Philzone.org - Philzone Phansite Community Discussion Board: Politics: Politics - Archive 2012: Beacon Power bankrupt; had stimulus backing

Beacon Power bankrupt; had U.S. backing like Solyndra

Mon Oct 31, 2011 8

(Reuters) - Beacon Power Corp filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, just a year after the energy storage company received a $43 million loan guarantee from a controversial Department of Energy program.

The bankruptcy comes about two months after Solyndra -- a solar panel maker with a $535 million loan guarantee -- also filed for Chapter 11, creating a political embarrassment for the administration of President Barack Obama, which has championed the loans as a way to create "green energy" jobs.

Beacon Power drew down $39 million of its government-guaranteed loan to fund a portion of a $69 million, 20-megawatt flywheel energy storage plant in Stephentown, New York.

There are several key differences between the two loans, an Energy Department spokesman said on Sunday, noting the Beacon plant continues to operate, unlike Solyndra, which shut down shortly before filing for bankruptcy.


http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/31/us-beaco npower-bankruptcy-idUSTRE79T39320111031

the obama stimulue money

is the kiss of death..

i wonder if this is included in the over $100 billion in unrecovered TARP funds (some of which GM still owes, they have not paid it back in full).

a billion here, a billion there, it's just monopoly money.

Here is the final paragraph of Bert's post:

The loan guarantee for the project included "many protections for the taxpayer," said DOE spokesman Damien LaVera, noting the department is not directly exposed to Beacon's liabilities, has the operating plant as collateral, as well as cash reserves held by the business.

Not really sure how a $43 million loan guarantee turns into a billion here, a billion there.

you've never mutli-tasked before have you? that "billion here, billion there" remark is just that: a remark. it was not directed specifically at the Beacon situation, more of an overall indictment of the entire fiscal foolery from this admin. and yes, bush frittered away money too. i am not now nor have i ever been ok with the shrub admin.

Drip, Drip, Drip: Yet Another Green Energy Stimulus Recipient Hits the Skids (the third this week!)
by WILLIAM YEATMAN on JANUARY 27, 2012
in BLOG

Earlier this week, Stimulus beneficiary Evergreen Energy bit the dust. Then, Ener1, a manufacturer of batteries for electric vehicles and recipient of Stimulus largesse, filed for bankruptcy. And today, the Las Vegas Sun reports that Amonix, Inc., a manufacturer of solar panels that received $5.9 million from the Porkulus, will cut two-thirds of its workforce, about 200 employees, only seven months after opening a factory in Nevada.

I foresaw this spate of bad news last November. As I explained yesterday,

In a previous post, I compared renewable energy spending in the 2009 Stimulus to a green albatross burdening the President. I argued that Stimulus spending was inherently wasteful, because politics invariably corrupts government’s investment decisions. The result is taxpayers losses on bankrupt companies that existed only by the grace of political favoritism, a la Solyndra. I predicted the green stimulus would haunt the President, in the form of a slow drip public relations nightmare, as a litany of bad investments go belly-up in the run up to the 2012 elections.

Mr. President, are you still sure you want to “double down” on renewable energy giveaways?

http://www.globalwarming.org/2012/01/27/drip-drip- drip-yet-another-green-energy-stimulus-recipient-h its-the-skids-the-third-this-week/

..what ever happened to the stimulus vacation package ?