Biden Megadonor Scores $500 Million Federal Loan for Solar Company

Politically connected First Solar also secured $3 billion in loan guarantees from Obama administration

A solar energy company owned by a Biden megadonor received a $500 million government loan to build a manufacturing facility in India, the Biden administration announced this week, raising questions about whether the company's political clout played any role in the financing decision.

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation granted the loan to First Solar, which is owned by billionaire Walmart heir Lukas Walton, to build a solar module plant in India. Walton contributed over $300,000 to President Joe Biden's campaign last year, and over $100,000 to the Democratic National Committee, according to campaign finance records.

The loan to First Solar is the "largest single debt financing transaction" issued by the DFC, the agency announced this week. The DFC said the investment in the India project will "promote DFC's commitment to diversifying supply chains," following demands from lawmakers that the agency avoid funding any solar projects connected to forced labor in China.

Ethics watchdogs said the loan raises questions about whether First Solar's political connections played a role in the DFC's decision. The federal financing agency, which was formerly known as the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, has faced criticism in the past for funding projects linked to political donors. The loan also comes nine years after the Obama administration came under fire for approving $3 billion in loan guarantees to the same company—funding that Republican lawmakers alleged the company wasn't qualified to receive.

"The United States International Development Finance Corporation, formerly known as OPIC, has a history of deals gone bad when mixing taxpayer dollars with politically connected entities like First Solar," said Tom Anderson, director of the Government Integrity Project at the National Legal and Policy Center. "This agency has a history of favoring entities backed by huge political contributors, like First Solar, by giving them less scrutiny while prioritizing politically connected projects above entities and individuals who are not politically active."

A DFC spokesperson, asking to speak on background, said the deal was carefully assessed and unrelated to politics but declined to say if the White House had any input in the decision.

"This deal is a milestone in the U.S. effort to drive alternative supply chains that do not utilize forced labor, and absolutely nothing to do with politics," the spokesperson told the Washington Free Beacon. "DFC-supported projects undergo a rigorous due diligence process and are assessed based on their creditworthiness, development outcomes, and foreign policy impact. The agency is governed by a public-private board of directors with bipartisan membership."

In 2010, OPIC expedited a $10 million loan to a Hillary Clinton donor while Clinton was serving as secretary of state. The donor was supposed to use the loan to fund a Haiti housing relief project, but instead pocketed the money. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the scam.

First Solar came under scrutiny in 2012, when the GOP-led House Oversight Committee investigated a series of Department of Energy loans issued to solar companies by the Obama administration. The investigation was prompted by a scandal involving another politically connected solar energy company, Solyndra, which had declared bankruptcy and defaulted on a $500 million federal loan.

A House investigation turned up internal DOE emails that indicated First Solar's technology was not considered "innovative" by the loan program's technical director, which was a requirement for receiving the financing.

"The information currently accessible to the public raises the question of whether these companies received approval to use federal lands and taxpayer monies based not on the best value for the American people but the political clout of the recipients," then-senator Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.), ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, said at the time.

Although First Solar's chairman testified to Congress that the company was "financially strong," the business was forced to furlough half of its employees at its solar plant near Los Angeles weeks later.

Last year, First Solar paid $350 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit brought by two United Kingdom pension funds, which claimed the company inflated its stock price and misled investors about its finances.

“Walton contributed over $300,000 to President Joe Biden’s campaign last year, and over $100,000 to the Democratic National Committee, according to campaign finance records.”

I would call that a shrewd investment by Mr Walton. Invest $400K. Get back $500 Million in government loans.

At least the factory is in India, where they can hire Indians making $1/hour. He might just be profitable.

What happened to the Tesla factory in Buffalo, NY that was supposed to make solar panels? I have not heard much about this much talked about plant a few years back.

I can't stand this stuff. And I put solar onto my house.

There was a time I was interested in First Solar because I wanted solar panels made in the U.S. But they're more for the big contracts with utilities (read: government money being used to force communities to "go green" at the utility level). I went with Mission Solar with panels made in Mission, TX so I can get ones that are made in the U.S.A. and I can also make most of my own electricity to slowly wean me off of big government types trying to control us by controlling our access to energy.

Take solar users in California. Solar power out there comes mostly in one of two ways, both of which the state regulators control: either through solar farms done by the power provider, or with solar panels on residences with systems tied to the grid. Even if you own the solar panels outright, as long as your system is tied to the grid then your state regulated power company has a kill switch to turn off your system. So when the state or power company notifies California residents that they'll experience scheduled power brownouts, even the home solar systems are cut off too (if they're tied to the grid).

That's not my kind of solar power. My kind of solar power is the kind where my power stays on for a while even when the local grid is down (which doesn't happen often in Alabama, but it did a week or so ago for a few hours for the first time in years, and I was just fine because there had been plenty of sun earlier in the day to charge my home batteries). My kind of solar power is the kind that powers my house enough for my family's usual power consumption without being so costly to try to power the house during the entire winter when it can rain for a week at a time (it's ridiculous to think we'll be "net zero"). My kind of solar power is the kind where I no longer worry about natural gas prices skyrocketing because I'm now all-electric, and I worry about half as much about power prices skyrocketing because I generate about half of the power I consume.

My kind of solar power is the kind where if I keep getting the expected output (which includes a gradual degradation of quality in both my panels and my batteries to the point where they're about 70% as good when the battery warranty expires at 19 years and the panel warranty expires at 25 years), and if the price of power rises at a reasonable 3% inflation rate per year, then the system will pay for itself at about 9 years. And that includes paying interest on the HELOC I used to fund most of it. Obviously if the Dims satisfy their wet dreams and keep fulfilling Obama's promise of "under my administration electricity prices will necessarily skyrocket" by making rates shoot up higher than Hillary perks up when Huma walks in the room, then my system will pay for itself a lot sooner.

All while my wife and I live on a modest budget as we head into retirement and not worry about the Dims using energy costs to mess up our financial plan. That's what solar power is to me.

When my system pays for itself I'll set aside the excess savings after that and use it to maintain and upgrade the system in the future. That'll make me even less blown around by the whims of the Dims' cow farts. Admittedly, any improvement on my system at this point is running into the law of diminishing returns. But if I'm using money I've saved on power beyond the cost of the existing system, I'll count that as money well used to cut away more and more of the government's leash.

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