Organizing for Action: Obama's Recycled Political Machine Pushing Climate Change, Raising Unlimited Cash from Special Interests, and Selling Access
According to Politico, “The president and his allies declared it would be powered by grassroots activists and change politics from outside Washington.”
Not so fast.
If you read the fine print, “[this nonprofit group] shows how disturbing its work really is. Its name is Organizing for Action (OfA), and if its initials seem familiar, that’s because the group is the direct descendant of Obama for America, the president’s campaign organization in 2008 and 2012, noted the left-wing New York Times –– and it's an organization with many of the same Obama strategists, but without the restraint of limited donations.
"It stinks," slammed the Washington Post in an op-ed titled, "The temptation of dark money" –– "judging by recent reports, Organizing for Action should be renamed Paying for Access," because they are raising large sums of money by offering advisory board positions with "the privilege of attending quarterly (and secret) meetings with the president."
It's pretty obvious what access and influence buys in Washington DC these days, but now the Obama Team is openly selling access. Is that even legal?
Or maybe it's just "change we can believe in."
With a massive address list of 20 million, they are circulating emails claiming, "Organizing for Action's mission is to put power back into the hands of the American people. That's why we won't accept a single dollar from corporations, PACs, foreign donors, or lobbyists."
Meanwhile, Jim Messina, Obama’s 2012 campaign manager and the OfA national chairman, and Jon Carson (OfA Director) were traveling across the country “meeting with members of the Obama 2012 National Finance Committee, who are being pressed back to work to find support for the new organization” –– even ”hitting up Hollywood studio executives, California energy investors and Chicago business titans,” reported the Post in February. And in its first days, Organizing for Action "[had] closely affiliated itself with insider liberal organizations funded by mega-donors like George Soros and corporations such as Lockheed Martin, Citi and Duke Energy,” noted Politico in late January.
However, after much criticism, the Washington Free Beacon recently reported, "OFA pledged not to accept donations from corporations and foreign individuals or groups," but will still accept donations from labor unions.
Meanwhile, Jim Messina, Obama’s 2012 campaign manager and the OfA national chairman, and Jon Carson (OfA Director) were traveling across the country “meeting with members of the Obama 2012 National Finance Committee, who are being pressed back to work to find support for the new organization” –– even ”hitting up Hollywood studio executives, California energy investors and Chicago business titans,” reported the Post in February. And in its first days, Organizing for Action "[had] closely affiliated itself with insider liberal organizations funded by mega-donors like George Soros and corporations such as Lockheed Martin, Citi and Duke Energy,” noted Politico in late January.
However, after much criticism, the Washington Free Beacon recently reported, "OFA pledged not to accept donations from corporations and foreign individuals or groups," but will still accept donations from labor unions.
Hmm, we'll see about that.
In my last exposé, Citi’s Massive 'Green' Money Machine, I revealed Citigroup's large footprint inside the Obama White House as well as this green-energy scheme, chronicling their connection to approximately $16 billion of “green” stimulus deals. Meanwhile, I’ve highlighted Duke Energy a few times: Duke’s CEO Jim Rogers and his "2012 DNC Cameo" as well as the money behind it, however, fresh information shows that Duke Energy has more stimulus funds to account for.
In my last exposé, Citi’s Massive 'Green' Money Machine, I revealed Citigroup's large footprint inside the Obama White House as well as this green-energy scheme, chronicling their connection to approximately $16 billion of “green” stimulus deals. Meanwhile, I’ve highlighted Duke Energy a few times: Duke’s CEO Jim Rogers and his "2012 DNC Cameo" as well as the money behind it, however, fresh information shows that Duke Energy has more stimulus funds to account for.
Still, there is a much bigger player to expose at this time: the left-wing billionaire George Soros: Obama’s "Agent of Green."
Labeled by the Right as "the single most destructive leftist demagogue," there has been much said and written about the politically powerful George Soros. Along with his deep-rooted shadowy agenda, we know that Soros funds numerous left-wing organizations, including radical environmentalism groups like the Tides Foundation. Most identified are the “anti-Fox” outlet Media Matters, the extremist Moveon.org as well as Obama’s left arm, Center for American Progress (CAP).
As Soros continues to bankroll the Left's far reaching progressive plans, he's more interested in the bottom line, which is evident by his own words, “I am basically there to make money. I cannot and do not look at the social consequences of what I do.”
True to Soros' nature, he’s cashing in at the Bank of Obama, despite what it's doing to our economy. Starting with the fact that Soros was involved in crafting the trillion-dollar so-called "Recovery Act," which President Obama signed into law in February 2009. A massive economic stimulus bill –– among the biggest in history –– that was sold to the American people as a means save our economy, however, recent revelations reveal the real intent behind the stimulus package; a key tool for advancing clean energy, of which at least ten percent was earmarked for that purpose –– it was packed full of "clean energy provisions."
But what has followed is nothing but pure dirt (cronyism and corruption) including the fact that "in the first quarter of 2009, Mr. Soros went on a stock-buying spree in companies that ultimately benefited from the federal stimulus," including twelve alternative energy and utility companies. And, after three weeks of intense research, I found that through these twelve, and other timely investments in renewable energy, Soros' green tab exceeds $11 BILLION of stimulus money –– and you, the taxpayer, footed the bill. Keep in mind that this tally is not factoring in the huge profit Soros is making off of these investments.
Most aren’t aware of Soros’ additional links to the president that date back as far as 2004, and how he is key villain in this Green Corruption scandal.
As of late, Daniel Greenfield of Frontpage.com took aim, “George Soros has leased the White House as a summer home for eight years, and appointed a number of his stooges to Cabinet positions, including Chief of Staff.”
In January, President Obama’s named former CAP Senior Fellow Denis McDonough (a deputy national security advisor and a longtime aide to the president) as chief of staff to the White House, to replace outgoing Jack Lew, who is set to take over Timothy Geithner's post as Treasury Secretary. Marita Noon (energy columnist at Townhall.com and my cohort in unearthing the vast amount of clean-energy dirt seeping through our current administration), and I recently completed a collaboration of Mr. Lew and Citigroup: "Wall Street Walks all over the Obama White House."
Daniel Greenfield explains it best, “Denis McDonough’s appointment as Chief of Staff is probably the biggest win for the Soros Lobby since the Obama victory…the George Soros funded Center for American Progress, which is the criminal brain behind the Frankenbody of Obama Inc.”
Subtly put, Edwin Chen of Bloomberg in 2008 described CAP as "an intellectual wellspring for Democratic policy proposals," of which, at that time, a squadron of CAP experts worked with president Obama's transition team along with CAP's president and founder, John Podesta, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton.
CAP, on my radar since 2010, is closely aligned with the Obama White House, and last summer we gave some insight into the Podesta Group's lobbying connection to SolarReserve and its $737 million in Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantees, which is also a Citigroup investment, and part of the stimulus created 1705 loan program, the DOE's "junk bond" portfolio.
Looking deeper, you’ll find many CAP associates inside Obama’s 2009 Green Team: both former Climate Czar Carol Browner and the self-proclaimed communist turned CNN contributor, Green Jobs Czar Van Jones. Meanwhile others from CAP had posts inside the Department of Energy like Steve Spinner, a two-time Obama bundler and former DOE Loan Programs Advisor. They are all central to this green-energy scheme, which fit into different categories: "The RAT in the Recovery and the Gang of Eight" as well as the "DOE Dirty Dozen."
We've already unleashed four of the "gang," including General Electric through the 2008, 2009 DOE Electricity Advisory Committee, which includes other green stimulus winners like NextEra Energy and American Electric Power (AEP) –– the former we've covered and the latter we'll get to in this post.
On our journey, we've exposed John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins and our new Secretary of State, Senator John Kerry's part. Now we tackle George Soros, who not only heavily backed candidate Kerry in 2004, but also funds the Apollo Alliance –– a left-wing organization who exerts powerful influence on the views and policies of the Obama administration, of which I had alerted to in 2010 that boasted of writing Obama's trillion-dollar spending spree, and will revisit again.
Further in our "gang of eight" is the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) that we noted in our Citigroup columns, and eventually we'll get to TJ Glautheir and McBee Strategic Consulting. Adding to the immense corruption, the "DOE Insiders" and CAP's green-energy, crony-corruption complete stories are still in the works.
Soros Funds Obama Victories
Soros helped bankroll an Obama victory in 2008, making it on Forbes' “Obama's Billionaire" list;
however, Soros' overall political funding statistics are startling, as reported by the New Yorker in February 2012.
Over the past thirty years, no benefactor has contributed more to the Democratic Party and other liberal groups than Soros, the billionaire chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC, a hugely lucrative hedge fund. In 2004, he contributed more than twenty-three million dollars, a record at the time, to Democratic groups aiding John Kerry’s ultimately unsuccessful Presidential bid. In 2008, he was one of the three largest campaign donors to either party, as he gave five million dollars to help make Barack Obama President.But the king of contributions wasn’t done there, and in September 2012, Soros pledged $1.5 million in donations to a trio of super PACs backing President Obama and congressional Democrats.
Soros and his family even made it on the Center for Public Integrity list of biggest financial backers of election 2012, ranking #18 with total contributions to super PACs at $5.1 million –– of course all pro-Obama and pro-Democrat.
Besides Soros arming the Democratic Party with a large campaign war chest, he has donated some $5 billion of his fortune to left-wing non-profit groups through the Open Society Institute, which as Michelle Malkin says, "is committed to Soros’ militant ideology of toppling the fascist tyranny of the United States, which he says must undergo de-Nazification in favor of justice."
In the summer of 2010 I had written about the cap-and-trade scheme as well as the Soros-funded Tides Center/Foundation participation, which involved the Chicago Climate Exchange and an array of Obama connections; climate crusaders; and radical environmentalist and conservation groups. Additionally, built-in to this scheme at the time were players like Richard Sandor, Al Gore's Generation Investment Management (GIM), Goldman Sachs, as well as the Joyce Foundation and Obama's Senior Advisor and Assistant, Valerie Jarrett. Looming in the midst are two powerful billionaire forces: the "global warming guru" Maurice Strong, and of course, George Soros, of which according to Canada Free Press, both "were working on anti-American schemes as far back as 2006."
There is much more tell about Apollo, but a newly released investigation by Watchdog.org, reveals troubling information about the Tides Foundation, listing big-name liberal donors and the fact that "from 2009 to 2011, the government has given Tides some $28 million in grants paid for by American taxpayers."
And what do taxpayers get for that 28 mill?
As I warned in 2010, "our environment has been hijacked," and now we have President Obama vowing to confront climate change in his second term. This time he's armed with a political propaganda machine, a powerhouse of left-wing Big Green groups, plenty of high-powered clean energy lobbyists, and wealthy "green cronies" with access and influence.
Throw in a new "Climate Cabinet" –– which thrills most environmentalists –– with the likes of Climate Hawk John Kerry as Secretary of State, Climate Czar Heather Zichal as well as the Center for American Progress four-year lease of the White House. Plus, those inside the Obama administration that are directly benefiting from "green" (Citigroup and Goldman Sachs come to mind), be prepared for regulations and legislation that will in some form or another resemble cap-and-trade and demands for additional funds to bankroll Obama's efforts to save our planet.
Furthermore, the president's choice of Gina McCarthy –– labeled as "Obama's Green Quarterback" –– to head the Environmental Protection Agency most say is a signal that the president "plans to make climate change a larger part of his environmental agenda." With Ernest Moniz set to run the Energy Department, don't expect "green corporate welfare" to end either. "Both nominees fit nicely into the pragmatic mold of Obamanomics, seeking to increase government's role in the energy sector with the cooperation of business," writes Timothy Carney, Senior political columnist at the Washington Examiner.
Soros Helped Craft the 2009-Recovery Act; Then Went on Stock-Buying Spree
Most relevant to this piece of the Green Corruption scandal is Soros' timely investments, which included twelve alternative energy and utility companies.
Just after the release of Peter Schweizer’s blockbuster 2011 bestseller, one of the most damning revelations featured in Throw Them All Out aired on Stephen K. Bannon's Victory Sessions –– in an interview that starred Schweizer and Wynton Hall of Breitbart.com.
Billionaire George Soros gave advice and direction on how President Obama should allocate so-called “stimulus” money in a series of regular private meetings and consultations with White House senior advisers even as Soros was making investments in areas affected by the stimulus program.While we know that George Soros has visited the White House on at least five occasions since Barack Obama became president, possibly more, Schweizer gives specifics, "Mr. Soros met with Mr. Obama’s top economist, [Larry Summers, another "green crony"] on February 25, 2009 and twice more with senior officials in the Old Executive Office Building on March 24th and 25th as the stimulus plan was being crafted. Later, Mr. Soros also participated in discussions on financial reform."
Then Schweizer reveals, "In the first quarter of 2009, Mr. Soros went on a stock-buying spree in companies that ultimately benefited from the federal stimulus."
- Soros doubled his holdings in medical manufacturer Hologic, a company that benefited from stimulus spending on medical systems
- Soros tripled his holdings in fiber channel and software maker Emulus, a company that wound up scoring a large amount of federal funds going to infrastructure spending
- Soros bought 210,000 shares in Cisco Systems, which came up big in the stimulus lottery
- Soros also bought Extreme Networks, which, months later, said it was expanding broadband to rural America “as part of President Obama’s broadband strategy”
- Soros bought 1.5 million shares in American Electric Power, a company Mr. Obama gave $1 billion to in June 2009
- Soros bought shares in utility company Ameren, which bagged a $540 million Department of Energy loan
- Soros bought 250,000 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group, 500,000 shares of NRG Energy, and almost a million shares of Entergy—all companies that came up winners in the Department of Energy taxpayer giveaway that produced the Solyndra debacle
- Soros bought into BioFuel Energy, a company that benefited when the EPA announced a regulation on ethanol
- Soros bought Powerspan in April 2009. Just weeks later, the clean-energy company landed $100 million from the Department of Energy
- In the second quarter of 2009, Soros bought education technology giant Blackboard, which became a big recipient of education stimulus money
- Soros also bought Burlington Northern Santa Fe and CSX, both beneficiaries of Mr. Obama’s plans for revitalizing the railroads
- Soros bought Cognizant Technology Solutions, which scored stimulus funds in education and health care technology
- Soros also bought 300,000 shares of Constellation Energy Group and 4.6 million shares of Covanta, both of which landed taxpayers’ money through the stimulus, the former of which bagged $200 million
Whether Mr. Soros’s involvement in private White House meetings influenced which companies received stimulus money is unclear. What is certain, writes Schweizer, is that “crony capitalism favors the politically active, and the manipulative. It does not favor one party over the other. It does not care about policy. It just knows how to make money off any policy — your tax dollars, leveraged to the rich.”
Just After the February 2009 Stimulus, Soros Forms New Climate Change Group and Launches Green Growth Fund, Plus Quantum Strategic Partners. Both Silver Lake and Quantum Cash in on Stimulus Funds
In addition to the timely investments divulged in Schweizer's book, in 2011 Reuters reported that Soros, through various funds had invested in green companies including "U.S. solar panel maker First Solar Inc (another part of Green Corruption that I'll get to in a bit) and Chinese solar company JA Solar, according to U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission filings. At the same time, his funds have investments in sectors that environmentalists complain about, such as coal company Peabody Energy Corp and oil company InterOil Corp, according to filings.”
Besides spending billions to fund left-wing, radical environmental groups, Soros, in the fall of 2009, announced his plan to invest $1 billion in clean energy (climate change), and formed and financed ($10 million a year for 10 years) an “advisory group’ called Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), which states they are “an independent, not-for-profit organization with long-term support from financier and philanthropist George Soros.”
At that time, Soros had this to say, “The problem of global warming is primarily a political problem at this point.” Adding, “The science is beyond dispute, but how do we achieve the objectives we all know are necessary? That is a political problem.”
Later in early 2011, Soros teamed up with the private equity firm Silver Lake Kraftwerk to invest in “the energy and resource sectors,” of which he hired folks from Kleiner Perkins (KPCB) –– the Venture Capital firm of John Doerr and Al Gore that I've tackled quite a few times.
Also in 2011, Soros' Quantum Strategic Partners led a $25 million investment round "into a start-up that aims to cut electricity waste, the latest addition to the billionaire investor's green-energy portfolio," reported Reuters. Soros jumped into this venture with existing investors KPCB, Google Ventures, Foundation Capital and Lux Capital. The company Transphorm, based in Goleta, California, received $9 million in stimulus grants, of which details can be found in my extensive research on KPCB Greentech Portfolio that secured all kinds of loans, grants and special tax breaks (federal and state) –– tied to at least $10 billion of Obama's taxpayer funded green-energy spending spree.
NOTE: From what I gather, there is the Quantum Fund with familiar big green winners, and Quantum Strategic Partners is an investment fund managed by Soros Fund Management, and are the lead investor in Crystal Financial, however, they also are investing in green, and I have yet to locate a Quantum Strategic Partners cleantech portfolio.
Zoi, an Al Gore acolyte, who is also one of the “DOE dirty dozen” tied to billions of clean-energy stimulus funds, is the former Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency Cathy Zoi, who oversaw the disbursement of more than $30 billion in green-energy stimulus funds in her Department of Energy post" at the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) –– a post which began in April 2009, and later she briefly filled the role of Acting Undersecretary for Energy, yet in March 2011, she jumped the DOE ship to work for Soros.
In February 2012, Silver Lake Kraftwerk and others invested $81 million into the California solar firm SolarCity –– a solar firm that I covered in my February post, “Obama's Jobs Council Closed: Mega-Rich Member Penny Pritzker "Rumored" for Commerce Job, “Related” to Two Large Green Corruption Stories.”
The SolarCity story includes other billionaire players and Obama donors like Elon Musk, Nicholas J. Pritzker, Al Gore's firm Generation Investment Management LLP as well as Obama Wall Street buddies: Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Citigroup. Adding to the sleaze, as of December 2012 SolarCity was under a federal prove regarding their $341 million in grant, and looking deeper I found 27 1603 grants for "USB SolarCity Master Tenant," which ranges over 15 states, totaling over $88 million. This means that SolarCity snagged approximately $429 million of tax-free cash.
Soros Green Stimulus Stock Winners
Number 1: NRG Energy
Number 1: NRG Energy
NRG Energy CEO David Crane Thoughts on $5.2 Billion of Taxpayer Money, "It is just filling the desert with panels."
As stated, just after the stimulus was passed in February 2009, Mr. Soros bought 500 shares of NRG Energy, and as of the latest data I could find (the end of December 2012), his current shares are 866,137, which according to Insider Monkey is valued at $19,912,000.
Interesting enough, President Obama’s other billionaire buddy Warren Buffett along with Mr. Soros –– both revered "as legendary figures in the investment world of our times" –– seem to gravitate toward the same stock ideas, but “the investment styles of the two are night and day different.”
Buffett too is heavily invested in NGR Energy, is connected to First Solar, and they both stand to benefit from key energy decisions coming down legislative pipeline: both on the rejection of the Keystone Pipeline; while Soros and T. Boone Pickens in the passing of the NAT GAS Act.
When I get to the rest of Soros "green stimulus stocks" in this post, I'll share more on Pickens and the NAT GAS Act (H.R. 1380), which died with the 112th Congress, and was referred to Committee.
Meanwhile, there is another ploy that should be pointed out that was reported by Breitbart.com, which cites more Soros Fund Management natural gas investments. But also, President Obama in April 2012, in order to expedite the natural gas boom, "decided to form an inter-agency natural gas council run by Cecilia Muñoz, a former community organizer with La Raza and White House bureaucrat with deep ties to George Soros."
But I digress a little...
NRG's highly paid president and CEO since 2003 (and stock owner), David Crane had this to say back in 2011, “I have never seen anything that I have had to do in my 20 years in the power industry that involved less risk than these projects.” “It is just filling the desert with panels,” he added.
Crane was referring to how NRG and its partners secured $5.2 billion in federal loan guarantees, plus hundreds of millions in other subsidies for four large solar projects.
In October 2012 the Heritage Foundation reported on more NRG favoritism, where they "received the go-ahead from the Interior Department to produce wind energy off the coast of Delaware, despite doubts that the project in question will actually materialize." But the bias has been flowing out of the Department of Interior since Obama took office in 2009, and began pushing his green agenda –– a discovery Marita and I chronicled in our Special Seven series last summer, which included many favored DOE loan recipients.
Lachlan Markay goes on to unravel Kathleen McGinty, Director at NRG Energy and a “protégé of the former Vice President Al Gore; her White House influence; and subsequent visits to key environmental officials.
In fact Gore acolytes have infiltrated the Obama administration, and we've already uncovered the former vice-president's extraordinary "carbon foot print" inside the Green Bank of Obama. It turns out that Gore is also an Obama White House visitor, and we know about two of them. In December 2009, President Obama met with Gore in the Oval Office in advance of his meeting with business and environmental leaders at the White House regarding the Copenhagen conference, and Gore also visited the Obama White House on April 8, 2010.
In fact Gore acolytes have infiltrated the Obama administration, and we've already uncovered the former vice-president's extraordinary "carbon foot print" inside the Green Bank of Obama. It turns out that Gore is also an Obama White House visitor, and we know about two of them. In December 2009, President Obama met with Gore in the Oval Office in advance of his meeting with business and environmental leaders at the White House regarding the Copenhagen conference, and Gore also visited the Obama White House on April 8, 2010.
In an analysis of the DOE Loan Program by Veronique de Rugy (an extremely significant report I'll revisit in a bit), as of June 2012, "Reliant Energy and Reliant Energy Tax Retail LLC, two NRG Energy companies, reported receiving at least 37 grants under the ARRA," of which we know that in late 2009, Reliant Energy was among 100 winners that came out of the $3.4 billion of smart grid stimulus grants for just under $20 million.
Where are the other 36 grants for Reliant?
More digging required... but another NRG company, "Green Mountain Energy, received two grants under the ARRA in the second quarter of fiscal year 2011." Furthermore, "NRG will also be eligible to receive $430 million from the Department of the Treasury" –– in addition, many NRG companies have already benefited from the 1603 grant program, which was created under the 2009-Recovery Act "to support the deployment of renewable energy resources."
Still, SolarCity, Reliant, and Green Mountain are nothing compared to NRG's overall footprint inside the Green Bank of Obama.
Both NRG Energy and Crane are aggressively pushing clean energy, and according to Mark Gunther of GreenBiz.com in 2011, "[Crane] is passionate about the climate crisis –– he was active in USCAP, the failed big biz-big green coalition that lobbied for federal regulation of greenhouse gases." So passionate that since 2000, OpenSecrets.org records that NRG Energy has spent $10,356,000 in lobbying efforts, and $2,500,000 in 2012 alone. And that "5 out of 14 NRG Energy lobbyists in 2012 have previously held government jobs."
Whether we can credit George Soros, David Crane, NRG executives or their lobbying money –– most likely an "all of the above" strategy –– there is no doubt that NRG Energy has "access and influence," as reflected in the sheer volume of green government subsidies. Moreover, it is clear that those that hire lobbyists and make campaign contributions have a much better rate of return on investments than those that don't.
NRG Energy (a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 Index company) and its Subsidiaries was the Recipient of Most of 1705 Stimulus Loans: $5.2 Billion of Taxpayer Money and Counting
In a very damaging report by Veronique de Rugy, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, as well her testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in June 2012, we see that "most of the money has gone to large and established companies rather than startups" –– NRG being the largest winner.
In case you missed my previous (and ongoing) analysis of the Energy's Department (DOE) loan program, it is important to keep in mind that out of the 1705, $16 billion was doled out to 26 projects, of which 22 were rated as "junk" status –– thus explains the term DOE's "junk bond" portfolio frequented throughout my work.
By intensely tracking these loans since 2009, and careful analysis of the House Oversight March 20, 2012 investigation (The Department of Energy’s Disastrous Management of Loan Guarantee Programs), we can confirm that virtually all of them are politically connected to the president and other high-ranking Democrats –– in many cases, to both.
We also find through Ms. de Rugy's report, and as of June 2102, “some 2,378 permanent jobs were claimed to be created under the program, which works out to a taxpayer exposure of $6,731,034 per job.” Shameful, but then again we now know that the stimulus had nothing to do with jobs, and in fact the $100 billion of taxpayer money earmarked for renewable energy out the stimulus bill was the Obama administration and his minions' effort to "launch a silent green revolution."
A revolution all right –– of cronyism, corruption and corporate welfare.
In just looking Ms. de Rugy's data organized by companies receiving 1705 loans, we find:
Besides the $5.2 billion in 1705 DOE loans for four projects (details forthcoming), there are seven 1603 grants from the 2009-Recovery Act listed by Crane that went to NRG subsidiaries, totaling over $155 million. Plus, NRG had acquired Solar Power Partners (SPP) in November of 2011, and they too, prior to NRG's acquisition, snagged 16 of those 1603 tax-free stimulus grants with a grand total just over $29 million.
There are also some smaller grants documented in Crane's ledger:
But Crane may have forgotten that in March 2010, Secretary Chu, while touting the use of federal stimulus funds to support “smart grid” deployment, announced NRG's $154 million grant to clean up emissions at the W.A. Parish coal-fired power plant in Fort Bend County.
During the course of the June 2012, House Oversight testimonies, and in an amusing line of questioning, Ohio Representative Jim Jordan confronted Crane about three of the projects worth about $4 billion. Jordon asked, "you received those solely on the merits of the project...No, nothing based on friends in high places and political connections?"
Crane responded, "I believe so."
Jordon also asked if Mr. Crane had been to the White House. Crane replied, "many times," of which he admitted that "between the Bush White House and the Obama White House" it was 14 to 15 times," of which 6 to 7 of his visits were with the Obama White House.
Crane then explained some of his several meetings:
Considering NRG is also part of the $1.6 billion BrightSource DOE deal, Jordon lastly brought up the March 7, 2011 email exchange between CEO of BrightSource John Woolard and Jonathan Silver the former Executive Director of the DOE's Loan Program Office.
In May 2009, when the Department of Energy had been a big beneficiary, taking home a significant chunk of the stimulus money, Secretary Chu announced that the "stimulus package will also fund major work towards carbon capture and storage (sequestration)," which was allocated approximately $2.4 billion, whereas $1.5 billion, will go to CCS technologies.
Oh and I'm sure Markowsky (AEP's former VP) had to influence there. Ha.
Just thirteen days later, both AEP and Southern Co withdrew from the U.S.-government backed FuturGen project, of which the latter company is part a nuclear generation project that bagged $8.33 billion in loan guarantees from the 1703 Loan Guarantee Program, and another Green Corruption story to tell.
However, despite ongoing drama, "cost overruns and delays," as of February 2013, it seems that the FutureGen project is moving forward –– without AEP, but in the middle we find Ameren Corp, and this project is currently equipped with the FutureGen Industrial Alliance and ONE billion dollars of taxpayer money.
American Electric Power in New Haven: $306.4 million from the State of West Virginia via the stimulus funds
As of June 2010, more than $2.5 billion in Recovery Act funds were made available to West Virginia, and American Electric Power in New Haven was awarded "$306.4 million to demonstrate 90 percent removal of carbon dioxide from the flue gas stream at the Mountaineer Plant using the Alstom Chilled Ammonia Process."
CERC: $25 million
On September 2, 2010: Secretary Steven Chu announced, “two consortia - one led by the University of Michigan and one led by the West Virginia University - will receive a total of $25 million over the next five years under the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC), of which AEP is part of, as well as other Green Corruption players.
#4.
Soros held a stake in Allegheny Energy (250,000 shares), which won lucrative grants from the DOE, and in looking into their green deals, I found out that in February 2011, FirstEnergy Corp. merged with Allegheny Energy, Inc. and is now called FirstEnergy Solutions.
Prior to this merger, FirstEnergy, sometime in October 2009, bagged $57.4 million in federal stimulus funds for a project in Akron, Ohio, part of the $3.4 billion in smart grid grants that have already been doled out of the DOE.
Now, I can't seem to locate any direct stimulus funds for Allegheny, but they are part of a project with PJM Interconnection, LLC –– 12 member transmission owners –– that was aided by the DOE with $13.7 million smart grid grant.
Why is Exelon important to point out at this time?
"Early in the Obama administration, a lobbyist for the Illinois-based energy producer Exelon Corporation proudly called it “'the president’s utility,'” reported the New York Times in August 2012.
As I had hinted –– besides Exelon being a top Obama donor in 2008, there is an even more complex Obama, Exelon story to share as well as the very deep ties to the Obama administration that not only include top Exelon executives but Obama's former chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel and chief political strategist, David Axelrod –– uh, and more stimulus money.
Exelon is part of the $3 billion First Solar Swindle that I outlined earlier in this post, (the September 2011 $656 million loan for the Antelope Valley Solar Ranch, one of the non-investment grade loans listed in the House investigation), and they have an array of a subsidiaries that also bagged taxpayer cash.
First up: Exelon and Constellation completed their "federally approved" $7.9 billion merger on March 12, 2012, of which Constellation "is a leading competitive supplier of power, natural gas, renewable energy and energy management products and services for homes and businesses across the continental United States."
Last June, the Washington Free Beacon took notice in Obama's use of federal inmates to do his "green work" (I'm sure like "cash for clunkers," this was one former Green Jobs Czar, the radical Van Jones ideas of ) –– build solar panels, of which Constellation Energy became one of the major beneficiaries of this system" –– thus more tax dollars indirectly going to Constellation.
And there is more, "Constellation is one of the most prolific providers of green energy to federally owned facilities, sporting contracts with the General Services Administration (GSA) for the U.S. Capitol building, the Federal Reserve, the Smithsonian Institution, the United Nations building in New York, and a host of federal buildings in several states."
Exelon’s utilities deliver electricity and natural gas to more than 6.6 million customers in central Maryland via Baltimore Power and Gas (BGE), northern Illinois ComEd and southeastern Pennsylvania PECO.
As luck would have it, all three won smart grid stimulus grants, of which both BGE and PECO in October 2009, bagged the maximum amount of $200 million each, which from what I gather, in 2010 Constellation Energy Group, was (is) the parent of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co, so I am assuming this is the $200 million grant that Schweizer is referring to.
Meanwhile ComEd in August 2009, was the winner of $175 million for smart meters in Chicago, of which both BGE and ComEd are Silver Spring Networks customers. You know Doerr and Gore's shining green company that I addressed when counting all the stimulus funds, which American Electric Power won.
Last summer I had published an extensive post on General Electric's part in Green Corruption –– and a follow up in December –– noting that Silver Spring Networks and GE had joined forces with ComEd for the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) pilot program, of which it was initially funded with a $5 million DOE stimulus grant and that additional federal funding was also received, yet with no reported amount.
Constellation, an Exelon Company total: at least one grant worth $200 million stimulus grants and Constellation is one of the most prolific providers of green energy to federally owned facilities.
NOTE: Since Constellation Energy Group, was (is) the parent of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co, I am assuming the $200 million smart grid grant that went to BGE is the one Schweizer had mentioned, unless they got another $200 million for something else. Stay tuned as we will be exposing the entire Exelon crony, corruption scandal in the very near future.
#7.
Soros bought 4.6 million shares of Covanta, a clean-energy company and federal grant recipient. Covanta also received money through earmarks from members of Congress.
However, the bigger deal that I uncovered is the Clean Energy/Covanta Energy CNG fueling station project, which in August 2011, were "awarded a contract by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to site, build, and operate a compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station at the Essex County Resource Recovery Facility in Newark, NJ."
Partially funded by a grant from the New Jersey Clean Cities Coalition, a non-profit organization that works to educate the public about the environment, PR Newswire reported, "this project is part of a larger grant award from the U.S. Department of Energy using funding provided by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act."
What will that cost taxpayers?
It's hard to say, but what we do know is that Clean Energy Fuels Corp., a natural gas provider founded by billionaire T. Boone Pickens, is where we find out beloved House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her "cozy financial stake in the eco-adventures of Mr. Pickens," as reflected in her past talking points as well as her assets (Pelosi owns stock in Clean Energy Fuels Corp, and has so since 2007).
Clean Energy stands to be the one of the biggest beneficiary if the NAT GAS Act if it sees the legislative light again, and Pelosi's conflict of interest here is obvious, however, that never stops
Congress. So far proponents have lost in the "Natural-Gas Feud," since it died with the 112th Congress, but we'll keep an eye out.
Now find that Covanta too has an invested interest in this piece legislation, as does the private banking firm Perseus, LLC, where we find its (former?) Vice Chairman James A. Johnson. Jim Johnson, “a fixture of establishment Washington, with ties to Wall Street and "a major presence in Democratic politics for more than two decades," was also an Obama bundler in 2008, and had a short stint as Obama's VP hunter.
This was a big Green Corruption story that I had revealed last summer, which ties Perseus Energy & Technologies Portfolio to three green stimulus sweetheart deals, of which two went bust.
Further, and as reported by Gigaom.com, Vehicle Production Group (VPG), which in March 2011, secured a $5o million ATVM loan "for work on a wheelchair accessible SUV that can run on natural gas, "is backed by oil baron and natural gas vehicle advocate T. Boone Pickens."
Oh, and this was for the Tehachapi Wind Energy Storage Project, of which SCE collaborated with U.S. battery manufacturer A123 Systems –– A123 is listed in my 2012 Green Alert failure tally. The one that received $390 million, of which $249 million was a grant from the 2009 stimulus package, only to go bust October 16, 2012, and then was purchased (U.S. government approved of course) by China's largest auto parts maker, a U.S. unit of Wanxiang Group, early this year.
This reminds me of other "green" losers from my Green Alert (52 failures), of which we will be updating in mid 2013.
In 2005, SCE signed a 20-year purchase agreement with Stirling Energy Systems, Inc. for the construction of a massive, 4,500-acre solar generating station in Southern California, which was supposed to be completed in 2009, however, the agreement blew up in 2010. Stirling Energy Systems had received $7 million from a federal renewable-energy grant and was eligible for nearly $10.5 million in manufacturing, but on September 28, 2011 they filed for bankruptcy.
In 2009, "Solar Millennium and Southern California Edison signed power purchase agreements for solar thermal power plants with total capacity of up to 726 MW, and provide for the purchase of the output by SCE over 20 years."
Just under two years later, Solar Trust of America, the parent company of Solar Millennium, received one of the largest DOE loan guarantees, however, the loan was never finalized, and despite the $2.1 billion loan offer, a year later (April 2012) Solar Trust went bust –– "World's Largest Solar Power Plant Goes Bankrupt."
Still, SCE raked in up to $39.6 million in matching funds from the DOE "to conduct an end-to-end demonstration of numerous Smart Grid technologies," which includes partners, whose names are frequent in Obama's clean-energy dirt –– General Electric and SunPower Corporation come to mind.
Entergy total: I've only tracked two small stimulus grants, which add up to close to $10 million.
#10.
Soros held a stake in PPL (175,000 shares), which won lucrative grants from the DOE, of which I found according to Gigaom.com, in August 2009, "PPL Corp Energy company was awarded $19 million for smart meters, monitoring system in Allentown, PA" –– doled out of the $4 billion in smart grid stimulus funds.
PPL Corporation total: I found one stimulus grant at $19 million.
#11.
Soros bought 250,000 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), another recipient of DOE federal stimulus funds, of which in August 2009, PSEG was another smart grid grant winner and was awarded $76 million for a project in Newark NJ.
PSEG total: one stimulus grant for $76 million
#12.
Soros invested in Powerspan, a clean-energy technology company, in April 2009. Just weeks later, on July 1, Powerspan was awarded the $100 million from the DOE smart-grid work.
Yep according to Venture Beat, in April 2009, "A group of investors, including George Soros, has funneled $50 million into Powerspan, a company that devises ways to remove carbon dioxide from coal plant emissions."
Camille Ricketts notes in this article,
More digging required... but another NRG company, "Green Mountain Energy, received two grants under the ARRA in the second quarter of fiscal year 2011." Furthermore, "NRG will also be eligible to receive $430 million from the Department of the Treasury" –– in addition, many NRG companies have already benefited from the 1603 grant program, which was created under the 2009-Recovery Act "to support the deployment of renewable energy resources."
Both NRG Energy and Crane are aggressively pushing clean energy, and according to Mark Gunther of GreenBiz.com in 2011, "[Crane] is passionate about the climate crisis –– he was active in USCAP, the failed big biz-big green coalition that lobbied for federal regulation of greenhouse gases." So passionate that since 2000, OpenSecrets.org records that NRG Energy has spent $10,356,000 in lobbying efforts, and $2,500,000 in 2012 alone. And that "5 out of 14 NRG Energy lobbyists in 2012 have previously held government jobs."
Whether we can credit George Soros, David Crane, NRG executives or their lobbying money –– most likely an "all of the above" strategy –– there is no doubt that NRG Energy has "access and influence," as reflected in the sheer volume of green government subsidies. Moreover, it is clear that those that hire lobbyists and make campaign contributions have a much better rate of return on investments than those that don't.
NRG Energy (a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 Index company) and its Subsidiaries was the Recipient of Most of 1705 Stimulus Loans: $5.2 Billion of Taxpayer Money and Counting
In a very damaging report by Veronique de Rugy, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, as well her testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in June 2012, we see that "most of the money has gone to large and established companies rather than startups" –– NRG being the largest winner.
In case you missed my previous (and ongoing) analysis of the Energy's Department (DOE) loan program, it is important to keep in mind that out of the 1705, $16 billion was doled out to 26 projects, of which 22 were rated as "junk" status –– thus explains the term DOE's "junk bond" portfolio frequented throughout my work.
By intensely tracking these loans since 2009, and careful analysis of the House Oversight March 20, 2012 investigation (The Department of Energy’s Disastrous Management of Loan Guarantee Programs), we can confirm that virtually all of them are politically connected to the president and other high-ranking Democrats –– in many cases, to both.
We also find through Ms. de Rugy's report, and as of June 2102, “some 2,378 permanent jobs were claimed to be created under the program, which works out to a taxpayer exposure of $6,731,034 per job.” Shameful, but then again we now know that the stimulus had nothing to do with jobs, and in fact the $100 billion of taxpayer money earmarked for renewable energy out the stimulus bill was the Obama administration and his minions' effort to "launch a silent green revolution."
A revolution all right –– of cronyism, corruption and corporate welfare.
In just looking Ms. de Rugy's data organized by companies receiving 1705 loans, we find:
- The recipient of the most 1705 loans is NRG Energy Inc., which includes BrightSource Energy $1.6 billion loan guarantee
- NRG Energy Inc. received $3.8 billion (23.7 percent of the overall amount guaranteed under the 1705)
- Four companies received 64 percent, or $10.3 billion, of the total amount guaranteed under the 1705 program. These companies are:
- NRG Energy
- NextEra Energy
- Abengoa
- Prologis
Besides the $5.2 billion in 1705 DOE loans for four projects (details forthcoming), there are seven 1603 grants from the 2009-Recovery Act listed by Crane that went to NRG subsidiaries, totaling over $155 million. Plus, NRG had acquired Solar Power Partners (SPP) in November of 2011, and they too, prior to NRG's acquisition, snagged 16 of those 1603 tax-free stimulus grants with a grand total just over $29 million.
There are also some smaller grants documented in Crane's ledger:
- NRG also has a subsidiary, NRG Sun LLC, which has received approximately $3.9 million under Section 1603 for a variety of residential rooftop solar projects. Oh, and by the way, NRG has many other solar projects in progress that they want taxpayers to pay for –– they'll be seeking more funds under Section 1603.
- NRG Energy also received a $5.7 million stimulus grant for carbon capture and sequestration system
- Reliant Retail Services received a $13.4 million smart grid grant (under the 2009-Recovery Act)
- NRG Thermal LLC received a $1.9 million grant for the Princeton Hospital project through the State of New Jersey Economic Development Authority (under the 2009-Recovery Act)
During the course of the June 2012, House Oversight testimonies, and in an amusing line of questioning, Ohio Representative Jim Jordan confronted Crane about three of the projects worth about $4 billion. Jordon asked, "you received those solely on the merits of the project...No, nothing based on friends in high places and political connections?"
Crane responded, "I believe so."
Crane then explained some of his several meetings:
- President Obama, a group on climate change
- Vice-President Joe Biden regarding the clean energy standard
- Climate Czar Carol Browner and Valerie Jarrett about the nuclear loan guarantee program
This particular email that Representative Jordon was referring to is where Woolard asked Silver to look over a letter drafted by Woolard and then-BrightSource chairman John Bryson that requested direct White House influence in BrightSource’s loan guarantee application. The letter, intended to be sent to then-White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley, said, “We need a commitment from the WH to quarterback loan closure between OMB and DOE.” It also included a request for “guidance and support from the White House.”
NOTE: While there are other incriminating BrightSource emails that Marita and I covered last summer, through the House Oversight leaked emails that were unleashed late October 2012, we find that Crane and Woolard corresponded as well, even a March 2011 invitation to a private fundraising dinner of politicians and CEO level executives from across the energy sector. But this will be a future column when we shed more light on the shady BrightSource deal, however, since BrightSource is one of the four NRG Energy's 1705 government winners, there is a sneak peak later in this Soros expose'.
This Jarrett meeting coincides with the 10/31/12 House Oversight EMAILS that I alluded to a bit ago and have been reporting on ever since, which contrary to testimony and statements by the president, DOE and White House officials, President Obama and the White House were actively involved in pressuring and approving these loans.
Exelon (Antelope Valley Solar Ranch): $646 million 1705 loan
In September 2011, the same day that the Antelope Valley Solar Ranch, located in California, received a DOE loan guarantee for $646 million, Exelon Corp. purchased it. First Solar, which developed the project, is still actively involved, and it is expected to create more than 350 construction jobs.
The Chicago-based Exelon Corp, a big Obama donor and labeled as "The President's Utility," by itself is a huge piece of the Green Corruption scandal, which I have alluded to in the past. However, considering that Soros owned a stake Exelon and bought over 300,000 shares of Constellation Energy Group stock, the latter during his timely stock-buying spree, we'll tap into Exelon in this post, of which we'll be chronicling their entire part in the very near future.
NextEra Energy Resources, LLC (Desert Sunlight): $1.46 billion 1705 loan
The California Desert Sunlight (expected to generate 550 jobs during construction), in September 2011 –– again the same day that this project received $1.46 billion offer for a partial loan guarantee from the DOE –– was sold to NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, the competitive energy subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc. and GE Energy Financial Services. Yet, the September announcement also stated, “First Solar will continue to build and subsequently operate and maintain the project under separate agreements.” Both CEO's Jeffrey Immlet and Lewis Hay were featured in my “Green Five: Spreading the Wealth to Obama’s Ultra-Rich Jobs Council Members” series.
NRG Solar, LLC (Agua Caliente): $967 million 1705 loan
In August 2011, as the $967 million DOE loan guarantee for the Agua Caliente, located in Arizona, was announced, it was purchased from First Solar by NRG Solar, LLC, and a subsidiary of NRG Energy. The plant would supply power to PG&E, and be made with panels from the Tempe-based First Solar Inc. and anticipates the creation of create up to 400 jobs.
NRG Solar (California Valley Solar Ranch): $1.237 billion 1705 loan, $430 million in treasury grants, special state tax breaks, and much more.
In September 2011, the DOE awarded a $1.237 billion loan guarantee to NRG Solar for the California Valley Solar Ranch located in San Luis Obispo –– another speculative project, to support construction of a 250 MW alternating current PV solar generating facility, which they anticipate a whopping 350 jobs.
This $1.2 billion loan is just the beginning of government subsidies for the California Valley Solar Ranch, and in fact the New York Times (Eric Lipton and Clifford Krauss) described it as "a case study in the banquet of government subsidies available to the owners of a renewable-energy plant."
BrightSource Energy has a three-unit power system project known as “Ivanpah,” located near the California/Nevada border, south of Las Vegas, which uses a proprietary power-tower solar thermal system –– and all three phases Ivanpah I, II, and III were rated as speculative investments.
It turns out that sometime in October 2010, during the time of their DOE loan review process, “NRG became the lead investor ($300m) in Ivanpah solar project of the 392 MW Ivanpah project. And in April 2011, the DOE closed on that $1.6 billion loan guarantee (speculative at best) for BrightSource Energy, Inc., which is set to create approximately 1,000 construction jobs with 86 operations and maintenance.
The industry leader in ThermoVoltaics; economically viable energy solutions based on direct heat to electricity conversion, of which in August 2011, received $8 million from the DOE's Vehicle Technologies Program funded by the 2009-Stimulus. At some point GMZ was also the winner of $11 million from the DOE and DARPA.
#6) Hara Software, Inc*: unknown amount
#2.
American Electric Power (AEP): at least four stimulus grants totaling $740 million, excluding $1B for a project they bailed out of.
Interesting enough, Richard Sandor (former Chairman and founder of the Chicago Climate Exchange, which I addressed earlier) is on the AEP board, and lets not forget that AEP personnel sit on the DOE’s Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC) of which "recommendations" from their 2008 and 2009 reports made its way into 2009-Recovery Act, "and are being implemented in DOE policies and programs under the Obama administration.”
But there is another AEP executive, "a DOE insider that stands out, which is part of the "DOE’s Dirty Dozen" that I referred to in the very beginning.
In May 2009, President Obama had nominated Dr. James J. Markowsky, an energy consultant and former vice president at American Electric Power Service Corp.(he resigned from AEP in 2000), to serve as assistant secretary of fossil energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, and he was confirmed by the Senate in August of that year.
Part of Markowsky responsibilities were "coordinating and implementing the Fossil Energy elements of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009." When he resigned from his DOE post in November 2010, Energy Secretary Chu gave him a farewell boost, "Jim has helped guide the implementation of historic Recovery Act investments... Thanks to the work of Jim and others here at the Department, we are on a path to achieve the President’s ambitious goal of commercial scale deployment of CCS technologies within eight-to-10 years."
Crane said he "knew nothing!"
NOTE: While there are other incriminating BrightSource emails that Marita and I covered last summer, through the House Oversight leaked emails that were unleashed late October 2012, we find that Crane and Woolard corresponded as well, even a March 2011 invitation to a private fundraising dinner of politicians and CEO level executives from across the energy sector. But this will be a future column when we shed more light on the shady BrightSource deal, however, since BrightSource is one of the four NRG Energy's 1705 government winners, there is a sneak peak later in this Soros expose'.
Crane's testimony confirms at least one of those meetings, because old White House visitor logs reveal that NRG's Jason Few (husband to a 2012 campaign bundler for Obama that I mentioned earlier) along with NRG chief executive David Crane met with White House official Valerie Jarrett in the West Wing on December 7, 2010.
In this particular set, dated from November 16, 2010 to December 6, 2010, the parties were James McCrea (Loan Program Office Credit Advisor) and Jonathan Silver (former Executive Director of the DOE's Loan Program Office) as well as Matthew Winters (Department of Energy Policy Advisor), Julie Stewart (contractor for the Loan Programs Office), Roger McDaniel (contractor for the DOE), and a few others in the mix.
In November 2010, they were concerned about the Aguaa Caliente project being on the the fast track process –– of which we now know came directly from the White House –– where on November 16, 2010, Mc Crea writes, "I have heard nothing from Judd today and do not know whether we are on a fast track process or not for Agua Caliente. Kelly is asking that we set up a briefing but it is my understanding from the part of the WH meeting that I was in that fast track would not include any briefings. I do not want to set a briefing and in doing so inadvertently concede that this is not fast track. Hence, I am holding off on responding to OMB."
By December 1 2010, they were discussing STP (South Texas Project Units 3 and 4 in Texas, an NRG Energy and CPS Energy Joint-Undertaking), of which they were considered for a 1703 loan guarantee. And we know that out of 19 applications, to date only two large loans out of that program have been approved.
Ms. Stewart writes to McCrea, "Jim...we understand that David Crane of NGR is coming in to meet with Jonathan regarding STP next Monday."
Mc Crea replies that same day, "I heard at dinner that Terry had informed Paul this evening that Crane is also trying to see the VP."
On December 6, 2010, Subject line: STP 3&4 Update for 7th Floor, Importance: High –– Matthew Winters opens up with, "Jim/Terri- Valerie Jarrett is meeting with the CEO's of NRG and Reliant tomorrow, and they are looking for a short background/update on the STP 3&4 project. Based on Terry's memo to Jonathan, and our brief conversation this morning, I've drafted the following."
Now it's hard to say how that Jason Few, David Crane and Valerie Jarrett meeting went on December 7, 2010, but we do know that while the STP loan may have been crushed, NRG received their fair share of DOE loans.McCrea responds to Winters with a critique of the review process, "Matt - ...I think that the discussion needs to reflect that the transaction cannot merely move forward based on a review but rather, it requires completion of the significant on-going negotiations which will have to close out some rather significant and stubborn issues." McCrea goes on, "That said, we need to make sure that no one commits to move STP 3&4 forward in the near future or it will knock quite a number of high priority deals off track..."Later that day, McCrea writes to Matt Winters and Terrence Houlihan, and CC's David Franz (now the Acting Executive Director, LPO; Acting Director, ATVM), "One other thing to note is that NRG is on a number of the transactions that will be adversely affected if resources have to be diverted to STP 3&4."
The $3 Billion First Solar Swindle
This "stock shenanigans" went on during the course of First Solar's DOE loan review process, which came under extreme heat in the March 2012, House Oversight investigation, documenting a series of violations and application misrepresentation, and more. Initially, the DOE had granted conditional loans guarantees to three First Solar projects totaling over $4.5 billion, however, First Solar's Topaz project located in San Luis Obispo, CA (for $1.5 billion) was not finalized. Later the Topaz project was purchased by President Obama's buddy Warren Buffet for $2 billion, and somehow NRG's Agua Caliente project ended up snagging a $967 million loan guarantee –– thus giving First Solar over $3 billion of taxpayer money for three risky projects.
In getting back to NRG's $5.2 billion in approved DOE loans –– the number one recipient of most the 1705 stimulus loans, we must reiterate that they are also part of the $3 billion First Solar Swindle (money laundering for Obama cronies that is).
First Solar, an early Goldman Sachs investment with an array of wealthy 2008 and 2012 Obama bundlers and top donors: Ted Turner, Paul Tudor Jones, Whitney Tilson, David Shaw, as well as Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management (GIM), Center for American Progress, and more, which we chronicled last summer that included three large loans from the DOE’s "junk bond" portfolio.
While Goldman Sachs, a big 2008 Obama donor, has their DNA all over this green-energy scheme,
I've uncovered new data that brings me back to May 2012, my coverage of the brutal House Oversight hearing where it was revealed that CEO of First Solar Michael Ahearn were dumping their stock between 2008 and 2012, a period when First Solar’s stock value dropped by almost 95 percent. Later I found out that others like Al Gore's GIM were doing the same, however, I can now report that Soros, who also bought into First Solar sometime in late 2007, was also buying and selling First Solar stock until about May 2011, as recorded at GuruFocus.com.
While Goldman Sachs, a big 2008 Obama donor, has their DNA all over this green-energy scheme,
I've uncovered new data that brings me back to May 2012, my coverage of the brutal House Oversight hearing where it was revealed that CEO of First Solar Michael Ahearn were dumping their stock between 2008 and 2012, a period when First Solar’s stock value dropped by almost 95 percent. Later I found out that others like Al Gore's GIM were doing the same, however, I can now report that Soros, who also bought into First Solar sometime in late 2007, was also buying and selling First Solar stock until about May 2011, as recorded at GuruFocus.com.
This "stock shenanigans" went on during the course of First Solar's DOE loan review process, which came under extreme heat in the March 2012, House Oversight investigation, documenting a series of violations and application misrepresentation, and more. Initially, the DOE had granted conditional loans guarantees to three First Solar projects totaling over $4.5 billion, however, First Solar's Topaz project located in San Luis Obispo, CA (for $1.5 billion) was not finalized. Later the Topaz project was purchased by President Obama's buddy Warren Buffet for $2 billion, and somehow NRG's Agua Caliente project ended up snagging a $967 million loan guarantee –– thus giving First Solar over $3 billion of taxpayer money for three risky projects.
Exelon (Antelope Valley Solar Ranch): $646 million 1705 loan
In September 2011, the same day that the Antelope Valley Solar Ranch, located in California, received a DOE loan guarantee for $646 million, Exelon Corp. purchased it. First Solar, which developed the project, is still actively involved, and it is expected to create more than 350 construction jobs.
The Chicago-based Exelon Corp, a big Obama donor and labeled as "The President's Utility," by itself is a huge piece of the Green Corruption scandal, which I have alluded to in the past. However, considering that Soros owned a stake Exelon and bought over 300,000 shares of Constellation Energy Group stock, the latter during his timely stock-buying spree, we'll tap into Exelon in this post, of which we'll be chronicling their entire part in the very near future.
NextEra Energy Resources, LLC (Desert Sunlight): $1.46 billion 1705 loan
The California Desert Sunlight (expected to generate 550 jobs during construction), in September 2011 –– again the same day that this project received $1.46 billion offer for a partial loan guarantee from the DOE –– was sold to NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, the competitive energy subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc. and GE Energy Financial Services. Yet, the September announcement also stated, “First Solar will continue to build and subsequently operate and maintain the project under separate agreements.” Both CEO's Jeffrey Immlet and Lewis Hay were featured in my “Green Five: Spreading the Wealth to Obama’s Ultra-Rich Jobs Council Members” series.
NRG Solar, LLC (Agua Caliente): $967 million 1705 loan
In August 2011, as the $967 million DOE loan guarantee for the Agua Caliente, located in Arizona, was announced, it was purchased from First Solar by NRG Solar, LLC, and a subsidiary of NRG Energy. The plant would supply power to PG&E, and be made with panels from the Tempe-based First Solar Inc. and anticipates the creation of create up to 400 jobs.
Additional NRG DOE Loans
In September 2011, the DOE awarded a $1.237 billion loan guarantee to NRG Solar for the California Valley Solar Ranch located in San Luis Obispo –– another speculative project, to support construction of a 250 MW alternating current PV solar generating facility, which they anticipate a whopping 350 jobs.
This $1.2 billion loan is just the beginning of government subsidies for the California Valley Solar Ranch, and in fact the New York Times (Eric Lipton and Clifford Krauss) described it as "a case study in the banquet of government subsidies available to the owners of a renewable-energy plant."
The first subsidy is for construction. The plant is expected to cost $1.6 billion to build, with key components made by SunPower at factories in California and Asia. In late September, the Energy Department agreed to guarantee a $1.2 billion construction loan, with the Treasury Department lending the money at an exceptionally low interest rate of about 3.5 percent, compared with the 7 percent that executives said they would otherwise have had to pay.
That support alone is worth about $205 million to NRG over the life of the loan, according to an analysis performed for The New York Times by Booz & Company, a strategic consulting firm that regularly performs such studies for private investors.
When construction is complete, NRG is eligible to receive a $430 million check from the Treasury Department — part of a change made in 2009 that allows clean-energy projects to receive 30 percent of their cost as a cash grant upfront instead of taking other tax breaks gradually over several years.
Californians are also making a big contribution. Under a state law passed to encourage the construction of more solar projects, NRG will not have to pay property taxes to San Luis Obispo County on its solar panels, saving it an estimated $14 million a year.
Assisted by another state law, which mandates that California utilities buy 33 percent of their power from clean-energy sources by 2020, the project’s developers struck lucrative contracts with the local utility, Pacific Gas & Electric, to buy the plant’s power for 25 years.There's more to this case study, including the fact that PG& E's customers will ultimately pay more for electricity, thus "the extra cost to ratepayers amounts to a $462 million subsidy..."
NRG Energy, Inc. (BrightSource): $1.6 billion 1705 loan
It turns out that sometime in October 2010, during the time of their DOE loan review process, “NRG became the lead investor ($300m) in Ivanpah solar project of the 392 MW Ivanpah project. And in April 2011, the DOE closed on that $1.6 billion loan guarantee (speculative at best) for BrightSource Energy, Inc., which is set to create approximately 1,000 construction jobs with 86 operations and maintenance.
We've shed light on BrightSources' shady deal quite a few times, even recently when addressing President Obama's former Commerce Secretary, former BrightSource Energy’s chairman of the board John Bryson, who is also entangled in this green mess.
But the alarm buttons came earlier than our discovery of any Green Corruption villains, because the BrightSource billion-dollar loan was in reality a bailout –– a violation of the 2009-Recovery Act. In the explosive book, Throw Them All Out, while describing the financial issues, Schweizer concluded, "BrightSource badly needed this infusion of taxpayer cash."
Who cares about the "recovery rules" when corruption and cronyism ruled the 1705 Loan Guarantee Program, as the DOE handed out billions of tax dollars to Obama and Democrat cronies. Not to mention BrightSource also received special treatment by the Department of Interior, as we reported in our “Special Seven" series last summer.
We've divulged plenty of BrightSource investors, which happen to be high-powered Obama donors, however, the BrightSource DOE deal got a little darker after I read all those pesky 10/31/12 House Oversight EMAILS that I briefly covered earlier –– a treasure trove of inside DOE Intel, which implicates more BrightSource executives and stakeholders, David Crane of NRG Energy, DOE officials as well as Obama’s Green Team and several in Congress from the Democrat side in this.
But the alarm buttons came earlier than our discovery of any Green Corruption villains, because the BrightSource billion-dollar loan was in reality a bailout –– a violation of the 2009-Recovery Act. In the explosive book, Throw Them All Out, while describing the financial issues, Schweizer concluded, "BrightSource badly needed this infusion of taxpayer cash."
Who cares about the "recovery rules" when corruption and cronyism ruled the 1705 Loan Guarantee Program, as the DOE handed out billions of tax dollars to Obama and Democrat cronies. Not to mention BrightSource also received special treatment by the Department of Interior, as we reported in our “Special Seven" series last summer.
We've divulged plenty of BrightSource investors, which happen to be high-powered Obama donors, however, the BrightSource DOE deal got a little darker after I read all those pesky 10/31/12 House Oversight EMAILS that I briefly covered earlier –– a treasure trove of inside DOE Intel, which implicates more BrightSource executives and stakeholders, David Crane of NRG Energy, DOE officials as well as Obama’s Green Team and several in Congress from the Democrat side in this.
This is where we find another stimulus author, adding to our "Gang of Eight."
In the 350+ page Appendix II, I found ongoing interaction and pressure from the heavy-weight K Street firm McBee Strategic Consulting, which substantiates Timothy Carney's (the Examiner) statement, “K Street is the epicenter of this green-industrial complex, and ground zero might be the firm founded by Democratic revolving-door earmark lobbyist Steve McBee.” Carney goes on with an interesting discovery; McBee [a cap-and-trade pusher] “reportedly wrote key provisions in the stimulus bill to open the spigot of green corporate welfare.”
Stay tuned...
Prologis (Project Amp): $1.4 billion 1705 loan
In September 2011, the DOE awarded a partial guarantee of $1.4 billion loan –– another non-investment grade –– for a project called Project Amp, which includes the installation of approximately 752 MW of PV solar panels and is supposed to create at least 1,000 jobs, of which 42 will be permanent.
Prior to the finalization of this $1.4 billion DOE loan, in June 2011, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Prologis and NRG Energy joined forces on Project Amp, "a four-year, $2.6 billion project to place solar panels on rooftops in 28 states, one of the most ambitious clean-energy projects in recent years," reported the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal goes on, "Bank of America Merrill Lynch unit will provide $1.4 billion in loans for the project," of which "the financing is part of Bank of America's plan to put $20 billion of capital to work in renewable energy, conservation and other clean technologies that address climate change."
There is nothing wrong with the fact that both Bank of America and Merrill Lynch made it on the top 2008 Obama donors list, and Big Banks are investing in green, but the disturbing part of this scandal is that these "too big to fail" banks are bagging billions of stimulus money.
There is more to Prologis, including the fact that inside those 10/31/12 House Oversight EMAILS, we find that James McCrea, the Loan Program Office Credit Advisor, had major issues with this project. Further, we have additional data into Bank of America's (the second biggest recipient of federal assistance, right after Citigroup, which racked up $336.1 billion in federal help) green investments that were fortunate enough to receive government subsidies.
First it is important to note that while NRG has ties to Kleiner Perkins via staff and investments, NRG Energy and GE are also part of the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a cap-and-trade lobbying group comprised of more politically connected big "green" money winners –– AES, Duke Energy, Exelon Corp, NextEra Energy, and PG&E.
However, not only is NRG Energy active in clean-energy advocacy and lobbying, they have joined forces with others that have benefited from alternative-energy taxpayer funds –– a piece of the Green Corruption scandal that I had divulged this past summer, in my first General Electric analysis.
In January 2011,GE Capital, NRG Energy, ConocoPhillips, formed a joint venture called Energy Technology Ventures with their own energy tech portfolio, of which from the fourteen, at least six were winners totaling $179 million, and counting.
Most I've reported on in the past, but here is the condensed version, and I'll mark the KPCB*:
#1) 1366 Technologies: $150 million 1750 loan; plus $4 million from the ARPA-E
1366 Technologies, a General Electric company, snagged one of those 1705 "junk" loan guarantees in September 2011, of which this $150 million was for solar manufacturing. Not only was it highly speculative, but also for that amount of taxpayer money, we get 50 construction and 70 operating jobs.
Prior to the DOE loan, 1366 was awarded a $4 million in federal funding from the DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency — Energy (ARPA-E), also part of the 2009-Recovery Act.
#2) Alta Devices, Inc.*: $3 million stimulus grant
A development stage company focused on improving the production economics of high efficiency solar PV applications, in January 2010, received $3 million from the SunShot Initiative funded by the 2009-Stimulus.
#3) Ciris Energy, Inc.: 4.8 million State grant
An emerging natural gas production company whose proprietary technology biochemically converts coal to methane at large scale and low cost, and in looks like in either 2009 or 2010, the state of Wyoming agreed in to pitch in a $4.8 million grant to help pay for Ciris to build an above-ground pilot facility that would employ microbes to turn coal into methane.
#4) Foro Energy: $9.1 million stimulus grant
Foro Energy is commercializing high power lasers for the oil, natural gas, geothermal, and mining industries, which in 2009, they received "one of the largest of the Department of Energy’s coveted ARPA-E grants with $9.1 million."
#5) GMZ Energy*: $8 million from the DOE's Vehicle Technologies Program funded by the 2009-Stimulus / $11 million from the DOE and DARPA, date unknown
Stay tuned...
Prologis (Project Amp): $1.4 billion 1705 loan
In September 2011, the DOE awarded a partial guarantee of $1.4 billion loan –– another non-investment grade –– for a project called Project Amp, which includes the installation of approximately 752 MW of PV solar panels and is supposed to create at least 1,000 jobs, of which 42 will be permanent.
Prior to the finalization of this $1.4 billion DOE loan, in June 2011, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Prologis and NRG Energy joined forces on Project Amp, "a four-year, $2.6 billion project to place solar panels on rooftops in 28 states, one of the most ambitious clean-energy projects in recent years," reported the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal goes on, "Bank of America Merrill Lynch unit will provide $1.4 billion in loans for the project," of which "the financing is part of Bank of America's plan to put $20 billion of capital to work in renewable energy, conservation and other clean technologies that address climate change."
There is nothing wrong with the fact that both Bank of America and Merrill Lynch made it on the top 2008 Obama donors list, and Big Banks are investing in green, but the disturbing part of this scandal is that these "too big to fail" banks are bagging billions of stimulus money.
There is more to Prologis, including the fact that inside those 10/31/12 House Oversight EMAILS, we find that James McCrea, the Loan Program Office Credit Advisor, had major issues with this project. Further, we have additional data into Bank of America's (the second biggest recipient of federal assistance, right after Citigroup, which racked up $336.1 billion in federal help) green investments that were fortunate enough to receive government subsidies.
But we'll save that for another day.
NRG Energy Alliance, Energy Technology Ventures:
Snags at least $179 Million in Stimulus Money
Snags at least $179 Million in Stimulus Money
However, not only is NRG Energy active in clean-energy advocacy and lobbying, they have joined forces with others that have benefited from alternative-energy taxpayer funds –– a piece of the Green Corruption scandal that I had divulged this past summer, in my first General Electric analysis.
In January 2011,GE Capital, NRG Energy, ConocoPhillips, formed a joint venture called Energy Technology Ventures with their own energy tech portfolio, of which from the fourteen, at least six were winners totaling $179 million, and counting.
Most I've reported on in the past, but here is the condensed version, and I'll mark the KPCB*:
#1) 1366 Technologies: $150 million 1750 loan; plus $4 million from the ARPA-E
1366 Technologies, a General Electric company, snagged one of those 1705 "junk" loan guarantees in September 2011, of which this $150 million was for solar manufacturing. Not only was it highly speculative, but also for that amount of taxpayer money, we get 50 construction and 70 operating jobs.
Prior to the DOE loan, 1366 was awarded a $4 million in federal funding from the DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency — Energy (ARPA-E), also part of the 2009-Recovery Act.
A development stage company focused on improving the production economics of high efficiency solar PV applications, in January 2010, received $3 million from the SunShot Initiative funded by the 2009-Stimulus.
#3) Ciris Energy, Inc.: 4.8 million State grant
An emerging natural gas production company whose proprietary technology biochemically converts coal to methane at large scale and low cost, and in looks like in either 2009 or 2010, the state of Wyoming agreed in to pitch in a $4.8 million grant to help pay for Ciris to build an above-ground pilot facility that would employ microbes to turn coal into methane.
#4) Foro Energy: $9.1 million stimulus grant
Foro Energy is commercializing high power lasers for the oil, natural gas, geothermal, and mining industries, which in 2009, they received "one of the largest of the Department of Energy’s coveted ARPA-E grants with $9.1 million."
#5) GMZ Energy*: $8 million from the DOE's Vehicle Technologies Program funded by the 2009-Stimulus / $11 million from the DOE and DARPA, date unknown
The industry leader in ThermoVoltaics; economically viable energy solutions based on direct heat to electricity conversion, of which in August 2011, received $8 million from the DOE's Vehicle Technologies Program funded by the 2009-Stimulus. At some point GMZ was also the winner of $11 million from the DOE and DARPA.
#6) Hara Software, Inc*: unknown amount
A leading provider of environmental and energy management software, Hara was listed in Schweizer's book, however I can't confirm an exact amount, but I found a couple of projects that they are involved in that may be funded by the 2009-Recovery Act.
Further, Hara CEO Amit Chatterjee, in July 2009, was part of a group of "innovative energy leaders" that "advised President Obama." Mr. Chatterjee stated that [cap-and-trade] "will force companies to act, as opposed to seeing the business benefit of acting." "The debate alone of 'cap and trade' is a driver for our product," Chatterjee added.
Further, Hara CEO Amit Chatterjee, in July 2009, was part of a group of "innovative energy leaders" that "advised President Obama." Mr. Chatterjee stated that [cap-and-trade] "will force companies to act, as opposed to seeing the business benefit of acting." "The debate alone of 'cap and trade' is a driver for our product," Chatterjee added.
Soros "Stimulus" Stock-Buying Spree According to Peter Schwiezer's List:
Twelve counting NRG Energy as #1
NOTE: research of each is provided by Christine Lakatos
Twelve counting NRG Energy as #1
NOTE: research of each is provided by Christine Lakatos
#2.
American Electric Power (AEP): at least four stimulus grants totaling $740 million, excluding $1B for a project they bailed out of.
FutureGen Project: $1 billion stimulus funds
According to Schweizer's book, "in the first quarter of 2009, Soros made an initial purchase of more than 1.5 million shares in American Electric Power, a utility company that invested heavily in an energy project called FutureGen."Interesting enough, Richard Sandor (former Chairman and founder of the Chicago Climate Exchange, which I addressed earlier) is on the AEP board, and lets not forget that AEP personnel sit on the DOE’s Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC) of which "recommendations" from their 2008 and 2009 reports made its way into 2009-Recovery Act, "and are being implemented in DOE policies and programs under the Obama administration.”
But there is another AEP executive, "a DOE insider that stands out, which is part of the "DOE’s Dirty Dozen" that I referred to in the very beginning.
In May 2009, President Obama had nominated Dr. James J. Markowsky, an energy consultant and former vice president at American Electric Power Service Corp.(he resigned from AEP in 2000), to serve as assistant secretary of fossil energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, and he was confirmed by the Senate in August of that year.
By June 12, 2009, the Obama administration had revived the FutureGen project, "a federal-industry partnership that would build an advanced coal-burning power plant in Illinois to trap and store carbon dioxide emissions," which the Bush administration had abandoned, reported the New York Times. At that time, the Energy Department committed to contributing slightly more than $1 billion to the project, which was coming from funding for carbon capture and storage (AKA: CCS technologies) in the economic stimulus law.
Oh and I'm sure Markowsky (AEP's former VP) had to influence there. Ha.
However, despite ongoing drama, "cost overruns and delays," as of February 2013, it seems that the FutureGen project is moving forward –– without AEP, but in the middle we find Ameren Corp, and this project is currently equipped with the FutureGen Industrial Alliance and ONE billion dollars of taxpayer money.
AEP Ohio Smart Demonstration Project: $75 million stimulus funds
I've been tracking the $3.9 billion Obama investment in smart grid technologies –– part of the 2009-Recovery Act –– of which Silver Spring Networks, one of Kleiner Perkins shining green companies, cashed in big time. My recent calculations found that over $1.3 billion in smart grid grants went to Silver Spring customers –– of the 26, half are foreign, while the other thirteen are American, which all but one are confirmed smart grid winners. And one of those customers is AEP, which in November 2009 snagged $75 million for AEP Ohio gridSMART Demonstration Project.
AEP and others for clean coal in Alabama, Texas and West Virginia projects: $979 million of stimulus funds, of which AEP share was $334 million
In December 2009, Energy Secretary Chu announced that "Multibillion-dollar clean coal projects in West Virginia, Texas and Alabama were getting $979 million in federal stimulus funding." According to the Gaea Times, "The money will go toward retrofitting existing coal-fired power plants owned by American Electric Power, Southern Co. and Summit Texas Clean Energy to capture and store carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas linked to climate change." AEP's share of the $979 million was up to $334 million through the Clean Coal Power Initiative. As of June 2010, more than $2.5 billion in Recovery Act funds were made available to West Virginia, and American Electric Power in New Haven was awarded "$306.4 million to demonstrate 90 percent removal of carbon dioxide from the flue gas stream at the Mountaineer Plant using the Alstom Chilled Ammonia Process."
On September 2, 2010: Secretary Steven Chu announced, “two consortia - one led by the University of Michigan and one led by the West Virginia University - will receive a total of $25 million over the next five years under the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC), of which AEP is part of, as well as other Green Corruption players.
#3.
Soros bought shares in utility company Ameren, "which was given a $540 million clean-energy grant from the Department of Energy in conjunction with NextGen."
While I was unable to locate the details of this DOE grant, I did find Ameren Environment with solar projects and much more. Further, through Gigaom.com –– a very useful source for my research –– in August 2009, Ameren Illinois Utilities snagged $45 million and Ameren UE got $70 million from the $3.9 billion in smart grid stimulus funds for demonstration projects in St. Louis, MI.
Lastly, through the 1603 grant program, Ameren was awarded two cash-free grants for projects in Missouri
Soros bought shares in utility company Ameren, "which was given a $540 million clean-energy grant from the Department of Energy in conjunction with NextGen."
While I was unable to locate the details of this DOE grant, I did find Ameren Environment with solar projects and much more. Further, through Gigaom.com –– a very useful source for my research –– in August 2009, Ameren Illinois Utilities snagged $45 million and Ameren UE got $70 million from the $3.9 billion in smart grid stimulus funds for demonstration projects in St. Louis, MI.
Lastly, through the 1603 grant program, Ameren was awarded two cash-free grants for projects in Missouri
- December 5, 2012: Union Electric Company DBA Ameren Missouri; $4,805,387 for Hydropower (incremental) [docket #3958].
- November 2, 2012: Union Electric Company DBA Ameren Missouri; $12,721,725 for Landfill Gas [docket #3691].
Ameren total: five stimulus grants totaling about $672.5 million
#4.
Soros held a stake in Allegheny Energy (250,000 shares), which won lucrative grants from the DOE, and in looking into their green deals, I found out that in February 2011, FirstEnergy Corp. merged with Allegheny Energy, Inc. and is now called FirstEnergy Solutions.
Prior to this merger, FirstEnergy, sometime in October 2009, bagged $57.4 million in federal stimulus funds for a project in Akron, Ohio, part of the $3.4 billion in smart grid grants that have already been doled out of the DOE.
FirstEnergy Solutions total: at least two stimulus grants worth just over $71 million
#5.
Schweizer in his book shares, "Soros also invested in a small ethanol-producing company called BioFuel Energy, which had created a new gasoline containing 15% ethanol. At the time, the EPA had approved a limit of 10% ethanol in gasoline. BioFuel Energy owns and operates two of the largest dry-mill ethanol production facilities in the United States. As the EPA was debating the idea of an increase to 15%, stock in the company jumped from about $1.50 to $2.94 a share."
The EPA eventually approved the mandate, which in June 2012, CNS News reported, "A new blend of gasoline comprising 15 percent ethanol, approved by the Environmental Protection Agency last month and now available in Kansas, could damage automobile engines."
#5.
Schweizer in his book shares, "Soros also invested in a small ethanol-producing company called BioFuel Energy, which had created a new gasoline containing 15% ethanol. At the time, the EPA had approved a limit of 10% ethanol in gasoline. BioFuel Energy owns and operates two of the largest dry-mill ethanol production facilities in the United States. As the EPA was debating the idea of an increase to 15%, stock in the company jumped from about $1.50 to $2.94 a share."
The EPA eventually approved the mandate, which in June 2012, CNS News reported, "A new blend of gasoline comprising 15 percent ethanol, approved by the Environmental Protection Agency last month and now available in Kansas, could damage automobile engines."
And as of late, Reason.com wrote, "gas prices are going up, and federal rules mandating the use of ethanol seem to be responsible for at least part of the price hikes."
But I'm sure Soros and all of Obama's "green" cronies and his Green Team, doesn't care much about the output of these regulations, mandates and the massive amount of taxpayer money they are dumping into the hands of the wealthy, fueling even more corporate welfare.
But I'm sure Soros and all of Obama's "green" cronies and his Green Team, doesn't care much about the output of these regulations, mandates and the massive amount of taxpayer money they are dumping into the hands of the wealthy, fueling even more corporate welfare.
#6.
Soros also bought 300,000 shares of Constellation Energy Group stock, which received $200
million in federal stimulus money through a natural gas utility subsidy.
Other than Constellation, and according to GuruFocus.com, on May 12, 2008 George Soros added to his holdings in Exelon Corp. by 77.92%, and it seems that he sold out his holdings in the quarter that ended on 12/31/2011. I'm no financial guru, but in snooping around Insider Monkey, I found that starting at the end of the 12/31/10 quarter until when he soled out his stock in Exelon Corp (EXC), Soros logged in a lot of Exelon "stock action" –– the most being in the quarter ending 3/31/11 with an activity rate at activity -57%.
Soros also bought 300,000 shares of Constellation Energy Group stock, which received $200
million in federal stimulus money through a natural gas utility subsidy.
Other than Constellation, and according to GuruFocus.com, on May 12, 2008 George Soros added to his holdings in Exelon Corp. by 77.92%, and it seems that he sold out his holdings in the quarter that ended on 12/31/2011. I'm no financial guru, but in snooping around Insider Monkey, I found that starting at the end of the 12/31/10 quarter until when he soled out his stock in Exelon Corp (EXC), Soros logged in a lot of Exelon "stock action" –– the most being in the quarter ending 3/31/11 with an activity rate at activity -57%.
Why is Exelon important to point out at this time?
"Early in the Obama administration, a lobbyist for the Illinois-based energy producer Exelon Corporation proudly called it “'the president’s utility,'” reported the New York Times in August 2012.
As I had hinted –– besides Exelon being a top Obama donor in 2008, there is an even more complex Obama, Exelon story to share as well as the very deep ties to the Obama administration that not only include top Exelon executives but Obama's former chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel and chief political strategist, David Axelrod –– uh, and more stimulus money.
Exelon is part of the $3 billion First Solar Swindle that I outlined earlier in this post, (the September 2011 $656 million loan for the Antelope Valley Solar Ranch, one of the non-investment grade loans listed in the House investigation), and they have an array of a subsidiaries that also bagged taxpayer cash.
First up: Exelon and Constellation completed their "federally approved" $7.9 billion merger on March 12, 2012, of which Constellation "is a leading competitive supplier of power, natural gas, renewable energy and energy management products and services for homes and businesses across the continental United States."
Last June, the Washington Free Beacon took notice in Obama's use of federal inmates to do his "green work" (I'm sure like "cash for clunkers," this was one former Green Jobs Czar, the radical Van Jones ideas of ) –– build solar panels, of which Constellation Energy became one of the major beneficiaries of this system" –– thus more tax dollars indirectly going to Constellation.
The Beacon goes on, "Less than two weeks after the two firms finalized their merger, Constellation won a 20-year contract to provide renewable energy to 10 State Department facilities, including its Foggy Bottom headquarters, as well as a portion of the White House campus."
Exelon’s utilities deliver electricity and natural gas to more than 6.6 million customers in central Maryland via Baltimore Power and Gas (BGE), northern Illinois ComEd and southeastern Pennsylvania PECO.
As luck would have it, all three won smart grid stimulus grants, of which both BGE and PECO in October 2009, bagged the maximum amount of $200 million each, which from what I gather, in 2010 Constellation Energy Group, was (is) the parent of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co, so I am assuming this is the $200 million grant that Schweizer is referring to.
Meanwhile ComEd in August 2009, was the winner of $175 million for smart meters in Chicago, of which both BGE and ComEd are Silver Spring Networks customers. You know Doerr and Gore's shining green company that I addressed when counting all the stimulus funds, which American Electric Power won.
Last summer I had published an extensive post on General Electric's part in Green Corruption –– and a follow up in December –– noting that Silver Spring Networks and GE had joined forces with ComEd for the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) pilot program, of which it was initially funded with a $5 million DOE stimulus grant and that additional federal funding was also received, yet with no reported amount.
NOTE: Since Constellation Energy Group, was (is) the parent of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co, I am assuming the $200 million smart grid grant that went to BGE is the one Schweizer had mentioned, unless they got another $200 million for something else. Stay tuned as we will be exposing the entire Exelon crony, corruption scandal in the very near future.
#7.
Soros bought 4.6 million shares of Covanta, a clean-energy company and federal grant recipient. Covanta also received money through earmarks from members of Congress.
"Covanta Energy is one of the world’s largest owners and operators of infrastructure for the conversion of waste-to-energy (known as “energy-from- waste” or “EfW”), as well as other waste disposal and renewable energy production businesses," and they are part of a small project that "uses reclaimed water to irrigate golf course, little league fields" in Fairfax County Virginia.
According to the Connection News, "The project, which began in 2009, is partially funded by $6.5 million in federal stimulus funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Clean Water Revolving Fund Loan Program."
According to the Connection News, "The project, which began in 2009, is partially funded by $6.5 million in federal stimulus funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Clean Water Revolving Fund Loan Program."
Partially funded by a grant from the New Jersey Clean Cities Coalition, a non-profit organization that works to educate the public about the environment, PR Newswire reported, "this project is part of a larger grant award from the U.S. Department of Energy using funding provided by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act."
While the amount that this project got from the DOE isn't clear, it seems that this first "Clean Energy CNG station" that was set to open sometime in January 2013, is part of a bigger plan. This past January, Covanta Energy and Clean Energy announced "an agreement to co-develop compressed natural gas (CNG) stations at select Covanta facilities throughout the U.S."
What will that cost taxpayers?
It's hard to say, but what we do know is that Clean Energy Fuels Corp., a natural gas provider founded by billionaire T. Boone Pickens, is where we find out beloved House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her "cozy financial stake in the eco-adventures of Mr. Pickens," as reflected in her past talking points as well as her assets (Pelosi owns stock in Clean Energy Fuels Corp, and has so since 2007).
Clean Energy stands to be the one of the biggest beneficiary if the NAT GAS Act if it sees the legislative light again, and Pelosi's conflict of interest here is obvious, however, that never stops
Congress. So far proponents have lost in the "Natural-Gas Feud," since it died with the 112th Congress, but we'll keep an eye out.
Now find that Covanta too has an invested interest in this piece legislation, as does the private banking firm Perseus, LLC, where we find its (former?) Vice Chairman James A. Johnson. Jim Johnson, “a fixture of establishment Washington, with ties to Wall Street and "a major presence in Democratic politics for more than two decades," was also an Obama bundler in 2008, and had a short stint as Obama's VP hunter.
This was a big Green Corruption story that I had revealed last summer, which ties Perseus Energy & Technologies Portfolio to three green stimulus sweetheart deals, of which two went bust.
Further, and as reported by Gigaom.com, Vehicle Production Group (VPG), which in March 2011, secured a $5o million ATVM loan "for work on a wheelchair accessible SUV that can run on natural gas, "is backed by oil baron and natural gas vehicle advocate T. Boone Pickens."
Covanta Energy total: unclear as to how many green government subsidies or the exact stimulus dollar amount, but obviously Covanta stands to benefit from the NAT GAS Act if it comes to light again. And what about those Congressional earmarks Schweizer found?
#8.
Soros bought shares in Edison International, yet another utility company that cashed in on the DOE grants.
In October 2010, Southern California Edison (SCE), a subsidiary of Edison International, finalized a $25 million stimulus grant from the DOE "to develop and conduct a comprehensive demonstration of lithium-ion battery storage for energy generated by wind projects," which included $1 million grant from the California Energy Commission.
Soros bought shares in Edison International, yet another utility company that cashed in on the DOE grants.
In October 2010, Southern California Edison (SCE), a subsidiary of Edison International, finalized a $25 million stimulus grant from the DOE "to develop and conduct a comprehensive demonstration of lithium-ion battery storage for energy generated by wind projects," which included $1 million grant from the California Energy Commission.
In 2005, SCE signed a 20-year purchase agreement with Stirling Energy Systems, Inc. for the construction of a massive, 4,500-acre solar generating station in Southern California, which was supposed to be completed in 2009, however, the agreement blew up in 2010. Stirling Energy Systems had received $7 million from a federal renewable-energy grant and was eligible for nearly $10.5 million in manufacturing, but on September 28, 2011 they filed for bankruptcy.
In 2009, "Solar Millennium and Southern California Edison signed power purchase agreements for solar thermal power plants with total capacity of up to 726 MW, and provide for the purchase of the output by SCE over 20 years."
Just under two years later, Solar Trust of America, the parent company of Solar Millennium, received one of the largest DOE loan guarantees, however, the loan was never finalized, and despite the $2.1 billion loan offer, a year later (April 2012) Solar Trust went bust –– "World's Largest Solar Power Plant Goes Bankrupt."
Soros for the first time bought almost a million shares of Entergy, an energy utility company, which went on to get numerous DOE grants for smart grids, smart meters, and other federal stimulus programs.
I have to admit that I spent a lot of time searching for "numerous" DOE funds for Entergy, and I could only locate two small transactions. However, I must say, that ONE citizen can only do so much –– I need a team of researches to track this massive Green Corruption scandal.
In October 2009, Entergy New Orleans, Inc was "selected to receive a stimulus grant of approximately $5 million for a pilot project aimed at helping low income customers better manage their electric bills."
In June 2012, Entergy Services, Inc. got $4.6 million from the Smart Grid Investment Grant "for the deployment and integration of Synchro Phasor Technology."
In June 2012, Entergy Services, Inc. got $4.6 million from the Smart Grid Investment Grant "for the deployment and integration of Synchro Phasor Technology."
Entergy total: I've only tracked two small stimulus grants, which add up to close to $10 million.
#10.
Soros held a stake in PPL (175,000 shares), which won lucrative grants from the DOE, of which I found according to Gigaom.com, in August 2009, "PPL Corp Energy company was awarded $19 million for smart meters, monitoring system in Allentown, PA" –– doled out of the $4 billion in smart grid stimulus funds.
PPL Corporation total: I found one stimulus grant at $19 million.
#11.
Soros bought 250,000 shares of Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), another recipient of DOE federal stimulus funds, of which in August 2009, PSEG was another smart grid grant winner and was awarded $76 million for a project in Newark NJ.
PSEG total: one stimulus grant for $76 million
#12.
Soros invested in Powerspan, a clean-energy technology company, in April 2009. Just weeks later, on July 1, Powerspan was awarded the $100 million from the DOE smart-grid work.
Yep according to Venture Beat, in April 2009, "A group of investors, including George Soros, has funneled $50 million into Powerspan, a company that devises ways to remove carbon dioxide from coal plant emissions."
In the U.S., the recent economic stimulus bill has allocated $3.4 billion for research on carbon-based fuels like coal. The Department of Energy is also offering loans to companies looking to commercialize products that clean up these fuel sources. Powerspan says it plans to apply for both the federal grants and loans. And when the time comes to garner DOE support, the company is ahead of the game, having already worked with one of its labs to refine the carbon-capture systems it plans to market.
Ms. Rickets points out, "Powerspan also has the advantage of having friends in high places. George Soros is a name to be reckoned with, certainly. Tenaska Energy, AllianceBernstein, Persimmon Tree Capital, NGEN Partners, Beacon Group, Tremont Group, RockPort Capital Partners, Calvert, Angeleno Group, Fluor Corp. and FirstEnergy also participated in the recent round of financing."
NRG and its Subsidiaries Cash Grants
Besides Soros being a Powerspan investor, and FirstEnergy (recorded in this post), Daniel Weiss of the Angelino Group (a major equity holder in Powerspan), was an Obama bundler, meanwhile RockPort Capital is tied to many green funds, and is where we find another DOE Insider, David Prend –– again the "DOE Dirty Dozen" post is in the works.
Sure enough, weeks later –– July 1, 2009 –– Secretary Chu announced two new projects to reduce emissions from coal plants. The projects are Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Hydrogen Energy International LLC, which were selected for up to $408 million in funding from the 2009-Recovery Act. Apparently, this was the third round of the Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI), and the DOE provided $100 million to Basin Electric Power Cooperative and $308 million to Hydrogen Energy International LLC, of which Powerspan is a partner of the Basin project (Antelope Valley Station, located near Beulah, N.D.).
Powerspan Clean Energy Technology total: one large stimulus grant worth $100 million.
George Soros Green Deals Totals
(listed in order appeared in this research)
(listed in order appeared in this research)
- Solar City (Soros investor through Silver Lake Kraftwerk): $341 million in stimulus grants Plus $88 million 1603 grants confirmed
- First Solar (Soros investor through various funds): tied to $3 billion of the 1703 DOE loans, and one of them is with NRG Energy
- Quantum Strategic Partners: so far I've track one for Transphorm $9 million in grants from ARPA-E program funded by the 2009-Stimulus
NRG and its Subsidiaries Cash Grants
- Reliant Energy: 37 grants from the 2009-Recovery Act (total amount unknown)
- Green Mountain Energy: two grants under 2009-Recovery (total amount unknown)
- Seven 1603 grants from to NRG subsidiaries, totaling over $155 million
- Solar Power Partners (SPP): prior to NRG's acquisition, snagged 16 of those 1603 tax-free stimulus grants with a grand total of over $29 million.
- NRG also has a subsidiary, NRG Sun LLC, which has received approximately $3.9 million under Section 1603 for a variety of residential rooftop solar projects.
- NRG Energy also received a $5.7 million stimulus grant for carbon capture and sequestration system
- Reliant Retail Services received a $13.4 million smart grid grant (under the 2009-Recovery Act)
- NRG Thermal LLC received a $1.9 million grant for the Princeton Hospital project through the State of New Jersey Economic Development Authority (under the 2009-Recovery Act)
- NRG's $154 million grant to clean up emissions at the W.A. Parish coal-fired power plant in Fort Bend County
- NRG Solar, LLC (Agua Caliente): $967 million 1705 loan
- NRG Solar (California Valley Solar Ranch): $1.237 billion 1705 loan, $430 million in treasury grants, special state tax breaks, and much more..
- NRG Energy, Inc. (BrightSource): $1.6 billion 1705 loan
- Prologis (Project Amp): $1.4 billion 1705 loan
Soros Twelve "Stimulus" Green Stock-Buying Spree According to Peter Schwiezer
Left-wing Billionaire George Soros Green Deals Exceeds $11 Billion of Taxpayer Money
As exposed by Peter Schweizer, "Billionaire George Soros gave advice and direction on how President Obama should allocate so-called “stimulus” money in a series of regular private meetings and consultations with White House senior advisers even as Soros was making investments in areas affected by the stimulus program."
- NRG Energy and its subsidiaries (details listed above): $5.2 billion in 1705 stimulus loans for four projects and at least 65 grants that total over $363 million of taxpayer money with 37 uncounted for.
- American Electric Power (AEP): at least four stimulus grants totaling $740 million, excluding the $1B
- Ameren total: five stimulus grants totaling about $672.5 million
- FirstEnergy Solutions total: at least two stimulus grants totaling just over $71 million
- No cash that I could find for BioFuel Energy benefited when the EPA announced a regulation on ethanol.
- Constellation, an Exelon Company total: at least one grant worth $200 million stimulus grants and Constellation is one of the most prolific providers of green energy to federally owned facilities.
- Covanta Energy total: unclear as to how many green government subsidies or the exact stimulus dollar amount, but obviously Covanta stands to benefit from the NAT GAS Act if it comes to light again. And what about those Congressional earmarks Schweizer found?
- Edison International total: at least two stimulus grants worth $64.6 million, and I'm sure there are more...
- Entergy total: I've only tracked two small stimulus grants, which add up to close to $10 million.
- PPL Corporation total: I found one stimulus grant at $19 million.
- PSEG total: one stimulus grant for $76 million.
- Powerspan Clean Energy Technology total: one large stimulus grant worth $100 million
As exposed by Peter Schweizer, "Billionaire George Soros gave advice and direction on how President Obama should allocate so-called “stimulus” money in a series of regular private meetings and consultations with White House senior advisers even as Soros was making investments in areas affected by the stimulus program."
And then in the first quarter of 2009, Mr. Soros went on a stock-buying spree, of which we can confirm that in calculating the twelve alternative energy and utility companies listed by Schweizer, along with other renewable energy investments (most timely as well), Soros' green tab exceeds $11 BILLION of stimulus money –– paid for by American taxpayers, and again, this tally is not factoring in the huge profit Soros is making off of these investments.
I will conclude this post with two words: PURE INSANITY!
Two Women (one Citizen & one energy Columnist) join forces on One Mission: to expose one piece of the Green Corruption scandal at a time.
Speaking of my cohort Marita Noon: Her column on Soros and Green Corruption was posted on March 31, 2013 at Townhall.com and all over the internet: "Obama Creates More Wealth for Green Crony Soros"
Two Women (one Citizen & one energy Columnist) join forces on One Mission: to expose one piece of the Green Corruption scandal at a time.
Speaking of my cohort Marita Noon: Her column on Soros and Green Corruption was posted on March 31, 2013 at Townhall.com and all over the internet: "Obama Creates More Wealth for Green Crony Soros"
On Good Friday, a day fewer people would be paying attention to the
headlines than on most other days, the Obama administration released
news about its plans to raise the price of gasoline. Gasoline prices for
the first quarter of 2013 are higher
than the same time in 2012. Intentionally pushing prices up would seem
stupid in the midst of a struggling economy—that is, if your goal is to
help those most impacted by higher fuel and food prices, rather than
boosting the bottom line for your billionaire donors...
Excellent bit of research. I've known for years that Soros was a big player but never realized how he's engineering his profits directly through the White House. It's proof that Washington works only for the money and not for us.
ReplyDeleteI will be spending time catching up on your prior work. Please keep it up!
Thanks for stopping by Spud Bone –– much more to tell!
DeleteActually this is the hidden truth of politics.Politicians work for the rich not for the real poor people.
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