Fox News is reporting:
It’s official, the Energy Department’s green energy loan program is
actually expected to lose money despite media reports that such loans
would net the government a profit.
The Government Accountability Office says
the DOE’s oft-touted $28 billion loan program will cost taxpayers $2.21
billion over the lifetime of the loans. Not only that, the costs to
taxpayers for green loans has risen about $500 million as “the result of
loan guarantee defaults” from companies like Solyndra and Abound Solar.
The “credit subsidy cost of the loans and loan guarantees in its
portfolio” is expected “to be $2.21 billion, including $807 million for
loans that have defaulted,” GAO reports. “The fees DOE has collected
have not been sufficient to cover all of its administrative expenses for
the program” because the “fees on the current loan guarantees were too
low to cover ongoing monitoring costs.”
This stands in sharp contrast to media reports from last year
suggesting the DOE’s green loan program would net taxpayers $5 billion.
Last year, the Washington Post’s Wonkblog ran with the headline, “Remember Solyndra? Those loans are making money.”
The liberal news watchdog Media Matters exclaimed that “Solyndra Scandal-Mongering Hasn’t Stopped The Energy Dept’s Loan Program From Turning A Profit”
Such news stories came after a November 2014 DOE progress report
saying it was on track to earn more than $5 billion in total interest
payments. The DOE said it had earned $810 million in interest payments —
outweighing the $780 million in estimated losses the loan program was
expected to incur.
But for Obama, Solyndra accomplished what it was set up to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment