Conservatives pounced Wednesday on news that yet another Energy Department-backed solar company is facing financial problems.
“Another Obama-subsidized solar company fails,” blared a headline on Breitbart.com soon after the Las Vegas Review-Journal broke the news that solar company Amonix has closed a manufacturing facility in North Las Vegas that benefited from millions in DOE grants and tax credits. And the Republican National Committee blasted the story to reporters’ inboxes.
But federal backing for the project has its roots in the George W. Bush administration, not the Obama administration.
Bush Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman announced in March 2007 that Amonix was one of 13 solar companies up for a total of $168 million in grant funding under a program called the Solar America Initiative.
Amonix was eligible for $3.2 million in the first year of the program and as much as $14.8 million over the full three years of the program, the Bush DOE said at the time.
The company eventually received a total of $15.6 million in grants under the program. Of that total, $8.2 million was disbursed under the Bush administration and $7.4 million was handed out under Obama, according to the Energy Department.
"Solar technology can play a crucial role in moving toward affordable net zero energy homes and businesses — which combine energy efficiency and renewable energy produced on-site," Bodman said in a statement in 2007. “Efficient buildings with solar power generation can help reduce peak demand and ease the need for expensive new generating capacity, transmission and distributions lines as our economy grows.”
Republicans have spent months bashing the Obama administration’s clean energy agenda, arguing the Energy Department has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars backing solar companies that face major financial problems.
But many of the renewable energy projects backed by the Energy Department have received GOP support in the past. In addition to enjoying the backing of major Democrats like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Amonix received a high-profile endorsement from Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican.
“This is the essence of what we’re trying to accomplish,” Sandoval said at a 2011 ceremony marking the completion of the company’s North Las Vegas facility, according to the Las Vegas Sun. “Not only do I want Nevada to be the renewable energy capital of the United States, but I want it to be the renewable energy capital of the world.”
On the other hand, Amonix has enjoyed the support of the Obama administration as well. Energy Secretary Steven Chu visited Amonix’s North Las Vegas facility last year to tout the company, which has received millions in tax breaks and grants from the department.
For example, the company was selected for more than $9.5 million in tax credits under a stimulus-funded clean energy manufacturing program. Nearly $6 million of that went to the Nevada project. And the department awarded the company nearly $4.5 million last year as part of its SunShot Initiative, which seeks to “help shape the next generation of solar energy technologies.”
In addition, Amonix provided panels for a Colorado solar generation project owned by Cogentrix. DOE finalized a $90.6 million loan guarantee for the project last year.
“While today’s news is disappointing, the United States simply can’t afford to cede America’s role in the growing, highly competitive solar energy industry,” Energy Department spokeswoman Jen Stutsman said in a statement Wednesday, noting that solar manufacturers are “facing significant challenges.”
U.S. solar manufacturers like Solyndra and Abound Solar, which have both filed for bankruptcy after receiving Energy Department loan guarantees, are facing intense competition from China, which has, in some case, flooded the market with low-price solar panels.
Source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78717.html
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| Amonix received $8.2 million under President George W. Bush |
“Another Obama-subsidized solar company fails,” blared a headline on Breitbart.com soon after the Las Vegas Review-Journal broke the news that solar company Amonix has closed a manufacturing facility in North Las Vegas that benefited from millions in DOE grants and tax credits. And the Republican National Committee blasted the story to reporters’ inboxes.
But federal backing for the project has its roots in the George W. Bush administration, not the Obama administration.
Bush Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman announced in March 2007 that Amonix was one of 13 solar companies up for a total of $168 million in grant funding under a program called the Solar America Initiative.
Amonix was eligible for $3.2 million in the first year of the program and as much as $14.8 million over the full three years of the program, the Bush DOE said at the time.
The company eventually received a total of $15.6 million in grants under the program. Of that total, $8.2 million was disbursed under the Bush administration and $7.4 million was handed out under Obama, according to the Energy Department.
"Solar technology can play a crucial role in moving toward affordable net zero energy homes and businesses — which combine energy efficiency and renewable energy produced on-site," Bodman said in a statement in 2007. “Efficient buildings with solar power generation can help reduce peak demand and ease the need for expensive new generating capacity, transmission and distributions lines as our economy grows.”
Republicans have spent months bashing the Obama administration’s clean energy agenda, arguing the Energy Department has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars backing solar companies that face major financial problems.
But many of the renewable energy projects backed by the Energy Department have received GOP support in the past. In addition to enjoying the backing of major Democrats like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Amonix received a high-profile endorsement from Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican.
“This is the essence of what we’re trying to accomplish,” Sandoval said at a 2011 ceremony marking the completion of the company’s North Las Vegas facility, according to the Las Vegas Sun. “Not only do I want Nevada to be the renewable energy capital of the United States, but I want it to be the renewable energy capital of the world.”
On the other hand, Amonix has enjoyed the support of the Obama administration as well. Energy Secretary Steven Chu visited Amonix’s North Las Vegas facility last year to tout the company, which has received millions in tax breaks and grants from the department.
For example, the company was selected for more than $9.5 million in tax credits under a stimulus-funded clean energy manufacturing program. Nearly $6 million of that went to the Nevada project. And the department awarded the company nearly $4.5 million last year as part of its SunShot Initiative, which seeks to “help shape the next generation of solar energy technologies.”
In addition, Amonix provided panels for a Colorado solar generation project owned by Cogentrix. DOE finalized a $90.6 million loan guarantee for the project last year.
“While today’s news is disappointing, the United States simply can’t afford to cede America’s role in the growing, highly competitive solar energy industry,” Energy Department spokeswoman Jen Stutsman said in a statement Wednesday, noting that solar manufacturers are “facing significant challenges.”
U.S. solar manufacturers like Solyndra and Abound Solar, which have both filed for bankruptcy after receiving Energy Department loan guarantees, are facing intense competition from China, which has, in some case, flooded the market with low-price solar panels.
Source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78717.html
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