Bakken Economy -- January 12, 2017

ND Legacy Fund. This is pretty cool. After a really, really bad year (relatively) for the ND Legacy Fund, 2016 looked pretty good. It looks like the bleeding has stopped. If you go to the link, toggle back and forth between 2016 and 2015; it's pretty remarkable.

ND Legacy Fund. Through December 2016, total deposits were $3,736,151,063. Deposits, not net assets.

ND taxable sales. Same with ND taxable sales; the numbers are still bad, but officials suggest things will level off, hit a new normal.

*****************************

Meanwhile, Flashback To The Obama Legacy

From August 26, 2015

Updates

January 12, 2017: in the comments section at this post, a reader provided an updated list:

• Tonopah Solar Energy LLC / SolarReserve ($737 million) -- added July 30, 2020;
• Evergreen Solar ( lost $25 million)
• SpectraWatt ( lost $500,000)
• Solyndra ( lost $535 million)
• Beacon Power ( lost $43 million)
• Nevada Geothermal ( lost $98.5 million)
• SunPower ( lost $1.2 billion)
• First Solar ( lost $1.46 billion)
• Babcock and Brown ( lost $178 million)
• EnerDel’s subsidiary Ener1 ( lost $118.5 million)
• Amonix ( lost $5.9 million)
• Fisker Automotive ( lost $529 million)
• Abound Solar ( lost $400 million)
• A123 Systems ( lost $279 million)
• Willard and Kelsey Solar Group ( lost $700,981)
• Johnson Controls ( lost $299 million)
• Brightsource ( lost $1.6 billion)
• ECOtality ( lost $126.2 million)
• Raser Technologies ( lost $33 million)
• Energy Conversion Devices ( lost $13.3 million)
• Mountain Plaza, Inc. ( lost $2 million)
• Olsen’s Crop Service and Olsen’s Mills Acquisition Company ( lost $10 million)
• Range Fuels ( lost $80 million)
• Thompson River Power ( lost $6.5 million)
• Stirling Energy Systems ( lost $7 million)
• Azure Dynamics ( lost $5.4 million)
• GreenVolts ( lost $500,000)
• Vestas ( lost $50 million)
• LG Chem’s subsidiary Compact Power ( lost $151 million)
• Nordic Windpower ( lost $16 million)
• Navistar ( lost $39 million)
• Satcon ( lost $3 million)
• Konarka Technologies Inc. ( lost $20 million)
• Mascoma Corp. ( lost $100 million) 

Original Post

 

The "original post" was here. 

It is amazing that out of the dozens of companies that were in the news from the very beginning, "we" picked up on Solyndra immediately. 

The blog is full of Solyndra stories right from the start (see tag). It turns out "we" were correct all along.

Taxpayer money to Solyndra; CEO and directors donate to DNC; Solyndra goes by the wayside after the election. At the same time Lois and the IRS targets Tea Party groups ensuring they are not given tax-free status and the rest is history as they say.

The Obama Administration admits Solyndra was a "scam." Not in so many words, but that's the nut. The actual words are here in the full report, a PDF file.

The interesting thing is that Solyndra was not the only scam. I doubt many folks remember this post and the list of 36 companies that received federal support from taxpayers have either gone bankrupt or are laying off workers and are heading for bankruptcy. This list includes only those companies that received federal money from the Obama Administration’s Department of Energy.

The amount of money indicated does not reflect how much was actually received or spent but how much was offered. The amount also does not include other state, local, and federal tax credits and subsidies, which push the amount of money these companies have received from taxpayers even higher.

The complete list of faltering or bankrupt green-energy companies:

1. Evergreen Solar ($24 million)*
2. SpectraWatt ($500,000)*
3. Solyndra ($535 million)*
4. Beacon Power ($69 million)* -- see "update/correction" below
5. AES’s subsidiary Eastern Energy ($17.1 million) -- see "update/correction" below
6. Nevada Geothermal ($98.5 million)
7. SunPower ($1.5 billion)
8. First Solar ($1.46 billion)
9. Babcock and Brown ($178 million)
10. EnerDel’s subsidiary Ener1 ($118.5 million)*
11. Amonix ($5.9 million)
12. National Renewable Energy Lab ($200 million)
13. Fisker Automotive ($528 million)
14. Abound Solar ($374 million)*
15. A123 Systems ($279 million)*
16. Willard and Kelsey Solar Group ($6 million) -- see "update/correction" below
17. Johnson Controls ($299 million)
18. Schneider Electric ($86 million) -- see "update/correction" below
19. Brightsource ($1.6 billion)
20. ECOtality ($126.2 million)
21. Raser Technologies ($33 million)*
22. Energy Conversion Devices ($13.3 million)*
23. Mountain Plaza, Inc. ($2 million)*
24. Olsen’s Crop Service and Olsen’s Mills Acquisition Company ($10 million)*
25. Range Fuels ($80 million)*
26. Thompson River Power ($6.4 million)*
27. Stirling Energy Systems ($7 million)*
28. LSP Energy ($2.1 billion)* -- see "update/correction" below
29. UniSolar ($100 million)* -- see "update/correction" below
30. Azure Dynamics ($120 million)* -- see "update/correction" below
31. GreenVolts ($500,000)
32. Vestas ($50 million)
33. LG Chem’s subsidiary Compact Power ($150 million) -- see "correction" below
34. Nordic Windpower ($16 million)*
35. Navistar ($10 million)
36. Satcon ($3 million)*
37. Nissan Leaf battery facility, Smyrna, TN (see November 15, 2012, update above) 
38. Twin Creeks Technologies, Senatobia, MS ($26  million)* (see November 30, 2012, update above) 
39. Abengoa, Madrid, Spain; added April 16, 2016; bankrupt; largest bankruptcy in Spain's history; 

* Indicates filed for bankruptcy.

Note: the list came from another source; not all links were fact-checked. Much has been lost since the list was originally published. I can no longer vouch for the accuracy of the list, but it gets the point across to anyone paying attention. If this is important to you, go to the original source, at the post linked above.