoatt.
In operation the wind farm was a win-win. HECO saw oil savings to the tune of $11 million and First Wind was working its way to meeting annual mega-watt goals.
Now HECO is back to buying up barrels of oil, and passing that cost onto customers, while First Wind is facing financial setbacks.
"They only get paid for the energy that's actually produced and fed into the grid, so when the wind farm is not in operation first wind does not get paid," said Pai.
And there's a potential for much worse under a 20-year contract First Wind could face sanctions if the project doesn't get going again.
"There is a possibility that the contract could be terminated somewhere down the road , but our focus in on first wind to get it back in operation," shared Pai.
Source
Seven months after they started spinning, the Kahuku wind mills stopped because of a fire.
The fact that they're sitting idle is having an ripple effect that reaches your electric bill.
For seven months they were spinning in the wind.
"First seven months of operation it put about 52k megawatts of energy into the system," said Hawaiian Electric Company spokesperson Darren Pai.
A productive project - capable of powering 7,800 homes.
But these last seven months have been a different story.
Since August, the 12 turbines at Kahuku are at a standstill after a fire inside the facility's battery storage system shut the wind farm down.
Turns out it was the third blaze to break-out inside the building.
"And those we did an extensive investigation and determined the cause of those that was related to the capacitors in the converters," said Wren Wescoatt of First Wind. "We took several steps to remedy that and the new investigation looked into that as one of the possibilities but hasn't yet determined what the cause of the final fire was."
Sen. Gabbard who chairs the Committee on Energy says - no cause is no good.
"I'm a little surprised they haven't found out the cause of the fire, we're still waiting to get results of the investigation, because I think that's a key part of it," said Senator Mike Gabbard (D).
The battery-storage technology was the first of its kind to regulate the flow of power when trade winds aren't blowing.
A system First Wind may decide to ditch.
"We've been working with HECO to remove the battery building, to re-build the control equipment and to get back online and producing as soon as possible," said Wescoatt.
In operation the wind farm was a win-win. HECO saw oil savings to the tune of $11 million and First Wind was working its way to meeting annual mega-watt goals.
Now HECO is back to buying up barrels of oil, and passing that cost onto customers, while First Wind is facing financial setbacks.
"They only get paid for the energy that's actually produced and fed into the grid, so when the wind farm is not in operation first wind does not get paid," said Pai.
And there's a potential for much worse under a 20-year contract First Wind could face sanctions if the project doesn't get going again.
"There is a possibility that the contract could be terminated somewhere down the road , but our focus in on first wind to get it back in operation," shared Pai.
Source
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Judge Deals Blow To Galloo Island Wind Farm Project
It's another setback for a proposed wind farm on Galloo Island.
Administrative Law Judge Kevin Casutto says there's no public need for a transmission line between the wind farm project and the mainland.
The judge recommends the State Public Service Commission dismiss the application by Upstate NY Power, citing long delays in the project and the effect on potentially affected landowners.
As originally envisioned in 2009, the electricity from Galloo Island would be sold to the state Power Authority, which abandoned the idea in late 2011.
Since then, Upstate talked about selling electricity to Fort Drum, but that idea was apparently pre-empted by a plant on post that will burn wood waste to generate power.
See the ruling
Source
Administrative Law Judge Kevin Casutto says there's no public need for a transmission line between the wind farm project and the mainland.
The judge recommends the State Public Service Commission dismiss the application by Upstate NY Power, citing long delays in the project and the effect on potentially affected landowners.
As originally envisioned in 2009, the electricity from Galloo Island would be sold to the state Power Authority, which abandoned the idea in late 2011.
Since then, Upstate talked about selling electricity to Fort Drum, but that idea was apparently pre-empted by a plant on post that will burn wood waste to generate power.
See the ruling
Source
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Cape Cod community considers taking down wind turbines after illness, noise
Two wind turbines towering above the Cape Cod community of Falmouth, Mass., were intended to produce green energy and savings -- but they've created angst and division, and may now be removed at a high cost as neighbors complain of noise and illness.
"It gets to be jet-engine loud," said Falmouth resident Neil Andersen. He and his wife Betsy live just a quarter mile from one of the turbines. They say the impact on their health has been devastating. They're suffering headaches, dizziness and sleep deprivation and often seek to escape the property where they've lived for more than 20 years.
"Every time the blade has a downward motion it gives off a tremendous energy, gives off a pulse," said Andersen. "And that pulse, it gets into your tubular organs, chest cavity, mimics a heartbeat, gives you headaches. It's extremely disturbing and it gets to the point where you have to leave."
The first turbine went up in 2010 and by the time both were in place on the industrial site of the town's water treatment facility, the price was $10 million. Town officials say taking them down will cost an estimated $5 million to $15 million, but that is just what Falmouth's five selectmen have decided to move toward doing.
"The selectmen unanimously voted to remove them. We think it's the right thing to do, absolutely," Selectman David Braga said. "You can't put a monetary value on people's health and that's what's happened here. A lot of people are sick because of these."
Now the matter will go to a town meeting vote in April and could ultimately end up on the ballot during the municipal elections in May.
"It's highly likely that what the voters will be determining is are they willing to tax themselves at an appropriate amount to cover the cost and dismantle and shut down the turbines?" Falmouth Town Manager Julian Suso said.
In the meantime, the turbines are being run on a limited schedule as the selectmen respond to the concerns of nearby neighbors. The turbines only run during the day -- from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. -- which means they're operating at a loss.
The dispute has been a bitter three-year battle in the seaside town where officials argue the project was thoroughly vetted, researched and put to public vote multiple times.
"To say 'let's let the voters decide' -- it sort of flies in the face of what we went through all these years," said Megan Amsler of the Falmouth Energy Committee.
"We never tell somebody 'hey, you're going to have to take that coal plant down or you're going to have to stop mining the mountain tops.' These are very visible and a lot of other ways that we get our energy are invisible to the average American," Amsler argued. "People don't even know how much energy they consume on a yearly basis so I think it's good for people to be able to see where their energy comes from and know that it's coming from a clean source."
"I think if we end up taking these turbines down it will be a shame. It will be an embarrassment for the Town of Falmouth," said Amsler.
Town leaders say the state bears some monetary responsibility for the situation because Falmouth was granted renewable energy credits and received advice from state level energy officials through an ongoing partnership.
"They certainly have been involved and have a tremendous stake in this process," said Assistant Town Manager Heather Harper. Harper said the Mass Clean Energy Center "provided the technical assistance to conduct all of the feasibility studies."
"I feel the state is responsible because they were really pushing for more wind power which, believe me, the whole board of selectmen are supportive of renewable energy. I am. Maybe wind, but not in this location," said Braga.
Ultimately, town leaders are hoping the controversy will be resolved and the community will find a way to move forward together.
"It's imperative to the community that we do have a coming together and a healing and find a resolution one way or the other," said Suso. His advice to communities considering a similar project to the one causing strife in Falmouth is "move cautiously, communicate well, have extreme public dialogue and listen well."
Source
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Yet Another Storm Brewing Over Wind Production Tax Credit
Wow, talk about taking the wind out of a guy’s sails. Just minutes after President Obama urged the nation to support more wind power in his State of the Union address, Rep. James Lankford (R-OK) sure put a damper on things. He announced that his House subcommittee intends to challenge the new one-year extension for the production tax credit for wind power. That comes on the heels of a similar announcement last month by Rep. Darryl Issa (R-CA), who complained that the new wind tax credit extension is a “dramatic” change from previous versions.
The investigation threatens to throw yet another monkey wrench in the path of the wind industry, which is just coming off a banner year for wind production in 2012.
Trouble Ahead for the Wind Production Tax Credit
As Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements Subcommittee, Lankford isn’t just blowing smoke. According to our friends over at The Hill, Lankford said that the wind production tax credit will be “the subject of increased oversight.”
That sounds pretty tame until you consider the way Issa, who chairs the Since Issa chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, framed his views on the new extension:
“In 24 hours the heavily subsidized wind industry has gone from the verge of collapse to a modern-day Gold Rush. H.R. 8 seems to create a perverse incentive to rush production of additional facilities…”
Why is This Even an Issue?
At issue, for those of you new to the subject, is a 1990′s-era temporary tax credit for wind power, which normally gets a routine extension every few years. It is intended to level the playing field between wind power and conventional energy, which has long benefited from enormous taxpayer subsidies.
Nothing being normal under Republican leadership in the House, this year the Obama Administration had to fight tooth and nail to win a one-year extension.
That would appear to be a hollow victory. Modern wind farms take at least 18 months to finish construction, and previous versions of the tax credit only applied to projects that were completed within the designated time frame.
So, why was the wind industry so happy with the new extension?
As it turns out, the new extension contains new language, making the tax credit apply to any project begun within the designated time frame, whether it’s completed or not.
That’s the sore point for Issa and Lankford, and now the game is to see how many projects they can exclude from the tax credit, by restricting the way the federal government considers that a project has actually begun.
Return of the Department of Energy
The Obama Administration hasn’t exactly been sitting on its hands while all this has been going on.
On Monday, the day before the State of the Union Address, the Energy Department released a glowing report on a wind project in Wisconsin, consisting of a single wind turbine at the Port of Milwaukee.
To highlight the interest of U.S. businesses in wind power, the Energy Department points out that ten different companies contributed to the project, which generates enough electricity to power the Port’s administrative headquarters with plenty left over to sell to the local utility.
That sounds like small potatoes, and it is. In the second phase of the one-two punch, on Tuesday morning the Energy Department released a report on Oregon’s Caithness Shepherds Flat wind farm. The massive, 845 megawatt wind farm (the equivalent of power for 260,000 homes) started up last fall and is credited with creating 400 construction jobs and 45 direct, permanent operating jobs without disrupting the ranch economy in its rural host community.
The choice of Shepherds flat was no accident, since it highlights the interest of major U.S. companies in alternative energy. In addition to federal support it was partly funded by a couple of U.S. wind power enthusiasts, namely Google and GE.
Source
The investigation threatens to throw yet another monkey wrench in the path of the wind industry, which is just coming off a banner year for wind production in 2012.
Trouble Ahead for the Wind Production Tax Credit
As Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements Subcommittee, Lankford isn’t just blowing smoke. According to our friends over at The Hill, Lankford said that the wind production tax credit will be “the subject of increased oversight.”
That sounds pretty tame until you consider the way Issa, who chairs the Since Issa chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, framed his views on the new extension:
“In 24 hours the heavily subsidized wind industry has gone from the verge of collapse to a modern-day Gold Rush. H.R. 8 seems to create a perverse incentive to rush production of additional facilities…”
Why is This Even an Issue?
At issue, for those of you new to the subject, is a 1990′s-era temporary tax credit for wind power, which normally gets a routine extension every few years. It is intended to level the playing field between wind power and conventional energy, which has long benefited from enormous taxpayer subsidies.
Nothing being normal under Republican leadership in the House, this year the Obama Administration had to fight tooth and nail to win a one-year extension.
That would appear to be a hollow victory. Modern wind farms take at least 18 months to finish construction, and previous versions of the tax credit only applied to projects that were completed within the designated time frame.
So, why was the wind industry so happy with the new extension?
As it turns out, the new extension contains new language, making the tax credit apply to any project begun within the designated time frame, whether it’s completed or not.
That’s the sore point for Issa and Lankford, and now the game is to see how many projects they can exclude from the tax credit, by restricting the way the federal government considers that a project has actually begun.
Return of the Department of Energy
The Obama Administration hasn’t exactly been sitting on its hands while all this has been going on.
On Monday, the day before the State of the Union Address, the Energy Department released a glowing report on a wind project in Wisconsin, consisting of a single wind turbine at the Port of Milwaukee.
To highlight the interest of U.S. businesses in wind power, the Energy Department points out that ten different companies contributed to the project, which generates enough electricity to power the Port’s administrative headquarters with plenty left over to sell to the local utility.
That sounds like small potatoes, and it is. In the second phase of the one-two punch, on Tuesday morning the Energy Department released a report on Oregon’s Caithness Shepherds Flat wind farm. The massive, 845 megawatt wind farm (the equivalent of power for 260,000 homes) started up last fall and is credited with creating 400 construction jobs and 45 direct, permanent operating jobs without disrupting the ranch economy in its rural host community.
The choice of Shepherds flat was no accident, since it highlights the interest of major U.S. companies in alternative energy. In addition to federal support it was partly funded by a couple of U.S. wind power enthusiasts, namely Google and GE.
Source
Italy makes 'Mafia' arrests over Sicily wind farms
Police have arrested five people in eastern Sicily suspected of involvement in Mafia corruption over contracts to build wind farms, Italian media report.
The mayor and a councillor in the small town of Fondachelli Fantina, in Messina province, were among those detained.
The five face charges including extortion, fraud and Mafia association.
The investigation, which began in 2009, is linked to sub-contracts awarded to build energy farms near Agrigento, Palermo and Trapani.
A total of 11 people were under investigation, including two managers from a firm that won the main contract to build one of the wind farms, installing 63 turbines.
The contract was worth some 120bn euros (£103bn).
In December, police arrested six people and seized 10bn euros (£8.6bn) in assets in an investigation into suspected Mafia infiltration of other renewable energy facilities in western Sicily, Ansa reports.
The proceeds from contracts are believed to have been channelled to the fugitive head of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, Matteo Messina Denaro.
The Cosa Nostra has been trying to get into the renewable energy sector for many years, Italian investigators say.
Source
The mayor and a councillor in the small town of Fondachelli Fantina, in Messina province, were among those detained.
The five face charges including extortion, fraud and Mafia association.
The investigation, which began in 2009, is linked to sub-contracts awarded to build energy farms near Agrigento, Palermo and Trapani.
A total of 11 people were under investigation, including two managers from a firm that won the main contract to build one of the wind farms, installing 63 turbines.
The contract was worth some 120bn euros (£103bn).
In December, police arrested six people and seized 10bn euros (£8.6bn) in assets in an investigation into suspected Mafia infiltration of other renewable energy facilities in western Sicily, Ansa reports.
The proceeds from contracts are believed to have been channelled to the fugitive head of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, Matteo Messina Denaro.
The Cosa Nostra has been trying to get into the renewable energy sector for many years, Italian investigators say.
Source
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
The Wind Power Tax
Should businesses and families have to pay higher electricity rates to underwrite the cost of wind energy they don't even use?
That is the issue as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission takes up a complaint by Interstate Power and Light Co. (IPL) that 500,000 rate payers in Iowa and Minnesota will have to pay $170.5 million from 2008-2016 for transmission lines and upgrades to connect wind farms to the electric grid.
The utility provides compelling evidence that "the burden of these huge costs is unrelated to any benefits that may accrue to IPL and its customers." And they are paying even though they "have not experienced any material improvements to reliability or lower energy prices."
The case has ramifications nationwide because the price tag for upgrading and expanding power lines to reach offshore and remote wind turbines could reach $150 billion. The green energy lobby and Obama Administration want to socialize these costs on the backs of all rate payers.
We criticized this stealth consumer tax two years ago ("The Great Transmission Heist," Review and Outlook, November 8, 2010). Michigan rate payers were asked to subsidize about 20% of the $16 billion cost to build wind-based power lines outside the state even though those customers received little benefit. These cost-shifting schemes would seem to violate the Federal Power Act, which says FERC should establish "just and reasonable" rates to cover transmission costs.
Yet in 2011 FERC issued new guidelines called "Order 1000" stating that pricing to cover transmission costs need only be "roughly commensurate" with benefits received—whatever that means. When we challenged FERC for straying from the user-pays principle, FERC chairman Jon Wellinghoff responded that his agency's pricing proposal "makes clear that only those who benefit from transmission facilities will be allocated the costs of such transmission investments."
Well, now we'll see. The dispute is over what constitutes a "commensurate" benefit. Interstate Power and Light says it doesn't use the wind power, so it shouldn't pay for it. The green lobby and FERC counter that rate payers benefit from the overall "reliability" of the electric grid.
But this is like arguing that Oklahomans should pay to fix potholes in Manhattan because this enhances the national transportation system. In any case, wind power is one of the least reliable sources of electricity due to its intermittency. In states like Colorado, wind has to be backed up by coal or natural gas plants, not the opposite.
It's no secret why FERC is likely to rule against the homeowners in Iowa and Minnesota. The Obama Administration's green vision is to make wind and solar an ever-larger share of U.S. electricity production, regardless of costs. Think high-speed rail for the electric power network. The only way to make that happen without a political backlash is to spread the costs far and wide.
Wind and solar power are too expensive to compete with natural gas, coal, nuclear and hydropower without government help. The wind lobby already won an extension of its $12 billion production tax credit as part of the recent tax increase. More than half the states also have renewable energy standards forcing residents to purchase wind power. And now the greens want another subsidy for transmission lines.
In the Interstate Power and Light case, FERC has an opportunity to reinstate the user-pays principle. If FERC won't do that, Congress should step in for consumers and define "just" and "reasonable" pricing for the windy Mr. Wellinghoff.
Source
That is the issue as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission takes up a complaint by Interstate Power and Light Co. (IPL) that 500,000 rate payers in Iowa and Minnesota will have to pay $170.5 million from 2008-2016 for transmission lines and upgrades to connect wind farms to the electric grid.
The utility provides compelling evidence that "the burden of these huge costs is unrelated to any benefits that may accrue to IPL and its customers." And they are paying even though they "have not experienced any material improvements to reliability or lower energy prices."
The case has ramifications nationwide because the price tag for upgrading and expanding power lines to reach offshore and remote wind turbines could reach $150 billion. The green energy lobby and Obama Administration want to socialize these costs on the backs of all rate payers.
We criticized this stealth consumer tax two years ago ("The Great Transmission Heist," Review and Outlook, November 8, 2010). Michigan rate payers were asked to subsidize about 20% of the $16 billion cost to build wind-based power lines outside the state even though those customers received little benefit. These cost-shifting schemes would seem to violate the Federal Power Act, which says FERC should establish "just and reasonable" rates to cover transmission costs.
Yet in 2011 FERC issued new guidelines called "Order 1000" stating that pricing to cover transmission costs need only be "roughly commensurate" with benefits received—whatever that means. When we challenged FERC for straying from the user-pays principle, FERC chairman Jon Wellinghoff responded that his agency's pricing proposal "makes clear that only those who benefit from transmission facilities will be allocated the costs of such transmission investments."
Well, now we'll see. The dispute is over what constitutes a "commensurate" benefit. Interstate Power and Light says it doesn't use the wind power, so it shouldn't pay for it. The green lobby and FERC counter that rate payers benefit from the overall "reliability" of the electric grid.
But this is like arguing that Oklahomans should pay to fix potholes in Manhattan because this enhances the national transportation system. In any case, wind power is one of the least reliable sources of electricity due to its intermittency. In states like Colorado, wind has to be backed up by coal or natural gas plants, not the opposite.
It's no secret why FERC is likely to rule against the homeowners in Iowa and Minnesota. The Obama Administration's green vision is to make wind and solar an ever-larger share of U.S. electricity production, regardless of costs. Think high-speed rail for the electric power network. The only way to make that happen without a political backlash is to spread the costs far and wide.
Wind and solar power are too expensive to compete with natural gas, coal, nuclear and hydropower without government help. The wind lobby already won an extension of its $12 billion production tax credit as part of the recent tax increase. More than half the states also have renewable energy standards forcing residents to purchase wind power. And now the greens want another subsidy for transmission lines.
In the Interstate Power and Light case, FERC has an opportunity to reinstate the user-pays principle. If FERC won't do that, Congress should step in for consumers and define "just" and "reasonable" pricing for the windy Mr. Wellinghoff.
Source
Tuesday, February 05, 2013
Citing Wisconsin turbine noise study, Cape councilman calls for statewide wind moratorium
CAPE VINCENT — Town officials are urging the Association of Towns of the State of New York to support a resolution calling for a ban on industrial wind development, pointing to a similar movement in Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Towns Association last month adopted a resolution advising the Wisconsin Public Service Commission to enact a moratorium on wind farms after several noise consultants recommended to the PSC that more in-depth impact studies be conducted.
One of the four consultants who produced the report on low-frequency noise and infrasound for the Shirley Wind Farm in Brown County, Wis., was Hessler Associates Inc. — a Haymarket, Va., firm also hired by wind developers in Cape Vincent for a noise assessment.
In the report submitted to the Wisconsin PSC on Dec. 28, Hessler Associates suggests a limit of 39.5 dBA — A-weighted, audible spectrum noise — at neighboring homes on properties not leased for wind development rights.
John L. Byrne, a Cape Vincent councilman who is advocating a wind moratorium in New York state, said Cape Vincent Wind Farm’s former project manager, James H. Madden, a few years ago provided the town with several development scenarios, all of which exceed Hessler’s recommended noise limit.
“BP’s business developer Jim Madden told the Cape Planning Board that creating a project with a noise limit of 42 dBA — which would exceed Hessler’s suggested maximum threshold — would not be economically feasible,” Mr. Byrne said.
BP’s current director of business development for the Cape Vincent Wind Farm, Richard Chandler, did not return calls and emails seeking comment.
In 2010, two years before Cape Vincent Wind Farm’s merger with Acciona Wind Energy USA’s St. Lawrence Wind Farm, BP submitted to the local Planning Board an analysis showing the correlation among noise levels, project size and financial benefits.
The largest array scenario BP had considered at that time was projected to produce 124 megawatts of electricity and meet a noise limit of 50 dBA at non-participating property lines. The smallest configuration, which would meet a noise limit of 42 dBA, would have produced only 36 megawatts.
BP is seeking a state Article X siting process for a 124-turbine project of up to 285 megawatts in Cape Vincent.
Following in the footsteps of the Wisconsin Towns Association, Mr. Byrne said, he hopes the Association of Towns of the State of New York would call on the state PSC to halt the Article X certification process for industrial wind developments through a formal resolution so that long-term studies on potentially adverse health and environmental effects due to wind farms can be properly conducted.
“In the case of wind power development, I think it’s important that our people have a good understanding of what adverse health effects, if any, are caused by turbine noise, the spinning of the blades or the transmission of power,” Mr. Byrne said. “We should learn how our soil, water and land may be impacted by the installation of turbines and if any steps need to be taken to mitigate or eliminate negative impacts.” Source
The Wisconsin Towns Association last month adopted a resolution advising the Wisconsin Public Service Commission to enact a moratorium on wind farms after several noise consultants recommended to the PSC that more in-depth impact studies be conducted.
One of the four consultants who produced the report on low-frequency noise and infrasound for the Shirley Wind Farm in Brown County, Wis., was Hessler Associates Inc. — a Haymarket, Va., firm also hired by wind developers in Cape Vincent for a noise assessment.
In the report submitted to the Wisconsin PSC on Dec. 28, Hessler Associates suggests a limit of 39.5 dBA — A-weighted, audible spectrum noise — at neighboring homes on properties not leased for wind development rights.
John L. Byrne, a Cape Vincent councilman who is advocating a wind moratorium in New York state, said Cape Vincent Wind Farm’s former project manager, James H. Madden, a few years ago provided the town with several development scenarios, all of which exceed Hessler’s recommended noise limit.
“BP’s business developer Jim Madden told the Cape Planning Board that creating a project with a noise limit of 42 dBA — which would exceed Hessler’s suggested maximum threshold — would not be economically feasible,” Mr. Byrne said.
BP’s current director of business development for the Cape Vincent Wind Farm, Richard Chandler, did not return calls and emails seeking comment.
In 2010, two years before Cape Vincent Wind Farm’s merger with Acciona Wind Energy USA’s St. Lawrence Wind Farm, BP submitted to the local Planning Board an analysis showing the correlation among noise levels, project size and financial benefits.
The largest array scenario BP had considered at that time was projected to produce 124 megawatts of electricity and meet a noise limit of 50 dBA at non-participating property lines. The smallest configuration, which would meet a noise limit of 42 dBA, would have produced only 36 megawatts.
BP is seeking a state Article X siting process for a 124-turbine project of up to 285 megawatts in Cape Vincent.
Following in the footsteps of the Wisconsin Towns Association, Mr. Byrne said, he hopes the Association of Towns of the State of New York would call on the state PSC to halt the Article X certification process for industrial wind developments through a formal resolution so that long-term studies on potentially adverse health and environmental effects due to wind farms can be properly conducted.
“In the case of wind power development, I think it’s important that our people have a good understanding of what adverse health effects, if any, are caused by turbine noise, the spinning of the blades or the transmission of power,” Mr. Byrne said. “We should learn how our soil, water and land may be impacted by the installation of turbines and if any steps need to be taken to mitigate or eliminate negative impacts.” Source
Monday, January 28, 2013
Kahuku Windfarm Loan Timed to Boost IPO, Avoid Jail
Kahuku Wind Power, LLC, a project of First Wind in Kahuku Oahu, HI, was granted a $117 million loan in July 2010, estimated to create a whopping 200 jobs. And then on February 3, 2012 this same project received a 1603 grant for over $35 million [docket #2594 –- $35,148,839].
Sadly, in August 2012 a fire that destroyed First Wind’s battery storage facility and sent toxic fumes into the air, left ratepayers in the dark over costs and safety. We should keep an eye on that one, however, there is more corruption to expose...
The First Wind plan was to secure taxpayer money and then go public. Now they achieved their first objective from the Bank of Obama –– since he took office (and as of 7/18/12), First Wind's projects have received over $452 million in grants through the Stimulus' 1603 Program.
First Wind's Stetson Wind Farm in Maine –– $40,441,471
Cohocton Wind Farm in New York, $52,352,334
Dutch Hill Wind Farm In New York, $22,296,494
Milford Wind Corridor Phase I In Utah; $120,147,809
Milford Wind Corridor Phase II In Utah, $80,436,803
Rollins Wind Farm In Maine; $53,246,347
Sheffield Wind Farm In Vermont, $35,914,864
Kahuku Wind Farm In Hawaii, $35,148,839
Steel Winds II Wind Farm In New York, $12,778,75
However, in November 2010, Bloomberg announced, “First Wind Holdings Inc., the operator of wind-energy projects backed by D.E. Shaw & Co. and Madison Dearborn Partners LLC, said it withdrew its initial public offering because of unfavorable market conditions” that’s code for “weak demand.”
Speaking of IPO's...
Within the House Oversight leaked emails that were unleashed late October 2012, you'll discover that these correspondences basically prove that the White House, Secretary Chu, and certain DOE officials lied about how they handled the green energy loans on various fronts –– a story I have emphasized in many of my recent green corruption posts.
In the 350+ page Appendix II, I discovered a series of intriguing emails dated in May 2010, where the DOE staff was discussing the Kahuku loan, just months prior to the final approval in July 2010. It seems that on May 12, 2012, LPO Credit Advisor James McCrea was concerned about the Loan Guarantee Program Office's "credit policies and procedures" –– so much so that he intensely clarified the importance of order, "...everyone needs to understand is all that has to go in order to put the transaction into the Federal accounting system which requires collaborating among OMB, Treasury, and parts of DOE with which you do not normally interact. To be clear, one of the reasons this is so carefully handled is that there are several penalties for a violation of the Antideficiency Act including jail time..." Later McCrea writes, "I know the processing is frustrating for First Wind. The deal will close when it is time."
Five days later, McCrea writes, "To fill Brian in, we have a pretty good mess on First Wind and it is looking like it is going to get a lot worse and quickly at that. Someone is pressing Jonathan [Jonathan Silver is the former Executive Director of the Loan Program Office] who is now pressing hard on the everyone as the sponsor has an IPO in the works. I have told Jonathan that the deal has huge issues and the sponsor's overriding is not helping at all and that further, the sponsor's pending IPO is irrelevant."
While there's no mention of where that pressure came from, the first-rate, high-powered political ties to First Wind are vast, starting with D.E. Shaw & Co, a New York-based investment firm –– "a $39 Billion Hedge Fund Giant" (also a First Solar investor), which so happens to be one of the three top contributors to Democrats –– is a backer of First Wind Holdings Inc. The founder David Shaw, is a two-time Obama bundler, who employed Larry Summers, and before heading to the Obama White House, as the top economic advisor, "Lawrence Summers received about $5.2 million over the past year in compensation from hedge fund D.E. Shaw,” as revealed by the Wall Street Journal, noting his "frequent appearances before Wall Street firms including J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers." Towards the end of 2011, Summers left the Obama administration and rejoined the firm as a consultant.
As revealed by Peter Schweizer, “another 42 percent of First Wind is owned by Madison Dearborn Partners, an investment firm with close ties [and friend of] to then-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. The founder of the firm, David Canning, had been a bundler for George W. Bush. But he switched sides in 2008 and gave heavily to Obama. Madison Dearborn gave more to Emanuel's congressional campaigns than did any other business.”
While the GOP found that "Julia Bovey, First Wind's Director of External Affairs, was formerly Director of External Affairs for Obama's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (June 2009 to June 2010)," there is much bigger fish here. All government backed green comes with a slew of lobbyists, and First Wind is no different –– enter in Larry Rasky's Lobbying Firm with ties to the top.
Larry Rasky, "a longtime confidant and campaign strategist" of Vice President Joe Biden, was also a 2012 Obama bundler, and since Obama took office, "Rasky has visited the White House at least 21 Times," half of which were during the course of the DOE loan review process (Data.gov, Accessed 7/18/12). Moreover, we know that in 2009, about the time the 2009-Recovery Act passed, First Wind retained lobbyists Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications as well as Brownstein, Hyatt et al, who is primarily a Democrat donor, with some Republicans in the mix –– and as of 2012, maintains the work of Rasky.
Source
Sadly, in August 2012 a fire that destroyed First Wind’s battery storage facility and sent toxic fumes into the air, left ratepayers in the dark over costs and safety. We should keep an eye on that one, however, there is more corruption to expose...
The First Wind plan was to secure taxpayer money and then go public. Now they achieved their first objective from the Bank of Obama –– since he took office (and as of 7/18/12), First Wind's projects have received over $452 million in grants through the Stimulus' 1603 Program.
First Wind's Stetson Wind Farm in Maine –– $40,441,471
Cohocton Wind Farm in New York, $52,352,334
Dutch Hill Wind Farm In New York, $22,296,494
Milford Wind Corridor Phase I In Utah; $120,147,809
Milford Wind Corridor Phase II In Utah, $80,436,803
Rollins Wind Farm In Maine; $53,246,347
Sheffield Wind Farm In Vermont, $35,914,864
Kahuku Wind Farm In Hawaii, $35,148,839
Steel Winds II Wind Farm In New York, $12,778,75
However, in November 2010, Bloomberg announced, “First Wind Holdings Inc., the operator of wind-energy projects backed by D.E. Shaw & Co. and Madison Dearborn Partners LLC, said it withdrew its initial public offering because of unfavorable market conditions” that’s code for “weak demand.”
Speaking of IPO's...
Within the House Oversight leaked emails that were unleashed late October 2012, you'll discover that these correspondences basically prove that the White House, Secretary Chu, and certain DOE officials lied about how they handled the green energy loans on various fronts –– a story I have emphasized in many of my recent green corruption posts.
In the 350+ page Appendix II, I discovered a series of intriguing emails dated in May 2010, where the DOE staff was discussing the Kahuku loan, just months prior to the final approval in July 2010. It seems that on May 12, 2012, LPO Credit Advisor James McCrea was concerned about the Loan Guarantee Program Office's "credit policies and procedures" –– so much so that he intensely clarified the importance of order, "...everyone needs to understand is all that has to go in order to put the transaction into the Federal accounting system which requires collaborating among OMB, Treasury, and parts of DOE with which you do not normally interact. To be clear, one of the reasons this is so carefully handled is that there are several penalties for a violation of the Antideficiency Act including jail time..." Later McCrea writes, "I know the processing is frustrating for First Wind. The deal will close when it is time."
Five days later, McCrea writes, "To fill Brian in, we have a pretty good mess on First Wind and it is looking like it is going to get a lot worse and quickly at that. Someone is pressing Jonathan [Jonathan Silver is the former Executive Director of the Loan Program Office] who is now pressing hard on the everyone as the sponsor has an IPO in the works. I have told Jonathan that the deal has huge issues and the sponsor's overriding is not helping at all and that further, the sponsor's pending IPO is irrelevant."
While there's no mention of where that pressure came from, the first-rate, high-powered political ties to First Wind are vast, starting with D.E. Shaw & Co, a New York-based investment firm –– "a $39 Billion Hedge Fund Giant" (also a First Solar investor), which so happens to be one of the three top contributors to Democrats –– is a backer of First Wind Holdings Inc. The founder David Shaw, is a two-time Obama bundler, who employed Larry Summers, and before heading to the Obama White House, as the top economic advisor, "Lawrence Summers received about $5.2 million over the past year in compensation from hedge fund D.E. Shaw,” as revealed by the Wall Street Journal, noting his "frequent appearances before Wall Street firms including J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers." Towards the end of 2011, Summers left the Obama administration and rejoined the firm as a consultant.
As revealed by Peter Schweizer, “another 42 percent of First Wind is owned by Madison Dearborn Partners, an investment firm with close ties [and friend of] to then-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. The founder of the firm, David Canning, had been a bundler for George W. Bush. But he switched sides in 2008 and gave heavily to Obama. Madison Dearborn gave more to Emanuel's congressional campaigns than did any other business.”
While the GOP found that "Julia Bovey, First Wind's Director of External Affairs, was formerly Director of External Affairs for Obama's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (June 2009 to June 2010)," there is much bigger fish here. All government backed green comes with a slew of lobbyists, and First Wind is no different –– enter in Larry Rasky's Lobbying Firm with ties to the top.
Larry Rasky, "a longtime confidant and campaign strategist" of Vice President Joe Biden, was also a 2012 Obama bundler, and since Obama took office, "Rasky has visited the White House at least 21 Times," half of which were during the course of the DOE loan review process (Data.gov, Accessed 7/18/12). Moreover, we know that in 2009, about the time the 2009-Recovery Act passed, First Wind retained lobbyists Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications as well as Brownstein, Hyatt et al, who is primarily a Democrat donor, with some Republicans in the mix –– and as of 2012, maintains the work of Rasky.
Source
Friday, January 25, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Big Wind Energy Subsidies: A Hurricane of Carnage, Cronyism and Corruption
Despite Harm to the Environment and the Economy, Fiscal Cliff Deal Fuels Continuing Corporate Welfare
The new year began with “fiscal cliff” midnight drama and fantasy, and the wind-production tax credit (PTC), despite its negative impact on our environment and economy, packaged as a job creator and measure to save the planet, made its way into H.R. 8, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 –– a piece of legislation hyped as for the American people, yet it included a number of key tax extender provisions for special interest groups. “Congress extended wind energy tax credits worth billions of dollars in the last-minute deal hammered out by Congress to avoid the fiscal cliff, a move decried by free market organizations as corporate welfare,” writes the Washington Free Beacon.
Crammed through in the dark of night behind closed doors –– where the Senate was given minutes to read the bill, and the House caved under White House threats –– and with support of many Republicans, the looming and controversial (PTC) that many high-powered energy corporations have taken advantage of, rely heavily upon, and were fiercely lobbying for, was revived once again.
"The wind industry hired a team of heavyweight lobbyists with cozy connections to Capitol Hill and the Obama administration to ensure the survival of the tax credit, the Washington Examiner’s Timothy P. Carney reported," more specifically K Street firm McBee Strategic Consulting, of which I've found over and over in my green corruption research.
NOTE: “The Lucky Seven Stimulus Authors” are those that helped craft the 2009-Recovery Act and have financially benefited, of which I have already covered General Electric, John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins, Senator John Kerry, which I wrote about yesterday. I have given mention to billionaire George Soros as well as the left-wing organization the Apollo Alliance, with TJ Glautheir and McBee Strategic Consulting topping off my list. Full report soon to be released.
“Congress first enacted the wind energy PTC in 1992 and has renewed it seven times since,” even as part of the 2009-Recovery Act. The Institute for Energy Research counts the hidden realities of the PTC extension, noting that "The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that the one year extension will cost American taxpayers over $12 billion." "But that figure doesn’t begin to represent the full cost of wind power,” including the detriment to ratepayers. And if Big Wind gets its way over "the next six years, then the PTC would cost over $50 billion."
Unknown to the American public is another green government freebie blowing out of the stimulus package. The 1603 Grant Program –– a relative of the PTC, which is part of President Obama’s trillion-dollar spending spree –– is administered by the Treasury Department, where billions in favored-businesses are given tax-free cash gifts. This program was also touted as a jobs creator (of course saved and supported), yet most of the so-called green job gains are temporary.
According to energy.gov, “The Section 1603 program was created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support the deployment of renewable energy resources. The 1603 program offered project developers the option to select a one-time cash payment in lieu of taking the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) or the Production Tax Credit (PTC), for which they would have otherwise been eligible.”
Last week, the Energy and Commerce Committee released an “in-depth report on its ongoing investigation into the implementation of President Obama’s green energy stimulus spending,” exposing a shocking detail; “foreign corporations have received approximately one-quarter of $16 billion spent on 'Section 1603' renewable energy stimulus program.”
The report, “American Taxpayer Investment, Foreign Corporation Benefit,” states that as of December 5, 2012, “nearly $16 billion in federal funds (ironically, the same amount as the Department of Energy’s 1705 risky loan portfolio) has been awarded under this program,” of which “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.”
Furthermore, “President Obama’s FY 2013 Budget proposes extending the Section 1603 grant program for another year, to include property with a construction start date of 2012.”
What’s funny is that as I was preparing my Big Wind findings, at the end of December 2012 I had downloaded the 1603 awards spreadsheet, which records 8275 awards, totaling $15, 964, 130, 442.00. Moreover, tucked neatly inside the fiscal cliff deal is where we find the 1603 again ––– now part of the two-month delay on sequestration. This means that there was no “immediate reduction in 1603 cash grants from the Department of Treasury. However, this 1603 reduction can still happen on March 1, 2013 if Congress does not enact another extension or strategy to avoid sequestration.”
Now we know President Obama's priority for his second term –– he's dead set on pushing a fierce and radical climate change agenda and funding green energy with taxpayer money, no matter the cost or consequences. So, we’ll anticipate March; follow the president’s budget; and watch for future requests for stimulus funds as well as earmarks tucked away in unread legislation coming down the green pipeline, but for now we'll go back in time to the president’s job council…
Lewis Hay chairman and chief executive officer of NextEra Energy, Inc.: Part of President Obama’s Multi-millionaire, Billionaire Jobs Council Club
Lewis “Lew” Hay, III is executive chairman of NextEra Energy, Inc., and it is estimated by Forbes, that CEO “Hay earns nearly $10 million in total compensation from NextEra.” Despite the fact that Hay was actually a “major political contributor to Sen. John McCain in 2008,” he quickly learned which side his power company could generate the title of the "Third Largest Recipient of DOE Risky Loans." Hay too joined wealthy Democratic donors on Obama’s Jobs Council in 2011, along with the other two I have tackled in this series, “Spreading the Wealth to Obama’s Ultra-Rich Job Council” –– Jobs Czar, Jeffrey Immelt CEO of General Electric has raked in $3 billion and counting, meanwhile John Doerr, along with his “climate buddy" Al Gore's, VC firm Kleiner Perkins is tied to at least $10 billion of stimulus funds. Both General Electric and Doerr were key contributors to what went into the 2009 Stimulus.
In my opening, I had stated that “NextEra Energy’s Green Money” was at least $2.3 billion, but that’s just from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) 1703 Loan Guarantee Program, of which I recorded in another green energy, crony corruption post last summer. We’ll revisit the DOE and Big Wind, but for now there is more you should know about NextEra…
NextEra Energy, Inc. is one of the oldest, third largest, and arguably one of the most solid power companies in the world, with “2011 revenues [that] totaled more than $15.3 billion.” And NextEra Energy Inc. has two primary subsidiaries:
Florida Power & Light is the third largest electricity producer in the US (about which a September 2009 report states: “it's a political dynamo, making millions in political contributions and lobbying assiduously to achieve its goals”).
NextEra Energy Resources is the largest generator of energy from sun and wind resources in North America. The company also has the third largest fleet (8) of nuclear powered electricity generating plants in the United States.
NextEra: Biggest User of the Wind Energy Production Tax Credit
As a follower of NextEra, I found a fascinating analysis by John Fund of the National Review Online which states, “Begun 20 years ago to spur the construction of wind-energy facilities that could compete with conventional fossil-fuel power plants, the tax credit [PTC] gives wind an advantage over all other energy producers. But it has mostly benefited conventional nuclear and fossil-fuel-fired electricity producers. The biggest user of the tax credit is Florida-based NextEra Energy, the nation’s eighth-largest power producer. Through skillful manipulation of the credits, NextEra from 2005 to 2009 'paid just $88 million in taxes on earnings of nearly $7 billion,' Businessweek reports. That’s a tax rate of just 1.25 percent over that period, when the statutory rate is 35 percent.”
Wind Turbines Kill 440,000 Birds Each Year
Moreover, Fund gives us an astonishing and heartbreaking look at the “carnage inflicted on Mother Nature," quoting Paul Driessen of the Washington Times, "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that wind turbines kill 440,000 bald and golden eagles, hawks, falcons, owls, cranes, egrets, geese, and other birds every year in the U.S., along with countless insect-eating bats.”
Sadly, Fund states, “The actual numbers are probably far higher. The turbine blades of the nation’s 39,000 windmills move at 100 to 200 miles per hour and can mow down anything that gets in their path.” “Over the past 25 years, turbines at Altamont Pass, Calif., alone, have killed an estimated 2,300 golden eagles leading to an 80 percent drop in the golden-eagle population of southern California.”
Ironically, when you read the fine print, as exposed by the Manhattan Institute, who calculated “The Real Costs to Taxpayers in Subsidizing Big Wind,” –– federal taxpayers (under former President Bush and now Obama), in effect, are subsidizing the killing of federally protected birds.”
Where are the environmentalists and Rachel Maddow screaming bloody murder? The chirps are light, and prosecution is non-existent because our “federal government looks the other way as wind farms kill birds, but haul oil and gas firms to court” –– all the while the Obama administration protects Big Bird at all costs.
But then again, Big Wind, to many like the Telegraph, is the most corrupt industry in the world –– “without the lies it tells as a matter of course and without the cosy stitch-ups it arranges with regulators and politicians at taxpayers' expense, it simply would not exist.”
Gone With the Wind: Wind Energy Grants Gone Overseas and to the Politically Connected, Including NextEra
The “gone with the wind” story is a little tricky due to the “fact that there are few restrictions on the how the grants can be used, according to a transcript of a Treasury Department briefing,” thus millions in grants went to wind farms built before the stimulus even passed, as recorded by the Investigative Reporting Workshop in February 2010 –– also alerting that coming out of the Treasury’s pocket were wind energy grants propelling overseas.
As stated above, the Energy and Commerce Committee presented some details into these grant winners, which are owned or operated by U.S. subsidiaries of foreign corporations, scoring $4 billion of the $16 billion in 1603 grants. Here’s your top eight, of which two are familiar to my green corruption research that I will get to shortly.
Iberdrola Renewables, LLC –– U.S. division of Parent Company, Iberdrola, S.A., “Spain’s number one energy group”: $1,769,610,214 in Section 1603 Grants
EDP Renewables North America LLC (formerly Horizon Wind Energy LLC) –– a subsidiary of EDP Renováveis, S.A., headquartered in Spain, “a global leader in the renewable energy sector”: $722,468,855 in Section 1603 Grants
E.ON Climate and Renewables North America, LLC –– a subsidiary of E.ON AG, Germany, “one of the world’s largest energy companies, and the largest investor-owned utility in the world”: $576,446,482 in Section 1603 Grants
EDF Renewable Energy (formerly EnXco) –– the U.S. subsidiary of EDF Energies Nouvelles, France, “the renewable energy arm of the EDF group, the leading electricity company in the world”: $204,986,935 in Section 1603 Grants
Eurus Energy America Corporation –– responsible for renewable energy development in North America on behalf of Eurus Energy Holdings, owned jointly by Toyota Tsusho Corporation and Tokyo Electric Power Company, Japan: $188,270,541 in Section 1603 Grants
Enel Green Power North America –– the U.S. subsidiary of Enel Green Power, “Italy’s largest power company, and one of Europe’s main listed utilities”: $181,598,497 in Section 1603 Grants
Gestamp Wind North America –– a subsidiary of Spanish-based parent corporation, Corporación Gestamp, “a global company and market leader”: $105,518,635 in Section 1603 Grants
Acciona Energy North America Corporation –– a subsidiary of Acciona S.A., Spain, “a global leader in the development and management of infrastructure, renewable energy, water and services”: $70,774,803 in Section 1603 Grants
Cronyism also blows in Big Wind Obama buddies, snagging their fare share of stimulus loans and grants. A few green corruption tales I’ve shared are General Electric –– one in particular was “The Shepherds Flat $1.3 Billion Deal,” pressured by Vice President Joe Biden. And in a 2010 analysis I found that GE was contracted to at least 26% of the wind projects as the turbine manufacturer, but as you dig through more wind projects, you’ll find more GE turbines.
Meanwhile in 2007, Goldman Sachs sold Horizon Wind Energy of Texas to EDP-Energias de Portugal for $2.5 billion in cash, and starting in 2009 until the end of 2012 they received over $700 million of free taxpayer money for eleven wind projects, placing them at the number two spot of these foreign firm US grant winners.
Horizon Wind is just one of the many alternative energy companies in which Goldman was an early investor. Another investment is Nordic WindPower –– also part of another politically connected VC firm that I addressed in my last post, Khosla Ventures "sustainability portfolio" –– which in July 2009 was offered a conditional commitment for a $16 million loan guarantee from the 2009-Recovery Act to support the expansion of its assembly plant in Pocatello, Idaho. However, that loan did not materialize, but according to Idaho state records, sometime before June 2010, they did receive $3 million from DOE / Treasury, Clean Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit (48C) –– only to go bust in October 2012.
Last September, I highlighted four Obama cronies that made a special DNC Cameo, which included Jim Rogers, Chairman of Duke Energy, the 2012 DNC host as well as an Obama donor. Duke was the recipient of a $22 million DOE grant from the 2009-Recovery Act “to design, build and install large-scale batteries to store wind energy at one of its wind farms in Texas.” Then June 8, 2010, Notrees Windpower LP received a 1603 grant worth over $90 million for “wind in Texas” [docket #7812 –– $90,354,625]. And after a quick glance, we find more 1603 grants for Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, totaling over $60 million for "hydropower" and "solar electricity."
Another interesting twist that I have yet to expose is UniStar/Constellation –– a DOE loan candidate seeking $7.5 billion of American taxpayer money for its proposed Calvert Cliffs 3 facility in Southern Maryland, whereas in the October 2012 House Oversight leaked emails I found more evidence of a “fast track process imposed at the POTUS level,” and implemented by DOE Officials. These correspondences reveal a series of other questionable practices, including coercion, cronyism and, cover-up –– a story we broke last November. In the case of UniStar, it implicates Secretary Chu and his over-commitment to Steny Hoyer when he was the House Majority Leader in 2010. A green deal that was already approved by the Obama administrant; however, it apparently blew up in October 2010.
UniStar Nuclear Energy’s parent company is EDF Group, whose partner is AREVA and others, as well as the fact that they are in cahoots on a variety of fronts. But what’s critical to point out is that billions of stimulus funds went to foreign firms from the DOE’s Loan Guarantee Program as well as the 1603. I had written about the French nuclear giant AREVA, and its $2 billion "POTUS approved" 1703 loan, which they closed in May 21, 2010, for their Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility planned for development near Idaho Falls. I shared AREVA’s connection to Kleiner Perkins via Ausra, which was resurrected as Areva Solar Inc. in July 2010. Yet on February 26, 2010, just weeks after AREVA acquired Ausra, they were awarded over $13 million from the 1603 grant program for "solar electricity" in California [docket #486 –– 13,931,962]. Now we see that EDF Group was in the top eight 1603 foreign winners, the recipient of two wind grants, totaling over $200 million of American taxpayer cash.
There’s also the Big Wind winner close to the Obama administration found in Peter Schweizer’s Throw Them All Out book –– Michael Polsky of the Chicago-based company Invenergy, LLC that snagged quite a few 1603 grants, and two were for wind projects.
September 22, 2010, Beech Ridge Energy LLC received 1603 grant worth over $68 million for “wind in West Virginia” [docket #8073–– $68,609,459].
June 2, 2010, Vantage Wind Energy LLC received 1603 grant worth over $60 million for wind in Washington [docket #8068 –– $60,682,795].
There’s a massive wind project in California that is "on its way to being the largest wind energy farm in the nation," yet not without the help of the government, more specifically the PTC. Alta Wind Energy Center, which of course utilizes GE turbines, in just over a year time period (July 2011 to August 2012) –– scored 21 of the 1603 grants with a grand total close to $500 million of Obama green spending cash [dockets #1361 to #1381].
Who needs a government loan then with all the free Obama cash?
July 28, 2011 –– $29,974,983
July 28, 2011 –– $29,974,983
July 28, 2011 –– $29,974,983
July 28, 2011 –– $29,974,983
September 8, 2011–– $22,791,621
September 8, 2011 –– $22,791,621
September 8, 2011 –– $18,233,297
September 8, 2011 –– $13,674,973
September 8, 2011 –– $13,674,973
September 8, 2011 –– $23,093,966
September 8, 2011 –– $23,093,966
September 8, 2011 –– $23,093,966
October 24, 2011 –– $15,482,478
October 24, 2011 –– $15,482,478
October 24, 2011 –– $15,482,478
October 24, 2011 –– $15,482,478
October 24, 2011 –– $25,649,674
October 24, 2011 –– $25,649,674
October 24, 2011 –– $25,649,674
October 24, 2011 –– $25,649,674
August 17, 2012 –– $84,117,894
Moreover, the Big Wind 2010 “construction financiers” in the Alta Wind project (done in phases) are Citi, Barclays Capital and Credit Suisse. While there are more green players like Google and Warrant Buffet, amongst others (Google mentioned in my last post and Buffet is also part of the "$3 Billion First Solar Swindle" as well as NRG Energy and George Soros), the one relevant in this green corruption series is Citibank, the consumer banking arm of the financial services giant Citigroup. I gave a headshot of "The Green Five" in my opening of “Spreading the Wealth to Obama’s Ultra-Rich Jobs Council,” including another jobs panel member, Richard Dean "Dick" Parsons, former Chairman of the Board of Citigroup, Inc. from 2009 until he announced stepping down in March 2012.
We’ll get to Mr. Parsons in Part Four, but for now we can confirm the third jobs council member, Mr. Hay as a winner of many of these federal grants. November 20, 2009 is when nearly $100 million was "awarded to NextEra Energy Resources to expand the Northern Colorado Wind Energy farm in Peetz, Colorado." This was “funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in lieu of a production tax credit,” and the turbine manufacturer is a German company [docket #1825 for Northern Colorado Wind Energy, LLC –– $99,900,326]. Also, July 26, 2012 NextEra Energy Montezuma II Wind, LLC snagged $50 million 1603 grant for "wind in California"[docket #1399 –– 50,101,558].
NextEra: A Gust of other Stimulus Grants
In 2009, the DOE started dishing out $3.5 billion from the "Smart Grid Investment Grant Program" –– awarded to select utility companies for particular smart-grid projects, as part of the 2009-Recovery Act. After a recent analysis of the Kleiner Perkins portfolio and recheck of Silver Spring Networks, one of their shining green investments, I found that of their 26 customers, half are foreign, while the other half are American. And, all but one of the thirteen U.S. utility companies scored large smart grid grants, which means Silver Spring is tied to at least $1.3 billion of these government handouts (full story can be found in Part Two of this series).
In April 2009, Florida Power and Light, Silver Spring, General Electric, and a few others joined forces on a smart grid project in Miami dubbed at that time as "Energy Smart Miami," of which they were seeking stimulus funds to power it up. And on October 2009, FPL, one of those lucky Silver customers, was awarded the maximum grant amount of $200 million for Energy Smart Florida, which means they got the money. However, FPL also snagged their fair share of millions in 1603 grants as well.
June 2, 2010, Florida Power and Light received a 1603 grant worth over $62 million for “solar electricity in Florida” [docket #2082 –– $62,371,777].
January 28, 2011, Florida Power and Light received another 1603 grant worth over $123 million for “solar thermal in Florida” [docket #2270 –– $123,767,270].
According to a 2010 analysis by Edgar A. Gunther, FPL had already been on its way as the number one winner of the 1603 Treasury cash grants, recording two I missed: $43.9 million for the DeSoto solar plant in January 2010, which President Obama personally visited, and in June 2010, $18.4 million for the Space Coast solar plant. Ironically, SunPower Corporation is part of both these projects –– a company were we find a large $1.2 billion DOE, which is "Twice As Bad As Solyndra," and tied to the number ONE recipient of the 1705 loans, NRG Energy Inc. Thus it has double the amount of cronyism and corruption –– meaningful political connections to President Obama and other high-ranking Democrats –– and warrants a future bombshell "green corruption" post.
NextEra: Third Largest Power Company in the World is the Third Largest Recipient of Risky Loans
Mr. Hay and NextEra was part of our Special Seven series –– those that are not only part of the DOE's risky investments (some also scored millions, if not billions, from the 1603 Grant Program) –– which also received fast-tracked approval by the Department of the Interior to lease federal lands in a no-bid process. We showed how NextEra Energy generated the "Third Largest Recipient of DOE Risky Loans,” detailing the huge large projects they are involved with.
Genesis Solar Project –– $852 million DOE loan
In August 2011, NextEra Energy Resources received a partial loan guarantee of $852 million from the DOE for its Genesis Solar project in Blythe, California. This was one of the few 1705 loans that were not considered junk rated, as S&P placed it at a “lower medium grade.” And it was estimated to create approximately 800 construction jobs and 47 operating jobs.
Desert Sunlight –– $1.46 billion DOE loan
In September 2011, the DOE approved a $1.46 billion partial loan guarantee for the junk-rated Desert Sunlight project in California, estimated to create 550 construction jobs and 15 permanent.
A day after the loan was approved, First Solar, the project developer/owner sold Desert Sunlight “to affiliates of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, the competitive energy subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE), and GE Energy Financial Services.” It was also announced, "First Solar will continue to build and subsequently operate and maintain the project under separate agreements.” NOTE: This project was part of “$3 Billion First Solar Swindle" –– my research from last summer.
Apparently, these two green-energy deals cost taxpayers approximately $2 billion of Recovery Act funds–– meant to stimulate the economy and create jobs –– yet we only got 1412 jobs out of the deal, of which 62 are permanent.
Well at least First Solar kept their job, and Mr. Hay too.
A Twister of Sweetheart Deals Found in the Department of Energy’s Four Risky Wind Projects
In April 2012, I had released my findings, “Department of Energy Junk Loans and Cronyism” whereas, since 2009, DOE has guaranteed $34.7 billion of taxpayer money. While, I covered the 1703 briefly, and the ATVM extensively, the 1705 loan guaranteed program –– created under the 2009-Recovery Act –– has steered $16 billion to 26 projects, of which 22 were rated as "junk bond" status. We can confirm that over 90 percent are politically connected to the president and other high-ranking Democrats –– some both.
Within the pages of the House Oversight March 20, 2012 scathing report are disturbing charges –– backed up with corroboration –– that range from poor to disastrous management, to bias and favoritism, as well as wasteful spending, and in some cases a series of DOE violations. To ad insult to taxpayer injury, the DOE touted “misleading job creation statistics."
If you've been following our work, you may have caught our report on the so called "green jobs," coupled with hype –– Obama's Green Jobs Promise: 355 Jobs and Counting, where in 2008, Candidate Obama promised to create 5 million new energy jobs over the next decade, as he was pledging to jumpstart the economy with an influx of green jobs.
However, not only has Obama's Labor Department been using deceptive methods on the green jobs calculations, we find that regardless of Obama's 2008 campaign promise where he stated, these are “jobs that can't be outsourced,” plenty of green jobs, and now we can confirm billion of stimulus funds, are going abroad, while fueling corporate welfare here in the United States.
Veronique de Rugy of the Mercatus Center, in June 2012, testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform with a subsequent shocking written assessment, “under the 1705 program most of the money has gone to large and established companies rather than startups.” Ms. Rugy goes on to state, “there seems to be an even more troubling trend of 'double dipping' by large companies that received loan guarantees from the DOE program.” This double dipping includes another "massive taxpayer-backed fund for corporate welfare" –– the U.S. Export-Import Bank as well as the 1603 grant program, and this too was reflected as a huge issue in the March 20, 2012 House Oversight investigation.
Besides the wind grants and PTC incentives, there were four 1705 DOE loans that went to wind projects –– all were low- to non-investment grade, and of course they too come with influential political ties.
#1) Caithness Shepherds Flat received a partial guarantee of $1.3 billion in Oct 2010 for Gilliam and Morrow Counties, OR.
GE sponsored the Caithness Shepherds Flat, and also supplied the project with 338 wind-turbines. On top of the $1.3 billion loan, the Caithness project is set to receive a cash grant of $490 million from the Treasury Department once those turbines start turning. The details of this transaction can be found in my July 2012 piece, “General Electric Making Bank off Obama's Green Stimulus Money; Over $3 Billion and Counting” as well as the National Review Online, “America’s Worst Wind-Energy Project.”
#2) Granite Reliable received a partial guarantee of $168.9 million in September 2011 for a wind project in Coos, NH, and on May 23, 2012 received over a $56 million 1603 grant for "wind in New Hampshire" [docket #4217 –– $56,201,202].
According to Peter Schweizer, 2011 Throw Them All Out, “White House involvement is particularly interesting because several loans appear to have gone to companies with direct connections to senior White House staff.” While Schweizer goes on with an accurate claim that Granite Reliable Wind “is largely owned and managed by CCMP Capital, which is where White House Deputy Chief of Staff Nancy-Ann DeParle had been managing director before joining the Obama administration [and soon may be leaving her White House post],” there’s more…
According the March 20, 2012 House Oversight report, “Nancy Ann DeParle, the current Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy in the White House, had a financial stake in the success of Granite Reliable…
Prior to joining the White House, DeParle was a Managing Director of multi-billion dollar private equity firm CCMP and she both had a financial interest in and sat on the Board of Directors for Noble Environmental Power, LLC. Noble owned Granite Reliable, a wind energy project. Prior to her departure, her position on Noble’s board of Directors positioned her to understand the most confidential and material aspects of Noble Environmental and its subsidiary Granite Reliable. DeParle misrepresented her relationship with Noble Energy, claiming on disclosure forms that her interest had been divested, when in fact it had merely been transferred to her 10-year old son.
During her time at the White House, Granite Reliable sought and, in September 2011, obtained a partial guarantee of a $168.9 million loan. Granite Reliable’s application for a DOE loan guarantee was made at least by early 2010, and probably earlier than that, according to signed documents relating to the loan application. Noble sold Granite Reliable in December 2010 to Brookfield Asset Management, just 6 months prior to the conditional approval of the DOE loan guarantee and deep into the application process. The DOE loan guarantee was conditionally approved on June 2011 and finalized in September 2011. DeParle’s ownership stake in Noble, which owned Granite Reliable, a beneficiary of a DOE loan, represents a clear conflict of interest.
Furthermore,
Until 2011, Granite Reliable was owned and controlled by Noble Environmental Power, Inc. Noble sold that 75% interest to BAIF Granite Holdings, Inc., just prior to the project’s loan approval in September 2011. BAIF Granite Holdings (BAIF) was created by Brookfield Renewable Power, a subsidiary of the $3.2 billion company Brookfield Asset Management (BAM). Brookfield Renewable Power financed the creation of BAIF from its Brookfield Americas Infrastructure Fund, which reportedly has assets totaling $2.7 billion. The remaining minority interest is owned by Freshet Wind Energy, LLC, which partnered with BAIF on the project. Given the solid financial background from which Granite Reliable was formed, it is unclear why DOE determined that the company needed a $168.9 million loan guarantee.
One reason DOE determined a loan guarantee may have been necessary may lie in the inner workings of the BAM family of companies and the companies’ strong Democratic ties. BAM owns BAIF, which owns Granite Reliable, as well as Brookfield Office Properties (BOP). BOP’s Board of Directors is chaired by John Zuccotti, the man for whom New York City’s Zuccotti Park is named, and includes Diana Taylor, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s long-time girlfriend. George Soros and Martin J. Whitman, both prominent Democratic donors, are both heavily invested in Brookfield. Moreover, Heather Podesta, sister-in-law of Obama’s influential White House transition director John Podesta, and the Podesta Group served as the lobbyists for BAIF.
#3) Kahuku Wind Power, LLC, a project of First Wind in Kahuku Oahu, HI, was granted a $117 million loan in July 2010, estimated to create a whopping 200 jobs. And then on February 3, 2012 this same project received a 1603 grant for over $35 million [docket #2594 –- $35,148,839].
Sadly, in August 2012 a fire that destroyed First Wind’s battery storage facility and sent toxic fumes into the air, left ratepayers in the dark over costs and safety. We should keep an eye on that one, however, there is more corruption to expose...
The First Wind plan was to secure taxpayer money and then go public. Now they achieved their first objective from the Bank of Obama –– since he took office (and as of 7/18/12), First Wind's projects have received over $452 million in grants through the Stimulus' 1603 Program.
First Wind's Stetson Wind Farm in Maine –– $40,441,471
Cohocton Wind Farm in New York, $52,352,334
Dutch Hill Wind Farm In New York, $22,296,494
Milford Wind Corridor Phase I In Utah; $120,147,809
Milford Wind Corridor Phase II In Utah, $80,436,803
Rollins Wind Farm In Maine; $53,246,347
Sheffield Wind Farm In Vermont, $35,914,864
Kahuku Wind Farm In Hawaii, $35,148,839
Steel Winds II Wind Farm In New York, $12,778,75
However, in November 2010, Bloomberg announced, “First Wind Holdings Inc., the operator of wind-energy projects backed by D.E. Shaw & Co. and Madison Dearborn Partners LLC, said it withdrew its initial public offering because of unfavorable market conditions” that’s code for “weak demand.”
Speaking of IPO's...
Within the House Oversight leaked emails that were unleashed late October 2012, you'll discover that these correspondences basically prove that the White House, Secretary Chu, and certain DOE Officials lied about how they handled the green energy loans on various fronts –– a story I have emphasized in many of my recent green corruption posts.
In the 350+ page Appendix II, I discovered a series of intriguing emails dated in May 2010, where the DOE staff was discussing the Kahuku loan, just months prior to the final approval in July 2010. It seems that on May 12, 2012, LPO Credit Advisor James McCrea was concerned about the Loan Guarantee Program Office's "credit policies and procedures" –– so much so that he intensely clarified the importance of order, "...everyone needs to understand is all that has to go in order to put the transaction into the Federal accounting system which requires collaborating among OMB, Treasury, and parts of DOE with which you do not normally interact. To be clear, one of the reasons this is so carefully handled is that there are several penalties for a violation of the Ant-deficiency Act including jail time..." Later McCrea writes, "I know the processing is frustrating for First Wind. The deal will close when it is time."
Five days later, McCrea writes, "To fill Brian in, we have a pretty good mess on First Wind and it is looking like it is going to get a lot worse and quickly at that. Someone is pressing Jonathan [Jonathan Silver is the former Executive Director of the Loan Program Office] who is now pressing hard on the everyone as the sponsor has an IPO in the works. I have told Jonathan that the deal has huge issues and the sponsor's overriding is not helping at all and that further, the sponsor's pending IPO is irrelevant."
While there's no mention of where that pressure came from, the first-rate, high-powered political ties to First Wind are vast, starting with D.E. Shaw & Co, a New York-based investment firm –– "a $39 Billion Hedge Fund Giant" (also a First Solar investor), which so happens to be one of the three top contributors to Democrats –– is a backer of First Wind Holdings Inc. The founder David Shaw, is a two-time Obama bundler, who employed Larry Summers, and before heading to the Obama White House, as the top economic advisor, "Lawrence Summers received about $5.2 million over the past year in compensation from hedge fund D.E. Shaw,” as revealed by the Wall Street Journal, noting his "frequent appearances before Wall Street firms including J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers." Towards the end of 2011, Summers left the Obama administration and rejoined the firm as a consultant.
As revealed by Peter Schweizer, “another 42 percent of First Wind is owned by Madison Dearborn Partners, an investment firm with close ties [and friend of] to then-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanual. The founder of the firm, David Canning, had been a bundler for George W. Bush. But he switched sides in 2008 and gave heavily to Obama. Madison Dearborn gave more to Emanual’s congressional campaigns than did any other business.”
While the GOP found that "Julia Bovey, First Wind's Director of External Affairs, was formerly Director of External Affairs for Obama's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (June 2009 to June 2010)," there is much bigger fish here. All government backed green comes with a slew of lobbyists, and First Wind is no different –– enter in Larry Rasky's Lobbying Firm with ties to the top.
Larry Rasky, "a longtime confidant and campaign strategist" of Vice President Joe Biden, was also a 2012 Obama bundler, and since Obama took office, "Rasky has visited the White House at least 21 Times," half of which were during the course of the DOE loan review process (Data.gov, Accessed 7/18/12). Moreover, we know that in 2009, about the time the 2009-Recovery Act passed, First Wind retained lobbyists Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications as well as Brownstein, Hyatt et al, who is primarily a Democrat donor, with some Republicans in the mix –– and as of 2012, maintains the work of Rasky.
#4) Record Hill Wind received a $102 million loan, announced in March 2011, and it was finalized in August 2011 for a wind project in Roxbury, ME, and on June 8, 2012 they scored a 1603 grant for over $33 million for “wind in Maine” [docket #3044 –– 33,736,709].
According the March 2012 House Oversight report, the “DOE relied on the First Solar precedent [see my "$3 Billion First Solar Swindle" story] to approve Record Hill Wind’s $102 million loan guarantee project as 'innovative,' despite the project using commercial technology. DOE knew that the Record Hill project did not use significantly innovative technology. The Standard & Poor’s credit rating for the project that DOE received clearly indicates the commercial (and non-innovative) nature of the project…”
As exposed by Schweizer once again, “former Governor of Maine headed up Record Hill, along with his partner Robert Gardiner, the former head of the Maine Public Broadcasting System. Neither had background in energy. King, however, endorsed Obama in 2008 and campaigned for him.”
Record Hill Wind "began in 2007 as a partnership between Independence Wind and Wagner Forest Management," of which Independence Wind is where we find founders Mr. King and Mr. Gardiner. And while Record Hill reports that in March 2012 (just a day before the House Oversight released their investigative findings, sited above), “King left Independence Wind and has fully divested his stake in the company.” However, that was prior to Brietbart.com busting the Record Hill bailout initiated by King, adding him “to the long list of Obama administration cronies who have personally made money off the $800 billion Obama Stimulus program.” It turns out that “King's personal bailout came in the form of a $407,000 'success fee' he received in 2011 from a wind energy project that remains in business today only because it received a $102 million federal loan King played a major role in securing.”
King, an Independent, now Senator Angus King (who caucuses with Democrats but does not identify as one), has recently become a proponent of “American banking financial reform” –– “the fight to rein in the financial establishment,” yet doesn’t mind the out-of-control spending from the Bank of Obama that King personally and financially benefited from.
In Closing
No matter how you slice it, whether we are sending money abroad or fueling corporate welfare here in the United States as well as the egregious practice of crony capitalism, the 2009-Recovery act is a lie, a travesty and a scam, favoring wealthy financial backers of President Obama and the Democratic Party as well as those with influential political connections to both. And with a president that's dead set on pushing a fierce and radical climate change agenda and funding green energy with taxpayer money, no matter the long list of failures, there is no end in sight to this green corruption scandal.
Besides NextEra Energy taking full advantage of the federal production tax credit (PTC), we now can confirm that the Bank of Obama has rewarded this conglomerate of a power company, and his millionaire job council buddy Lewis Hay, with two large DOE loans ($2.3 billion); one large stimulus smart-grid grant ($200 million); and six 1603 stimulus grants totaling $398.5 million. Thus NextEra's green tab is on its way to $3 billion of taxpayer money, and that's not factoring in the PTC.
This was Part Three, The Green Five: Spreading the Wealth to Obama’s Ultra-Rich Jobs Council Members –– stay tuned for the final installment where we take a look at Billionaire Penny Pritzker and Richard Dean "Dick" Parsons, Former Chairman of the Board of Citigroup, Inc –– both part of Obama’s Multi-millionaire, Billionaire Jobs Council Club.
Signing off as THE Green Corruption blogger,
One Woman, One Mission, One Green Corruption Piece of the Scandal at a time...
Due to lack of donations and funding, this may be my last post even though I'm just getting warmed up –– I have at least 6 months more stories to tell...
Source
The new year began with “fiscal cliff” midnight drama and fantasy, and the wind-production tax credit (PTC), despite its negative impact on our environment and economy, packaged as a job creator and measure to save the planet, made its way into H.R. 8, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 –– a piece of legislation hyped as for the American people, yet it included a number of key tax extender provisions for special interest groups. “Congress extended wind energy tax credits worth billions of dollars in the last-minute deal hammered out by Congress to avoid the fiscal cliff, a move decried by free market organizations as corporate welfare,” writes the Washington Free Beacon.
Crammed through in the dark of night behind closed doors –– where the Senate was given minutes to read the bill, and the House caved under White House threats –– and with support of many Republicans, the looming and controversial (PTC) that many high-powered energy corporations have taken advantage of, rely heavily upon, and were fiercely lobbying for, was revived once again.
"The wind industry hired a team of heavyweight lobbyists with cozy connections to Capitol Hill and the Obama administration to ensure the survival of the tax credit, the Washington Examiner’s Timothy P. Carney reported," more specifically K Street firm McBee Strategic Consulting, of which I've found over and over in my green corruption research.
NOTE: “The Lucky Seven Stimulus Authors” are those that helped craft the 2009-Recovery Act and have financially benefited, of which I have already covered General Electric, John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins, Senator John Kerry, which I wrote about yesterday. I have given mention to billionaire George Soros as well as the left-wing organization the Apollo Alliance, with TJ Glautheir and McBee Strategic Consulting topping off my list. Full report soon to be released.
“Congress first enacted the wind energy PTC in 1992 and has renewed it seven times since,” even as part of the 2009-Recovery Act. The Institute for Energy Research counts the hidden realities of the PTC extension, noting that "The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that the one year extension will cost American taxpayers over $12 billion." "But that figure doesn’t begin to represent the full cost of wind power,” including the detriment to ratepayers. And if Big Wind gets its way over "the next six years, then the PTC would cost over $50 billion."
Unknown to the American public is another green government freebie blowing out of the stimulus package. The 1603 Grant Program –– a relative of the PTC, which is part of President Obama’s trillion-dollar spending spree –– is administered by the Treasury Department, where billions in favored-businesses are given tax-free cash gifts. This program was also touted as a jobs creator (of course saved and supported), yet most of the so-called green job gains are temporary.
According to energy.gov, “The Section 1603 program was created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support the deployment of renewable energy resources. The 1603 program offered project developers the option to select a one-time cash payment in lieu of taking the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) or the Production Tax Credit (PTC), for which they would have otherwise been eligible.”
Last week, the Energy and Commerce Committee released an “in-depth report on its ongoing investigation into the implementation of President Obama’s green energy stimulus spending,” exposing a shocking detail; “foreign corporations have received approximately one-quarter of $16 billion spent on 'Section 1603' renewable energy stimulus program.”
The report, “American Taxpayer Investment, Foreign Corporation Benefit,” states that as of December 5, 2012, “nearly $16 billion in federal funds (ironically, the same amount as the Department of Energy’s 1705 risky loan portfolio) has been awarded under this program,” of which “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.”
Furthermore, “President Obama’s FY 2013 Budget proposes extending the Section 1603 grant program for another year, to include property with a construction start date of 2012.”
What’s funny is that as I was preparing my Big Wind findings, at the end of December 2012 I had downloaded the 1603 awards spreadsheet, which records 8275 awards, totaling $15, 964, 130, 442.00. Moreover, tucked neatly inside the fiscal cliff deal is where we find the 1603 again ––– now part of the two-month delay on sequestration. This means that there was no “immediate reduction in 1603 cash grants from the Department of Treasury. However, this 1603 reduction can still happen on March 1, 2013 if Congress does not enact another extension or strategy to avoid sequestration.”
Now we know President Obama's priority for his second term –– he's dead set on pushing a fierce and radical climate change agenda and funding green energy with taxpayer money, no matter the cost or consequences. So, we’ll anticipate March; follow the president’s budget; and watch for future requests for stimulus funds as well as earmarks tucked away in unread legislation coming down the green pipeline, but for now we'll go back in time to the president’s job council…
Lewis Hay chairman and chief executive officer of NextEra Energy, Inc.: Part of President Obama’s Multi-millionaire, Billionaire Jobs Council Club
Lewis “Lew” Hay, III is executive chairman of NextEra Energy, Inc., and it is estimated by Forbes, that CEO “Hay earns nearly $10 million in total compensation from NextEra.” Despite the fact that Hay was actually a “major political contributor to Sen. John McCain in 2008,” he quickly learned which side his power company could generate the title of the "Third Largest Recipient of DOE Risky Loans." Hay too joined wealthy Democratic donors on Obama’s Jobs Council in 2011, along with the other two I have tackled in this series, “Spreading the Wealth to Obama’s Ultra-Rich Job Council” –– Jobs Czar, Jeffrey Immelt CEO of General Electric has raked in $3 billion and counting, meanwhile John Doerr, along with his “climate buddy" Al Gore's, VC firm Kleiner Perkins is tied to at least $10 billion of stimulus funds. Both General Electric and Doerr were key contributors to what went into the 2009 Stimulus.
In my opening, I had stated that “NextEra Energy’s Green Money” was at least $2.3 billion, but that’s just from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) 1703 Loan Guarantee Program, of which I recorded in another green energy, crony corruption post last summer. We’ll revisit the DOE and Big Wind, but for now there is more you should know about NextEra…
NextEra Energy, Inc. is one of the oldest, third largest, and arguably one of the most solid power companies in the world, with “2011 revenues [that] totaled more than $15.3 billion.” And NextEra Energy Inc. has two primary subsidiaries:
Florida Power & Light is the third largest electricity producer in the US (about which a September 2009 report states: “it's a political dynamo, making millions in political contributions and lobbying assiduously to achieve its goals”).
NextEra Energy Resources is the largest generator of energy from sun and wind resources in North America. The company also has the third largest fleet (8) of nuclear powered electricity generating plants in the United States.
NextEra: Biggest User of the Wind Energy Production Tax Credit
As a follower of NextEra, I found a fascinating analysis by John Fund of the National Review Online which states, “Begun 20 years ago to spur the construction of wind-energy facilities that could compete with conventional fossil-fuel power plants, the tax credit [PTC] gives wind an advantage over all other energy producers. But it has mostly benefited conventional nuclear and fossil-fuel-fired electricity producers. The biggest user of the tax credit is Florida-based NextEra Energy, the nation’s eighth-largest power producer. Through skillful manipulation of the credits, NextEra from 2005 to 2009 'paid just $88 million in taxes on earnings of nearly $7 billion,' Businessweek reports. That’s a tax rate of just 1.25 percent over that period, when the statutory rate is 35 percent.”
Wind Turbines Kill 440,000 Birds Each Year
Moreover, Fund gives us an astonishing and heartbreaking look at the “carnage inflicted on Mother Nature," quoting Paul Driessen of the Washington Times, "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that wind turbines kill 440,000 bald and golden eagles, hawks, falcons, owls, cranes, egrets, geese, and other birds every year in the U.S., along with countless insect-eating bats.”
Sadly, Fund states, “The actual numbers are probably far higher. The turbine blades of the nation’s 39,000 windmills move at 100 to 200 miles per hour and can mow down anything that gets in their path.” “Over the past 25 years, turbines at Altamont Pass, Calif., alone, have killed an estimated 2,300 golden eagles leading to an 80 percent drop in the golden-eagle population of southern California.”
Ironically, when you read the fine print, as exposed by the Manhattan Institute, who calculated “The Real Costs to Taxpayers in Subsidizing Big Wind,” –– federal taxpayers (under former President Bush and now Obama), in effect, are subsidizing the killing of federally protected birds.”
Where are the environmentalists and Rachel Maddow screaming bloody murder? The chirps are light, and prosecution is non-existent because our “federal government looks the other way as wind farms kill birds, but haul oil and gas firms to court” –– all the while the Obama administration protects Big Bird at all costs.
But then again, Big Wind, to many like the Telegraph, is the most corrupt industry in the world –– “without the lies it tells as a matter of course and without the cosy stitch-ups it arranges with regulators and politicians at taxpayers' expense, it simply would not exist.”
Gone With the Wind: Wind Energy Grants Gone Overseas and to the Politically Connected, Including NextEra
The “gone with the wind” story is a little tricky due to the “fact that there are few restrictions on the how the grants can be used, according to a transcript of a Treasury Department briefing,” thus millions in grants went to wind farms built before the stimulus even passed, as recorded by the Investigative Reporting Workshop in February 2010 –– also alerting that coming out of the Treasury’s pocket were wind energy grants propelling overseas.
As stated above, the Energy and Commerce Committee presented some details into these grant winners, which are owned or operated by U.S. subsidiaries of foreign corporations, scoring $4 billion of the $16 billion in 1603 grants. Here’s your top eight, of which two are familiar to my green corruption research that I will get to shortly.
Iberdrola Renewables, LLC –– U.S. division of Parent Company, Iberdrola, S.A., “Spain’s number one energy group”: $1,769,610,214 in Section 1603 Grants
EDP Renewables North America LLC (formerly Horizon Wind Energy LLC) –– a subsidiary of EDP Renováveis, S.A., headquartered in Spain, “a global leader in the renewable energy sector”: $722,468,855 in Section 1603 Grants
E.ON Climate and Renewables North America, LLC –– a subsidiary of E.ON AG, Germany, “one of the world’s largest energy companies, and the largest investor-owned utility in the world”: $576,446,482 in Section 1603 Grants
EDF Renewable Energy (formerly EnXco) –– the U.S. subsidiary of EDF Energies Nouvelles, France, “the renewable energy arm of the EDF group, the leading electricity company in the world”: $204,986,935 in Section 1603 Grants
Eurus Energy America Corporation –– responsible for renewable energy development in North America on behalf of Eurus Energy Holdings, owned jointly by Toyota Tsusho Corporation and Tokyo Electric Power Company, Japan: $188,270,541 in Section 1603 Grants
Enel Green Power North America –– the U.S. subsidiary of Enel Green Power, “Italy’s largest power company, and one of Europe’s main listed utilities”: $181,598,497 in Section 1603 Grants
Gestamp Wind North America –– a subsidiary of Spanish-based parent corporation, Corporación Gestamp, “a global company and market leader”: $105,518,635 in Section 1603 Grants
Acciona Energy North America Corporation –– a subsidiary of Acciona S.A., Spain, “a global leader in the development and management of infrastructure, renewable energy, water and services”: $70,774,803 in Section 1603 Grants
Cronyism also blows in Big Wind Obama buddies, snagging their fare share of stimulus loans and grants. A few green corruption tales I’ve shared are General Electric –– one in particular was “The Shepherds Flat $1.3 Billion Deal,” pressured by Vice President Joe Biden. And in a 2010 analysis I found that GE was contracted to at least 26% of the wind projects as the turbine manufacturer, but as you dig through more wind projects, you’ll find more GE turbines.
Meanwhile in 2007, Goldman Sachs sold Horizon Wind Energy of Texas to EDP-Energias de Portugal for $2.5 billion in cash, and starting in 2009 until the end of 2012 they received over $700 million of free taxpayer money for eleven wind projects, placing them at the number two spot of these foreign firm US grant winners.
Horizon Wind is just one of the many alternative energy companies in which Goldman was an early investor. Another investment is Nordic WindPower –– also part of another politically connected VC firm that I addressed in my last post, Khosla Ventures "sustainability portfolio" –– which in July 2009 was offered a conditional commitment for a $16 million loan guarantee from the 2009-Recovery Act to support the expansion of its assembly plant in Pocatello, Idaho. However, that loan did not materialize, but according to Idaho state records, sometime before June 2010, they did receive $3 million from DOE / Treasury, Clean Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit (48C) –– only to go bust in October 2012.
Last September, I highlighted four Obama cronies that made a special DNC Cameo, which included Jim Rogers, Chairman of Duke Energy, the 2012 DNC host as well as an Obama donor. Duke was the recipient of a $22 million DOE grant from the 2009-Recovery Act “to design, build and install large-scale batteries to store wind energy at one of its wind farms in Texas.” Then June 8, 2010, Notrees Windpower LP received a 1603 grant worth over $90 million for “wind in Texas” [docket #7812 –– $90,354,625]. And after a quick glance, we find more 1603 grants for Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, totaling over $60 million for "hydropower" and "solar electricity."
Another interesting twist that I have yet to expose is UniStar/Constellation –– a DOE loan candidate seeking $7.5 billion of American taxpayer money for its proposed Calvert Cliffs 3 facility in Southern Maryland, whereas in the October 2012 House Oversight leaked emails I found more evidence of a “fast track process imposed at the POTUS level,” and implemented by DOE Officials. These correspondences reveal a series of other questionable practices, including coercion, cronyism and, cover-up –– a story we broke last November. In the case of UniStar, it implicates Secretary Chu and his over-commitment to Steny Hoyer when he was the House Majority Leader in 2010. A green deal that was already approved by the Obama administrant; however, it apparently blew up in October 2010.
UniStar Nuclear Energy’s parent company is EDF Group, whose partner is AREVA and others, as well as the fact that they are in cahoots on a variety of fronts. But what’s critical to point out is that billions of stimulus funds went to foreign firms from the DOE’s Loan Guarantee Program as well as the 1603. I had written about the French nuclear giant AREVA, and its $2 billion "POTUS approved" 1703 loan, which they closed in May 21, 2010, for their Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility planned for development near Idaho Falls. I shared AREVA’s connection to Kleiner Perkins via Ausra, which was resurrected as Areva Solar Inc. in July 2010. Yet on February 26, 2010, just weeks after AREVA acquired Ausra, they were awarded over $13 million from the 1603 grant program for "solar electricity" in California [docket #486 –– 13,931,962]. Now we see that EDF Group was in the top eight 1603 foreign winners, the recipient of two wind grants, totaling over $200 million of American taxpayer cash.
There’s also the Big Wind winner close to the Obama administration found in Peter Schweizer’s Throw Them All Out book –– Michael Polsky of the Chicago-based company Invenergy, LLC that snagged quite a few 1603 grants, and two were for wind projects.
September 22, 2010, Beech Ridge Energy LLC received 1603 grant worth over $68 million for “wind in West Virginia” [docket #8073–– $68,609,459].
June 2, 2010, Vantage Wind Energy LLC received 1603 grant worth over $60 million for wind in Washington [docket #8068 –– $60,682,795].
There’s a massive wind project in California that is "on its way to being the largest wind energy farm in the nation," yet not without the help of the government, more specifically the PTC. Alta Wind Energy Center, which of course utilizes GE turbines, in just over a year time period (July 2011 to August 2012) –– scored 21 of the 1603 grants with a grand total close to $500 million of Obama green spending cash [dockets #1361 to #1381].
Who needs a government loan then with all the free Obama cash?
July 28, 2011 –– $29,974,983
July 28, 2011 –– $29,974,983
July 28, 2011 –– $29,974,983
July 28, 2011 –– $29,974,983
September 8, 2011–– $22,791,621
September 8, 2011 –– $22,791,621
September 8, 2011 –– $18,233,297
September 8, 2011 –– $13,674,973
September 8, 2011 –– $13,674,973
September 8, 2011 –– $23,093,966
September 8, 2011 –– $23,093,966
September 8, 2011 –– $23,093,966
October 24, 2011 –– $15,482,478
October 24, 2011 –– $15,482,478
October 24, 2011 –– $15,482,478
October 24, 2011 –– $15,482,478
October 24, 2011 –– $25,649,674
October 24, 2011 –– $25,649,674
October 24, 2011 –– $25,649,674
October 24, 2011 –– $25,649,674
August 17, 2012 –– $84,117,894
Moreover, the Big Wind 2010 “construction financiers” in the Alta Wind project (done in phases) are Citi, Barclays Capital and Credit Suisse. While there are more green players like Google and Warrant Buffet, amongst others (Google mentioned in my last post and Buffet is also part of the "$3 Billion First Solar Swindle" as well as NRG Energy and George Soros), the one relevant in this green corruption series is Citibank, the consumer banking arm of the financial services giant Citigroup. I gave a headshot of "The Green Five" in my opening of “Spreading the Wealth to Obama’s Ultra-Rich Jobs Council,” including another jobs panel member, Richard Dean "Dick" Parsons, former Chairman of the Board of Citigroup, Inc. from 2009 until he announced stepping down in March 2012.
We’ll get to Mr. Parsons in Part Four, but for now we can confirm the third jobs council member, Mr. Hay as a winner of many of these federal grants. November 20, 2009 is when nearly $100 million was "awarded to NextEra Energy Resources to expand the Northern Colorado Wind Energy farm in Peetz, Colorado." This was “funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in lieu of a production tax credit,” and the turbine manufacturer is a German company [docket #1825 for Northern Colorado Wind Energy, LLC –– $99,900,326]. Also, July 26, 2012 NextEra Energy Montezuma II Wind, LLC snagged $50 million 1603 grant for "wind in California"[docket #1399 –– 50,101,558].
NextEra: A Gust of other Stimulus Grants
In 2009, the DOE started dishing out $3.5 billion from the "Smart Grid Investment Grant Program" –– awarded to select utility companies for particular smart-grid projects, as part of the 2009-Recovery Act. After a recent analysis of the Kleiner Perkins portfolio and recheck of Silver Spring Networks, one of their shining green investments, I found that of their 26 customers, half are foreign, while the other half are American. And, all but one of the thirteen U.S. utility companies scored large smart grid grants, which means Silver Spring is tied to at least $1.3 billion of these government handouts (full story can be found in Part Two of this series).
In April 2009, Florida Power and Light, Silver Spring, General Electric, and a few others joined forces on a smart grid project in Miami dubbed at that time as "Energy Smart Miami," of which they were seeking stimulus funds to power it up. And on October 2009, FPL, one of those lucky Silver customers, was awarded the maximum grant amount of $200 million for Energy Smart Florida, which means they got the money. However, FPL also snagged their fair share of millions in 1603 grants as well.
June 2, 2010, Florida Power and Light received a 1603 grant worth over $62 million for “solar electricity in Florida” [docket #2082 –– $62,371,777].
January 28, 2011, Florida Power and Light received another 1603 grant worth over $123 million for “solar thermal in Florida” [docket #2270 –– $123,767,270].
According to a 2010 analysis by Edgar A. Gunther, FPL had already been on its way as the number one winner of the 1603 Treasury cash grants, recording two I missed: $43.9 million for the DeSoto solar plant in January 2010, which President Obama personally visited, and in June 2010, $18.4 million for the Space Coast solar plant. Ironically, SunPower Corporation is part of both these projects –– a company were we find a large $1.2 billion DOE, which is "Twice As Bad As Solyndra," and tied to the number ONE recipient of the 1705 loans, NRG Energy Inc. Thus it has double the amount of cronyism and corruption –– meaningful political connections to President Obama and other high-ranking Democrats –– and warrants a future bombshell "green corruption" post.
NextEra: Third Largest Power Company in the World is the Third Largest Recipient of Risky Loans
Mr. Hay and NextEra was part of our Special Seven series –– those that are not only part of the DOE's risky investments (some also scored millions, if not billions, from the 1603 Grant Program) –– which also received fast-tracked approval by the Department of the Interior to lease federal lands in a no-bid process. We showed how NextEra Energy generated the "Third Largest Recipient of DOE Risky Loans,” detailing the huge large projects they are involved with.
Genesis Solar Project –– $852 million DOE loan
In August 2011, NextEra Energy Resources received a partial loan guarantee of $852 million from the DOE for its Genesis Solar project in Blythe, California. This was one of the few 1705 loans that were not considered junk rated, as S&P placed it at a “lower medium grade.” And it was estimated to create approximately 800 construction jobs and 47 operating jobs.
Desert Sunlight –– $1.46 billion DOE loan
In September 2011, the DOE approved a $1.46 billion partial loan guarantee for the junk-rated Desert Sunlight project in California, estimated to create 550 construction jobs and 15 permanent.
A day after the loan was approved, First Solar, the project developer/owner sold Desert Sunlight “to affiliates of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, the competitive energy subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE), and GE Energy Financial Services.” It was also announced, "First Solar will continue to build and subsequently operate and maintain the project under separate agreements.” NOTE: This project was part of “$3 Billion First Solar Swindle" –– my research from last summer.
Apparently, these two green-energy deals cost taxpayers approximately $2 billion of Recovery Act funds–– meant to stimulate the economy and create jobs –– yet we only got 1412 jobs out of the deal, of which 62 are permanent.
Well at least First Solar kept their job, and Mr. Hay too.
A Twister of Sweetheart Deals Found in the Department of Energy’s Four Risky Wind Projects
In April 2012, I had released my findings, “Department of Energy Junk Loans and Cronyism” whereas, since 2009, DOE has guaranteed $34.7 billion of taxpayer money. While, I covered the 1703 briefly, and the ATVM extensively, the 1705 loan guaranteed program –– created under the 2009-Recovery Act –– has steered $16 billion to 26 projects, of which 22 were rated as "junk bond" status. We can confirm that over 90 percent are politically connected to the president and other high-ranking Democrats –– some both.
Within the pages of the House Oversight March 20, 2012 scathing report are disturbing charges –– backed up with corroboration –– that range from poor to disastrous management, to bias and favoritism, as well as wasteful spending, and in some cases a series of DOE violations. To ad insult to taxpayer injury, the DOE touted “misleading job creation statistics."
If you've been following our work, you may have caught our report on the so called "green jobs," coupled with hype –– Obama's Green Jobs Promise: 355 Jobs and Counting, where in 2008, Candidate Obama promised to create 5 million new energy jobs over the next decade, as he was pledging to jumpstart the economy with an influx of green jobs.
However, not only has Obama's Labor Department been using deceptive methods on the green jobs calculations, we find that regardless of Obama's 2008 campaign promise where he stated, these are “jobs that can't be outsourced,” plenty of green jobs, and now we can confirm billion of stimulus funds, are going abroad, while fueling corporate welfare here in the United States.
Veronique de Rugy of the Mercatus Center, in June 2012, testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform with a subsequent shocking written assessment, “under the 1705 program most of the money has gone to large and established companies rather than startups.” Ms. Rugy goes on to state, “there seems to be an even more troubling trend of 'double dipping' by large companies that received loan guarantees from the DOE program.” This double dipping includes another "massive taxpayer-backed fund for corporate welfare" –– the U.S. Export-Import Bank as well as the 1603 grant program, and this too was reflected as a huge issue in the March 20, 2012 House Oversight investigation.
Besides the wind grants and PTC incentives, there were four 1705 DOE loans that went to wind projects –– all were low- to non-investment grade, and of course they too come with influential political ties.
#1) Caithness Shepherds Flat received a partial guarantee of $1.3 billion in Oct 2010 for Gilliam and Morrow Counties, OR.
GE sponsored the Caithness Shepherds Flat, and also supplied the project with 338 wind-turbines. On top of the $1.3 billion loan, the Caithness project is set to receive a cash grant of $490 million from the Treasury Department once those turbines start turning. The details of this transaction can be found in my July 2012 piece, “General Electric Making Bank off Obama's Green Stimulus Money; Over $3 Billion and Counting” as well as the National Review Online, “America’s Worst Wind-Energy Project.”
#2) Granite Reliable received a partial guarantee of $168.9 million in September 2011 for a wind project in Coos, NH, and on May 23, 2012 received over a $56 million 1603 grant for "wind in New Hampshire" [docket #4217 –– $56,201,202].
According to Peter Schweizer, 2011 Throw Them All Out, “White House involvement is particularly interesting because several loans appear to have gone to companies with direct connections to senior White House staff.” While Schweizer goes on with an accurate claim that Granite Reliable Wind “is largely owned and managed by CCMP Capital, which is where White House Deputy Chief of Staff Nancy-Ann DeParle had been managing director before joining the Obama administration [and soon may be leaving her White House post],” there’s more…
According the March 20, 2012 House Oversight report, “Nancy Ann DeParle, the current Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy in the White House, had a financial stake in the success of Granite Reliable…
Prior to joining the White House, DeParle was a Managing Director of multi-billion dollar private equity firm CCMP and she both had a financial interest in and sat on the Board of Directors for Noble Environmental Power, LLC. Noble owned Granite Reliable, a wind energy project. Prior to her departure, her position on Noble’s board of Directors positioned her to understand the most confidential and material aspects of Noble Environmental and its subsidiary Granite Reliable. DeParle misrepresented her relationship with Noble Energy, claiming on disclosure forms that her interest had been divested, when in fact it had merely been transferred to her 10-year old son.
During her time at the White House, Granite Reliable sought and, in September 2011, obtained a partial guarantee of a $168.9 million loan. Granite Reliable’s application for a DOE loan guarantee was made at least by early 2010, and probably earlier than that, according to signed documents relating to the loan application. Noble sold Granite Reliable in December 2010 to Brookfield Asset Management, just 6 months prior to the conditional approval of the DOE loan guarantee and deep into the application process. The DOE loan guarantee was conditionally approved on June 2011 and finalized in September 2011. DeParle’s ownership stake in Noble, which owned Granite Reliable, a beneficiary of a DOE loan, represents a clear conflict of interest.
Furthermore,
Until 2011, Granite Reliable was owned and controlled by Noble Environmental Power, Inc. Noble sold that 75% interest to BAIF Granite Holdings, Inc., just prior to the project’s loan approval in September 2011. BAIF Granite Holdings (BAIF) was created by Brookfield Renewable Power, a subsidiary of the $3.2 billion company Brookfield Asset Management (BAM). Brookfield Renewable Power financed the creation of BAIF from its Brookfield Americas Infrastructure Fund, which reportedly has assets totaling $2.7 billion. The remaining minority interest is owned by Freshet Wind Energy, LLC, which partnered with BAIF on the project. Given the solid financial background from which Granite Reliable was formed, it is unclear why DOE determined that the company needed a $168.9 million loan guarantee.
One reason DOE determined a loan guarantee may have been necessary may lie in the inner workings of the BAM family of companies and the companies’ strong Democratic ties. BAM owns BAIF, which owns Granite Reliable, as well as Brookfield Office Properties (BOP). BOP’s Board of Directors is chaired by John Zuccotti, the man for whom New York City’s Zuccotti Park is named, and includes Diana Taylor, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s long-time girlfriend. George Soros and Martin J. Whitman, both prominent Democratic donors, are both heavily invested in Brookfield. Moreover, Heather Podesta, sister-in-law of Obama’s influential White House transition director John Podesta, and the Podesta Group served as the lobbyists for BAIF.
#3) Kahuku Wind Power, LLC, a project of First Wind in Kahuku Oahu, HI, was granted a $117 million loan in July 2010, estimated to create a whopping 200 jobs. And then on February 3, 2012 this same project received a 1603 grant for over $35 million [docket #2594 –- $35,148,839].
Sadly, in August 2012 a fire that destroyed First Wind’s battery storage facility and sent toxic fumes into the air, left ratepayers in the dark over costs and safety. We should keep an eye on that one, however, there is more corruption to expose...
The First Wind plan was to secure taxpayer money and then go public. Now they achieved their first objective from the Bank of Obama –– since he took office (and as of 7/18/12), First Wind's projects have received over $452 million in grants through the Stimulus' 1603 Program.
First Wind's Stetson Wind Farm in Maine –– $40,441,471
Cohocton Wind Farm in New York, $52,352,334
Dutch Hill Wind Farm In New York, $22,296,494
Milford Wind Corridor Phase I In Utah; $120,147,809
Milford Wind Corridor Phase II In Utah, $80,436,803
Rollins Wind Farm In Maine; $53,246,347
Sheffield Wind Farm In Vermont, $35,914,864
Kahuku Wind Farm In Hawaii, $35,148,839
Steel Winds II Wind Farm In New York, $12,778,75
However, in November 2010, Bloomberg announced, “First Wind Holdings Inc., the operator of wind-energy projects backed by D.E. Shaw & Co. and Madison Dearborn Partners LLC, said it withdrew its initial public offering because of unfavorable market conditions” that’s code for “weak demand.”
Speaking of IPO's...
Within the House Oversight leaked emails that were unleashed late October 2012, you'll discover that these correspondences basically prove that the White House, Secretary Chu, and certain DOE Officials lied about how they handled the green energy loans on various fronts –– a story I have emphasized in many of my recent green corruption posts.
In the 350+ page Appendix II, I discovered a series of intriguing emails dated in May 2010, where the DOE staff was discussing the Kahuku loan, just months prior to the final approval in July 2010. It seems that on May 12, 2012, LPO Credit Advisor James McCrea was concerned about the Loan Guarantee Program Office's "credit policies and procedures" –– so much so that he intensely clarified the importance of order, "...everyone needs to understand is all that has to go in order to put the transaction into the Federal accounting system which requires collaborating among OMB, Treasury, and parts of DOE with which you do not normally interact. To be clear, one of the reasons this is so carefully handled is that there are several penalties for a violation of the Ant-deficiency Act including jail time..." Later McCrea writes, "I know the processing is frustrating for First Wind. The deal will close when it is time."
Five days later, McCrea writes, "To fill Brian in, we have a pretty good mess on First Wind and it is looking like it is going to get a lot worse and quickly at that. Someone is pressing Jonathan [Jonathan Silver is the former Executive Director of the Loan Program Office] who is now pressing hard on the everyone as the sponsor has an IPO in the works. I have told Jonathan that the deal has huge issues and the sponsor's overriding is not helping at all and that further, the sponsor's pending IPO is irrelevant."
While there's no mention of where that pressure came from, the first-rate, high-powered political ties to First Wind are vast, starting with D.E. Shaw & Co, a New York-based investment firm –– "a $39 Billion Hedge Fund Giant" (also a First Solar investor), which so happens to be one of the three top contributors to Democrats –– is a backer of First Wind Holdings Inc. The founder David Shaw, is a two-time Obama bundler, who employed Larry Summers, and before heading to the Obama White House, as the top economic advisor, "Lawrence Summers received about $5.2 million over the past year in compensation from hedge fund D.E. Shaw,” as revealed by the Wall Street Journal, noting his "frequent appearances before Wall Street firms including J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers." Towards the end of 2011, Summers left the Obama administration and rejoined the firm as a consultant.
As revealed by Peter Schweizer, “another 42 percent of First Wind is owned by Madison Dearborn Partners, an investment firm with close ties [and friend of] to then-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanual. The founder of the firm, David Canning, had been a bundler for George W. Bush. But he switched sides in 2008 and gave heavily to Obama. Madison Dearborn gave more to Emanual’s congressional campaigns than did any other business.”
While the GOP found that "Julia Bovey, First Wind's Director of External Affairs, was formerly Director of External Affairs for Obama's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (June 2009 to June 2010)," there is much bigger fish here. All government backed green comes with a slew of lobbyists, and First Wind is no different –– enter in Larry Rasky's Lobbying Firm with ties to the top.
Larry Rasky, "a longtime confidant and campaign strategist" of Vice President Joe Biden, was also a 2012 Obama bundler, and since Obama took office, "Rasky has visited the White House at least 21 Times," half of which were during the course of the DOE loan review process (Data.gov, Accessed 7/18/12). Moreover, we know that in 2009, about the time the 2009-Recovery Act passed, First Wind retained lobbyists Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications as well as Brownstein, Hyatt et al, who is primarily a Democrat donor, with some Republicans in the mix –– and as of 2012, maintains the work of Rasky.
#4) Record Hill Wind received a $102 million loan, announced in March 2011, and it was finalized in August 2011 for a wind project in Roxbury, ME, and on June 8, 2012 they scored a 1603 grant for over $33 million for “wind in Maine” [docket #3044 –– 33,736,709].
According the March 2012 House Oversight report, the “DOE relied on the First Solar precedent [see my "$3 Billion First Solar Swindle" story] to approve Record Hill Wind’s $102 million loan guarantee project as 'innovative,' despite the project using commercial technology. DOE knew that the Record Hill project did not use significantly innovative technology. The Standard & Poor’s credit rating for the project that DOE received clearly indicates the commercial (and non-innovative) nature of the project…”
As exposed by Schweizer once again, “former Governor of Maine headed up Record Hill, along with his partner Robert Gardiner, the former head of the Maine Public Broadcasting System. Neither had background in energy. King, however, endorsed Obama in 2008 and campaigned for him.”
Record Hill Wind "began in 2007 as a partnership between Independence Wind and Wagner Forest Management," of which Independence Wind is where we find founders Mr. King and Mr. Gardiner. And while Record Hill reports that in March 2012 (just a day before the House Oversight released their investigative findings, sited above), “King left Independence Wind and has fully divested his stake in the company.” However, that was prior to Brietbart.com busting the Record Hill bailout initiated by King, adding him “to the long list of Obama administration cronies who have personally made money off the $800 billion Obama Stimulus program.” It turns out that “King's personal bailout came in the form of a $407,000 'success fee' he received in 2011 from a wind energy project that remains in business today only because it received a $102 million federal loan King played a major role in securing.”
King, an Independent, now Senator Angus King (who caucuses with Democrats but does not identify as one), has recently become a proponent of “American banking financial reform” –– “the fight to rein in the financial establishment,” yet doesn’t mind the out-of-control spending from the Bank of Obama that King personally and financially benefited from.
In Closing
No matter how you slice it, whether we are sending money abroad or fueling corporate welfare here in the United States as well as the egregious practice of crony capitalism, the 2009-Recovery act is a lie, a travesty and a scam, favoring wealthy financial backers of President Obama and the Democratic Party as well as those with influential political connections to both. And with a president that's dead set on pushing a fierce and radical climate change agenda and funding green energy with taxpayer money, no matter the long list of failures, there is no end in sight to this green corruption scandal.
Besides NextEra Energy taking full advantage of the federal production tax credit (PTC), we now can confirm that the Bank of Obama has rewarded this conglomerate of a power company, and his millionaire job council buddy Lewis Hay, with two large DOE loans ($2.3 billion); one large stimulus smart-grid grant ($200 million); and six 1603 stimulus grants totaling $398.5 million. Thus NextEra's green tab is on its way to $3 billion of taxpayer money, and that's not factoring in the PTC.
This was Part Three, The Green Five: Spreading the Wealth to Obama’s Ultra-Rich Jobs Council Members –– stay tuned for the final installment where we take a look at Billionaire Penny Pritzker and Richard Dean "Dick" Parsons, Former Chairman of the Board of Citigroup, Inc –– both part of Obama’s Multi-millionaire, Billionaire Jobs Council Club.
Signing off as THE Green Corruption blogger,
One Woman, One Mission, One Green Corruption Piece of the Scandal at a time...
Due to lack of donations and funding, this may be my last post even though I'm just getting warmed up –– I have at least 6 months more stories to tell...
Source
Sting operations reveal Mafia involvement in renewable energy
Inside a midnight-blue BMW, a Sicilian entrepreneur delivered his pitch to the accused mafia boss. A new business was blowing into Italy that could spin wind and sunlight into gold, ensuring the future of the Earth as well as the Cosa Nostra: renewable energy.
“Uncle Vincenzo,” implored the businessman, Angelo Salvatore, using a term of affection for the alleged head of Sicily’s Gimbellina crime family, 79-year-old Vincenzo Funari. According to a transcript of their wiretapped conversation, Salvatore continued, “for the love of our sons, renewable energy is important. . . . it’s a business we can live on.”
And for quite awhile, Italian prosecutors say, they did. In an unfolding plot that is part “The Sopranos,” part “An Inconvenient Truth,” authorities swept across Sicily last month in the latest wave of sting operations revealing years of deep infiltration into the renewable energy sector by Italy’s rapidly modernizing crime families.
The still-emerging links of the mafia to the once-booming wind and solar sector here are raising fresh questions about the use of government subsidies to fuel a shift toward cleaner energies, with critics claiming huge state incentives created excessive profits for companies and a market bubble ripe for fraud. China-based Suntech, the world’s largest solar panel maker, last month said it would need to restate more than two years of financial results because of allegedly fake capital put up to finance new plants in Italy. The discoveries here also follow so-called “eco-corruption” cases in Spain, where a number of companies stand accused of illegally tapping state aid.
Because it receives more sun and wind than any other part of Italy, Sicily became one of Europe’s most obvious hotbeds for renewable energies over the past decade. As the Italian government began offering billions of euros annually in subsidies for wind and solar development, the potential profitability of such projects also soared — a fact that did not go unnoticed by Sicily’s infamous crime families.
Roughly a third of the island’s 30 wind farms — along with several solar power plants — have been seized by authorities. Officials have frozen more than $2 billion in assets and arrested a dozen alleged crime bosses; corrupt local councilors and mafia-linked entrepreneurs. Italian prosecutors are now investigating suspected mafia involvement in renewable energy projects from Sardinia to Apulia.
“The Cosa Nostra is adapting, acquiring more advanced knowledge in new areas like renewable energy that have become more profitable because of government subsidies,” said Teresa Maria Principato, the deputy prosecutor in charge of Palermo’s Anti-Mafia Squad, whose headquarters here are emblazoned with the images of assassinated judges. “It is casting a shadow over our renewables industry.”
Revelations of malfeasance in one of Italy’s most promising new sectors is underscoring a recent push by one of the world’s largest criminal organizations into a host of legitimate businesses, from chain supermarkets to shopping malls. But perhaps most importantly, the mafia taint on an industry seen as a rare engine for new jobs in a country still-mired in the region’s debt crisis is foreshadowing a massive challenge ahead for Europe.
Read the entire article
“Uncle Vincenzo,” implored the businessman, Angelo Salvatore, using a term of affection for the alleged head of Sicily’s Gimbellina crime family, 79-year-old Vincenzo Funari. According to a transcript of their wiretapped conversation, Salvatore continued, “for the love of our sons, renewable energy is important. . . . it’s a business we can live on.”
And for quite awhile, Italian prosecutors say, they did. In an unfolding plot that is part “The Sopranos,” part “An Inconvenient Truth,” authorities swept across Sicily last month in the latest wave of sting operations revealing years of deep infiltration into the renewable energy sector by Italy’s rapidly modernizing crime families.
The still-emerging links of the mafia to the once-booming wind and solar sector here are raising fresh questions about the use of government subsidies to fuel a shift toward cleaner energies, with critics claiming huge state incentives created excessive profits for companies and a market bubble ripe for fraud. China-based Suntech, the world’s largest solar panel maker, last month said it would need to restate more than two years of financial results because of allegedly fake capital put up to finance new plants in Italy. The discoveries here also follow so-called “eco-corruption” cases in Spain, where a number of companies stand accused of illegally tapping state aid.
Because it receives more sun and wind than any other part of Italy, Sicily became one of Europe’s most obvious hotbeds for renewable energies over the past decade. As the Italian government began offering billions of euros annually in subsidies for wind and solar development, the potential profitability of such projects also soared — a fact that did not go unnoticed by Sicily’s infamous crime families.
Roughly a third of the island’s 30 wind farms — along with several solar power plants — have been seized by authorities. Officials have frozen more than $2 billion in assets and arrested a dozen alleged crime bosses; corrupt local councilors and mafia-linked entrepreneurs. Italian prosecutors are now investigating suspected mafia involvement in renewable energy projects from Sardinia to Apulia.
“The Cosa Nostra is adapting, acquiring more advanced knowledge in new areas like renewable energy that have become more profitable because of government subsidies,” said Teresa Maria Principato, the deputy prosecutor in charge of Palermo’s Anti-Mafia Squad, whose headquarters here are emblazoned with the images of assassinated judges. “It is casting a shadow over our renewables industry.”
Revelations of malfeasance in one of Italy’s most promising new sectors is underscoring a recent push by one of the world’s largest criminal organizations into a host of legitimate businesses, from chain supermarkets to shopping malls. But perhaps most importantly, the mafia taint on an industry seen as a rare engine for new jobs in a country still-mired in the region’s debt crisis is foreshadowing a massive challenge ahead for Europe.
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Monday, January 14, 2013
The FIRST ROUND OF PUBLIC MEETINGS have been SCHEDULED!
The FIRST ROUND OF PUBLIC MEETINGS have been SCHEDULED! – The first
round of Public Meetings for the Cleaner Greener Communities Finger
Lakes Regional Sustainability Plan will be January 15, 2013 from
6:00-8:00 PM at the Genesee County Administration Building II located at
3837 West Main Street Road, Batavia, NY and the Sanford Room at the
Hobart & William Smith Collages Library in Geneva, New York and
January 16, 2013 at the Rochester Institute of Technology Golisano
Institute for Sustainability in Rochester, New York. The meetings are
being held in 3 locations to minimize travel for interested residents.
See below for a flyer with directions for each meeting location.
Source
Source
Wednesday, January 09, 2013
Voices Opinion on Wind
The exit of Spanish wind developer Iberdrola Renewables from the town of Hammond will create a feeling of relief for the majority of residents who have always felt the intrusion of this foreign conglomerate into the affairs of this small rural community was unwelcome. As a group brought together by a common cause over four years ago, the Concerned Residents of Hammond have been guided by their original mission statement concerned with the preservation of public health and safety, property values, economic viability, environmental integrity, and quality of life in our town and surrounding area. We provided factual information and education about all aspects of industrial wind energy installations and the impacts they would have on our community. We were dedicated to seeing that all levels of the governmental processes concerning this type of project were handled in a manner that was ethical, legal, honest, open and fair to all residents of Hammond. The long term objective has remained the same -- to promote sustainable growth and future development of our community.
We thank everyone who supported our efforts along the way. We especially want to thank the members of the 2010 Hammond Wind Committee who came together for over a year to educate themselves on wind development and its implications. Their effort to provide the Town Board with critical information to make informed decisions was invaluable, as the revised law withstood legal challenges and was upheld by the NY State Supreme Court.
We thank everyone who supported our efforts along the way. We especially want to thank the members of the 2010 Hammond Wind Committee who came together for over a year to educate themselves on wind development and its implications. Their effort to provide the Town Board with critical information to make informed decisions was invaluable, as the revised law withstood legal challenges and was upheld by the NY State Supreme Court.
The Concerned Residents understood there was more to Hammond than industrial wind development and have found other ways to support the community including support of the town board's completion of a comprehensive plan providing a "vision" for the community that utilizes the many natural resources available while protecting our quality of life. We look forward to watching the newly formed business and economic group grow and prosper and we will continue to provide annual support to the local community organizations that help to make this such a wonderful community.
We reiterate that it is important to remember there are no winners in this situation. We watched as a foreign wind developer stealthily entered our community with promises that resulted in the creation of a division among residents that may not heal in this decade or the next. They can now walk away unscathed as it was all just a job to them, devoid of emotion. Unfortunately this scenario is being allowed to be repeated across the United States and the people in small, rural communities are pawns in the game of corporate greed and political lobbying.
Our thoughts are with our neighbors in Cape Vincent, Lyme, and Clayton who continue to be pawns in this game. The extraordinary 1000 Islands Region is not deserving of the destruction being planned by these foreign companies who have no emotional investment and not any interest in the broader economic vitality of our area -- only thoughts of financial gain at everyone else's expense.
We reiterate that it is important to remember there are no winners in this situation. We watched as a foreign wind developer stealthily entered our community with promises that resulted in the creation of a division among residents that may not heal in this decade or the next. They can now walk away unscathed as it was all just a job to them, devoid of emotion. Unfortunately this scenario is being allowed to be repeated across the United States and the people in small, rural communities are pawns in the game of corporate greed and political lobbying.
Our thoughts are with our neighbors in Cape Vincent, Lyme, and Clayton who continue to be pawns in this game. The extraordinary 1000 Islands Region is not deserving of the destruction being planned by these foreign companies who have no emotional investment and not any interest in the broader economic vitality of our area -- only thoughts of financial gain at everyone else's expense.
If you have an emotional attachment to this area because you live here full-time, have a seasonal home, have rented a camp or motel room, cruised our waters, or visited here because you know there is no other place like it on earth, it is important that you voice your feelings to the NY Public Service Commission Article 10 Siting Board in Albany. Visit:
(http://documents.dps.ny.gov/
Mary Hamilton
Hammond, NY
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