Oops, Default Oops, Fire
http://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/ivanpah-solar-plant-catches-fire-but-taxpayers-get-burned/ Oops On Wed, Dec 30, 2015 at 7:36 PM, Jed Rothwell <jedrothw...@gmail.com> wrote: > I wrote: > > >> The taxpayers will get their money back eventually. The power companies >> are not going to stop buying electricity from this installation. They may >> renegotiate the price . . . >> > > Source: > > I think I read this at Renewable Energy World, but I cannot find the > article. Anyway, that is the usual arrangement. Since the machine is up and > running, and making a profit on current operations, the taxpayers should be > reimbursed. The owners may face bankruptcy. > > http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/index.html > > The article went on to say this is quite different from the situation at > Solyndra. There was no revenue stream when Solyndra went bankrupt. They did > not have anything up and running. > > When a company goes bankrupt, if there are parts of the company which are > making a current profit, the courts are careful to keep those parts in > business. They try not to sell off assets or do anything else which will > disrupt those parts and stop the flow of income. They try not to cause more > unemployment than necessary. On the other hand, they direct the current > profit flow to the creditors, and away from stockholders. When Uncle Sam is > among the creditors or unpaid vendors, he always goes to the front of the > line. That's how it works. > > The Solyndra bankruptcy has been called a scandal. It is not a scandal. > Any investment can go south. Many governments supported ventures have > failed. In this case, the Solyndra portion of the fund failed but overall > the fund did exceptionally well and made a ton of money for the taxpayers. > You might argue that the Federal government should not be investing in > technology. That might appeal to purists who think the government should > play no role in the economy, but as I have often pointed out, the > government has played a leading role since the construction of the Erie > Canal, and in ever major technology since then. If it had not, I expect the > U.S. would have lost the Civil War, WWI and WWII. > > Since most Federal money goes to conventional technology such as coal and > oil, I do not think the industry should complain. > > - Jed > >
