Monday, November 10, 2014

A Google Owned Company Borrows Money from the Federal Government to Build a Plant and Now Wants a Grant from the Federal Government to Pay Off the Loan? Our Money Loaned; Our Money Pays Us Back?


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From: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/11/08/world-largest-solar-plant-applying-for-federal-grant-to-pay-off-its-federal/?intcmp=trending

“World’s largest solar plant applying for federal grant to pay off federal loan
By William La Jeunesse
November 08, 2014

Struggling solar thermal plant seeks huge taxpayer bailout

After already receiving a controversial $1.6 billion construction loan from U.S. taxpayers, the wealthy investors of a California solar power plant now want a $539 million federal grant to pay off their federal loan (Over half a billion dollars!my addition).

‘This is an attempt by very large cash generating companies that have billions on their balance sheet to get a federal bailout, i.e. a bailout from usthe taxpayer for their pet project,’ said Reason Foundation VP of Research Julian Morris. ‘It’s actually rather obscene (Yes, it is! However, there is a more fundamental problem than this! The federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in trying to determine winners and losers in the free market system. There should be NO federal government programs to subsidize one type of energy over another by grants, loans, or any other process!my addition).’

The Ivanpah solar electric generating plant is owned by Google (Google owns a solar energy plant? Borrowed our money to finance it and now wants our money in the form of a grant to pay off the loan? Do I understand that correctly?my addition) and renewable energy giant NRG, which are responsible for paying off their federal loan. If approved by the U.S. Treasury, the two corporations will not use their own money, but taxpayer cash to pay off 30 percent of the cost of their plant, but taxpayers will receive none of the millions in revenues the plant will generate over the next 30 years.

‘They’re already paying less than the market rate,’ said Morris, author of a lengthy report detailing alleged cronyism and corruption in the Obama administration’s green energy programs (Alleged? It is all over the place! They bundle money for the Democrat/Obama political machine and in return they get sweetheart deals from the government!my addition). ‘Now demanding or asking for a subsidy in the form of a grant directly paying off the loan is an egregious abuse.’

NRG doesn’t see it that way, telling Fox News the money is there for the taking. ‘NRG believes in a clean and sustainable energy future and therefore participates in available government programs to develop and expand the use of clean energy to accelerate America’s energy independence.’ In 2013, the Obama administration handed out $18.5 billion in renewable energy grants, with $4.4 billion going to solar projects.

Ivanpah is the largest concentrated solar power plant in the world. It was unveiled in February with great fanfare. Dr. Ernest Moniz, the U.S. Secretary of Energy, justified taxpayers' investment at the time, saying, ‘We want to be technology leaders (Then let free enterprise through competition do it! Government is not competent to determine supply and demand! The free market does it much better and more efficiently!my addition). It’s good for our economy (Then let the market do it! If it is profitable, it will happen!my addition) and it’s also good for helping stimulate the global transition to low carbon (The man-made global warming NONSENSE!my addition).’

But since then the plant has not lived up to its clean energy promise. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the plant produced only about a quarter of the power it’s supposed to, a disappointing 254,263 megawatt-hours of electricity from January through August, not the million megawatt-hours it promised.

A NRG spokesman blamed the weather, saying the sun didn’t shine as often as years of studies predicted (You are blaming the sun! You did not take into account the variability of weather?my addition). However by the four-year mark, NRG has ‘every confidence (What does that mean? You were not confident in your first year predictions?my addition) that the plant will function as anticipated for the life of the facility,’ according to the company.

Touted as a clean, green energy, some environmentalists have turned against concentrated solar as a technology, deeming it dangerous and a threat to wildlife (Really? Just because it kills birds?my addition). Unlike solar photovoltaics, which turn sunlight directly into electricity, CSP uses thousands of large mirrors to concentrate reflected sunlight into powerful beams aimed at ‘power towers.’ The heat generates steam to turn turbines that create electricity.

The problem is that birds see the mirrors as water. As they approach, the 800º F solar beams roast any bird that happens to fly by. A recent study released by the California Energy Commission conducted by the Center for Biological Diversity called Ivanpah a ‘mega-trap’ that will kill up to 28,000 birds a year (Minor detail? This study was not done before the building of the plant? No one thought of this possibility?my addition).

The plants’ owner at the time, BrightSource Energy, said it will likely kill only a thousand birds a year (Based upon what?my addition). BrightSource came under scrutiny by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and investigators found the company received direct ‘guidance and support from the White House (No! What a surprise! Not!my addition)’ for how it obtained its $1.6 billion in federal loans.

William La Jeunesse joined FOX News Channel (FNC) in March 1998 and currently serves as a Los Angeles-based correspondent.