Solar panel maker Solyndra may be the poster company for disastrous federal loans but there are a dozen more “green” energy duds lined up behind it, according to the
Heritage Foundation.
Solyndra made headlines when it declared bankruptcy last year after receiving $535 million in federal loans as part of the Obama administration's efforts to promote alternative energy. The Heritage Foundation found an additional 12 “green” energy companies that have declared bankruptcy despite attempts to prop them up with taxpayer money.
The companies, it turns out, couldn’t make it on their own and couldn’t even make it with extra taxpayer help, according to the Heritage Foundation.
“These green government “investments” take from one (by taxing or borrowing) and give to another, but they merely move money around,” the Heritage Foundation wrote. “They do not create jobs. They send labor and resources to areas of the economy where they are wasted. Proponents of special financing and tax credits for solar companies claim that these benefits will pay for themselves down the line—but when the companies receiving them are going bankrupt, that is highly unlikely.”
The foundation compiled the list of 12, calling it the “Green Graveyard,” or companies that received taxpayer money for green initiatives yet have filed for bankruptcy.
They are:
1. Abound Solar (Loveland, Colorado), manufacturer of thin film photovoltaic modules.
2. Beacon Power (Tyngsborough, Massachusetts), designed and developed advanced products and services to support stable, reliable, and efficient electricity grid operation.
3. Ener1 (Indianapolis, Indiana), built compact lithium-ion-powered battery solutions for hybrid and electric cars.
4. Energy Conversion Devices (Rochester Hills, Michigan/Auburn Hills, Michigan), manufacturer of flexible thin film photovoltaic (PV) technology and a producer of batteries and other renewable energy-related products.
5. Evergreen Solar, Inc. (Marlborough, Massachusetts), manufactured and installed solar panels.
6. Mountain Plaza, Inc. (Dandridge, Tennessee), designed and implemented “truck-stop electrification” technology.
7. Olsen’s Crop Service and Olsens Mills Acquisition Co. (Berlin, Wisconsin), a private company producing ethanol.
8. Range Fuels (Soperton, Georgia), tried to develop a technology that converted biomass into ethanol without the use of enzymes.
9. Raser Technologies (Provo, Utah), geothermal power plants and technology licensing.
10. Solyndra (Fremont, California), manufacturer of cylindrical panels of thin-film solar cells.
11. Spectrawatt (Hopewell, New York), solar cell manufacturer.
12. Thompson River Power LLC (Wayzata, Minnesota), designed and developed advanced products and services to support stable, reliable and efficient electricity grid operation.
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