Posted on 07/04/2012 7:00:41 PM PDT by Nachum
A geothermal energy company with a $98.5 million loan guarantee from the Obama administration for an alternative energy project in Nevada - which received hearty endorsements from Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid - faces financial problems, and the company’s auditors have questioned whether it can stay in business.
Much like Solyndra LLC, a California solar-panel manufacturer with a $535 million federal loan guarantee that went bankrupt, Nevada Geothermal Power (NGP) has incurred $98 million in net losses over the past several years, has substantial debts and does not generate enough cash from its current operations after debt-service costs, an internal audit said.
“The company’s ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on its available cash and its ability to continue to raise funds to support corporate operations and the development of other properties,” NGP auditors said in a financial statement for the period ending March 31.
“Consequently, material uncertainties exist which cast significant doubt upon the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” the statement said.
Mr. Reid, a Nevada Democrat who led passage of the $814 billion stimulus bill and worked to include the loan guarantee program to help finance clean-energy projects, predicted in 2010 that NGP would “put Nevadans to work” and declared that Nevada was the “Saudi Arabia of geothermal energy.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
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Pencil neck geek (song)
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did any of these things actually work?
by all means, let’s raise taxes on everyone to give this bunch of drooling idiots more money to set aflame.
Oh the gimcracks work, but not well enough to compete with “brown” energy.
“did any of these things actually work?”
Yes. All of them, and exactly as designed: to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to democrats’ personal accounts.
I used to think that prosecution of democrats by a Republican administration would be a sign that we’ve become a Third World nation and should be avoided.
Done with the niave notion. We are a Third World nation in terms of corruption. It’s not even that well hidden because almost half of the popultation is too stupid to see it.
So let’s bring on the prosecutions...
“Saudi Arabia of geothermal energy”
Care to comment Mr. Reid?
Pork is one thing when it actually produces some worth while infrastructure that lifts all boats.
Pork targeting a failing “Green” agenda, a pagan dream, is irresponsible.
Yes, geothermal works. California, north of SF has geothermal wells generating electricity, steam of course. PG&E I think it was back in the 70’s when we had some equipment running there.
Wells were difficult to drill because of the down hole temps were tough on all the tools, bits, rotating heads and drilling rubbers. Cuttings were very, very abrasive coming out of the hole at super speeds in a steam colum that would shake the ground. Scary stuff.
For all I know though the enviros might have forced the shut down of these facilities.
No doubt another Obama bundler is involved.
Geo may be the most viable “green” tech, but why are taxpayers subsidizing it, or any of these technologies?
What part have union labor contracts or kickback supplier contracts played in the financial problems of this company?
Why can the Icelanders manage this and we cannot?
Yep. The main problem with geothermal is corrosion. It is fierce and makes for expensive operating costs.
After reading the title of this article, I immediately thought to myself, “How much money did the Democrats manage to siphon off to themselves?”
This is all about money and power.
A lib’rul friend of mine was telling me to invest in this bidness a couple years ago. I took a look at it and wondered where in hell the infrastructure was to support it and how expensive it was going to be to get the power to the nearest large grid. Didn’t look too promising to me even though I know geothermal works and is successful in other areas of the state. I declined...happily now as it turns out...
Geothermal does work. There are numerous geothermal fields in operation. It’s not as profitable as petroleum or coal, but it is profitable. The problem here is that the core owners here are better at extracting taxpayer dollars than running a profitable geothermal business.
Oh terrific.
We have a pseudo "independent" (lib-RAT) a former governor named Angus King who is running for Olympia Snowe's Senate seat. He claims Maine is the "Saudi Arabia of wind power."
He's probably right in the middle of raking in the big bucks from one of Obama's big "green energy" giveaways.
It’s a great concept, but it’s pretty expensive to develop and operate, can use a lot of water, and incredibly, isn’t generally capable of “infinite” operation. I’m not really sure that the US has a lot of “prime” spots for geothermal, because the really good places are just too deep. It works great in Iceland, though. If they actually needed it, it would probably work great in Hawaii.
These programs are not suppose to work. I can also bet that anyone lurking in the background of these projects are reaping the rewards and have no intention of creating a company. One of their so called companies hired 3 people before it went bankrupt??? WTH
http://blog.skepticallibertarian.com/2012/04/03/another-solar-energy-company-goes-under/
Solyndra Solar - $535 million federally guaranteed loan, Bankrupt
Beacon Power - $43 million loan guarantee, Bankrupt
Abound - $400 million loan guarantee - received $70 million before going bankrupt
In January, the president, undeterred, again used his State of the Union to gloat about a brilliant alternative energy “investment.” He stated that thanks to his “partnership with the private sector” he has “positioned America to be the world’s leading manufacturer of high-tech batteries,” referring to a $118 million stimulus grant awarded to EnerDel, a subsidiary of Ener1. Less than two days after his speech, Ener1 declared bankruptcy.
Then there was the recent incident involving First Solar, a heavily subsidized firm that got $16 million from the Obama administration to expand its facility in Ohio. In September of last year, First Solar got over $450 million in guaranteed loans from the Export-Import Bank to sell solar panels to two power plants in Canada. Interestingly enough, First Solar owned the plants ”buying” the solar panels, essentially receiving taxpayer subsidies to sell solar panels to itself.
At least 40 companies have received government backing from the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program, for a grand total of $30 billion in taxpayer liability.
I would love to see someone compile a list on all these companies names, what they borrowed, what they lost and who was involved.
How to bankrupt America - Hope and change!
Yes Geothermal does work, but it is dependent on depth, how hot are the rocks, what is produced in the steam (some of that stuff is hell on turbines)and the total steam available.
Geothermal will work if private enterprise develops it with their own money. If it needs a government subsidy, it will fail. If it needs a government subsidy it is very simple to deduce that it is an not economical. If it were, private enterprise would have done it. Geothermal is a source of energy that is economical in only a very few areas and sites where all the parameters are good. Private enterprise will develop these sites providing they have government and EPA approval.
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