I will not cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany because we refuse to make the same commitment here. – President Barack Obama
While 2011 saw a swath of green energy failures that cost taxpayers millions and January isn't starting off much better, Manish Bapna of the World Resources Institute hopes that 2012 becomes the year of renewable energy.
The most recognizable green energy failure in 2011 came in the form of Solyndra, a California-based solar panel company that filed for bankruptcy in September despite having received a $528 million government loan.
Since Solyndra's bankruptcy, the company has been scrutinized for its ties to George Kaiser, a billionaire who raised money for Obama in 2008. Administration emails show that the White House tried to rush federal reviewers for the loan, while others show that Kaiser discussed the company with White House officials.
New video footage also sparked criticisms, as workers were shown dumping pallets of glass tubes worth "millions of dollars" into the trash. More tubes are due to be sent to the recyclers, The Washington Times reported Sunday. The Washington Times also recently reported that Solyndra sold nearly $60 million worth of inventory to a corporate entity tied to the company's biggest investors for less than $20 million.
In August of 2011, Evergreen Solar, which was mentioned in an April 2009 White House document as a company that hoped to hire 90 to 100 people, also declared bankruptcy. In November, Evergreen fired its chief executive and named a new leader, the Boston Globe reported. Evergreen had received $5.3 million in stimulus cash through a state grant, while court records showed the company listed assets of $424.5million and debts of $485.6 million.
Also in August, a KOMO News report showed that a $20 million federal grant for a home weatherization program in Seattle, which supporters hoped would create 2,000 jobs and retrofit 2,000 homes, had garnered "lackluster" results. At the time of the report, only three homes had been retrofitted and 14 jobs had been created.
"Yes, we're not seeing as many complete retrofits as we wanted to," Joshua Curtis, the city's manager for Community Power Works, said at the time. "While everyone would like to see more upgrades, I think we're feeling cautiously optimistic."
House Republicans are involved in a probe of the administration's energy programs, focusing on the $500 million in green training grants. According to an audit by the Department of Labor's inspector general, the program's goal was to train 124,893 people and put 79,854 in jobs. In actuality, however, 52,762 were trained and 8,035 had jobs.
The Tucson Citizen quoted Assistant Secretary of Labor Jane Oates defending the program, saying the audit used old numbers and that the program had never been designed to provide immediate results.
"They set the rules, they set the parameters, they make it as favorable as possible, and they still manage to come up with bupkis, just about zero jobs," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif, said in an interview. "Don't get me wrong — 1,000 jobs, 1300 jobs, we think it's important, but for half a billion dollars, it clearly missed the target. We could've done better by throwing the money out a window."
In October, Beacon Power Corp., an energy storage company, also filed for bankruptcy. The company had received $43 million from the program that supported Solyndra, Business Week reported. Beacon listed assets of $72 million and debt of $47 million, including $39.1 million owing on a government-guaranteed loan.
In January of 2012, the Las Vegas Sun reported that solar power company Amonix Inc., which received a $5.9 million investment tax credit through the stimulus, had laid off about 200 of its 300-plus employees.
"They were temporary employees brought in to handle a major project," Mayor Shari Buck told the Las Vegas Sun. "I expect Amonix to continue to be successful and have a great future in their solar production."
The Daily Caller reported that investors in Amonix included John Doerr's venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Daniel Weiss' Angeleno Group LLC and Steve Westly's Westly Group. Records show these three investors have bundled at least $700,000 for Obama.
Alternative fuel developer Evergreen Energy Inc. filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in January, listing about $240 million in assets and $25 million in debt, Bloomberg reports.
During the 2012 State of the Union Address, Obama reiterated his support for renewable energy programs, saying payoffs for investments don't always come right away.
"Some technologies don't pan out; some companies fail," Obama said. "But I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy. I will not cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany because we refuse to make the same commitment here."
Two days after Obama's speech, another green company, Ener1 Inc., filed for bankruptcy protection. Ener1 Inc. received a $118 million U.S. Energy Department grant to make batteries for electric cars. The company had reportedly received about $55 million of its grant so far. Business Week reports that the company listed assets of $73.9 million and debt of $90.5 million.
Fisker Automotive, a luxury electric car company which came under fire after accepting a U.S. government loan and then building cars in Finland, recently stopped work in Delaware and laid off 26 workers after it ran out of government loan money. USA Today also reports Fisker sped up layoffs of 40 to 45 engineers in California.
The company had received $193 million of the $529 million government loan and is working to meet conditions set by the Department of Energy in order to receive the rest of the money.
"Our loan guarantees have strict conditions in place to protect taxpayers," DOE spokesman Damien LaVea told USA Today. "The department is working with Fisker to review a revised business plan and determining the best path forward so the company can meet its benchmarks, produce cars and employ workers here in America."
After Fisker announced layoffs, A123 Systems Inc., a U.S. company that makes batteries for Fisker's electric cars, saw its shares downgraded, Business Week reports.
Bapna, writing at The Huffington Post, said the Production Tax Credit, which is due to expire in 2012, is the key to turning this year into the year of renewable energy.
"Given the significant strides the industry has made, it would be unfortunate if governments and investors turned their backs now," Bapna writes. "In fact, it's likely that 2012 could be the year when renewable energy (not counting hydropower) will surpass fossil fuels, signaling a profound shift toward a global clean energy economy."
The Los Angeles Times reports that executives from the U.S. hydropower, geothermal and biomass power industries called for an extension of production tax credits as well, citing support for H.R. 3307, the American Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit Extension Act of 2011.
In January, Portland Mayor Sam Adams blamed the government for layoffs at Iberdrola Renewables Inc., saying that the failure to extend the wind energy production tax credit was creating uncertainty and killing jobs, OregonLive.com reports.
However, critics of subsidies for renewable energy disagree, saying that renewable energy is failing.
"Solyndra, Beacon Power and Ener1 went bankrupt. First Solar and A123 Systems have laid off employees. BP quit the solar business. International wind power companies Iberdrola and Vestas have threatened massive layoffs and the discontinuation of new projects if the Production Tax Credit in the U.S. is not renewed. General Electric expects a downturn in projects in the future," Paul Chesser wrote at the National Legal and Policy Center. "It's clear that the alternative energy industry — primarily wind, solar, energy storage and electric vehicles — are not about the viability of their businesses, but about grabbing as much public money while the spigot is open."
A staff report from the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform quotes Professor Andrew Morriss of the University of Alabama, saying, "We know that infant industries argument doesn't work because we've tried it for 200 years in different places around the world and it never works. The infants never grow up, they just get bigger and cry louder and demand more protection."
In an American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research paper by Kenneth P. Green, Green shares his research on renewable energy in Europe. According to Green, renewable energy in Spain, Denmark, Germany, the UK and Scotland has had a negative effect on job creation and a negligible effect on the environment.
The paper cites a study in Spain showing that Spain's renewable energy program destroyed 110,500 jobs elsewhere in the economy, while Spain spent 571,138 per green job, including subsidies of more than 1 million per job in the wind industry.
In Germany, the implementation of wind and solar power raised household energy rates by 7.5 percent, and in the UK, 3.7 jobs were lost per every job created in renewable energy.
The green energy push has already been used against Obama in the 2012 cycle, with Americans for Prosperity launching ads critical of Obama's ties to Solyndra. USA Today reports that Obama's campaign has retaliated by spending $1.4 million to defend his energy record in a 25 swing-state market.
David Pesci of the Wesleyan Media Project, which analyzes political ad spending, said it was unusual for an incumbent to run campaign ads 10 months before the election.
"He's either being very aggressive or he's more nervous than they're talking about," Pesci said.
On Friday, the Associated Press reported that the government could lose nearly $3 billion on Energy Department loans for green energy programs. The review did not involve Solyndra or Beacon Power Corp. Out of the $10 billion allocated to the green energy program, $8.3 billion had been spent as of the end of November.
President Obama's 2012 budget, which was released Monday, reiterated support for green energy in the "Investing in our future" section.
"Whichever country leads in the global, clean energy economy will also take the lead in creating high-paying, highly-skilled jobs for its people," the budget says. "We are at the cusp of a future in which hundreds of thousands of vehicles that do not rely on a gasoline-powered engine will be on our roads, and where millions of homes will be powered by electricity from clean sources."