From the
Daily Mail Online.com - Nancy Pelosi is facing accusations of cronyism after a solar energy project, which her brother-in-law has a stake in, landed a $737 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, despite the growing Solyndra scandal. The massive loan agreement is raising new concerns about the use of taxpayers' money as vast sums are invested in technology similar to that of the doomed energy project. The investment has intensified the debate over the effectiveness of solar energy as a major power source. The SolarReserve project is backed by an energy investment fund where the Minority Leader's brother-in-law Ronald Pelosi is second in command. PCG Clean Energy & Technology Fund (East) LLC is listed as one of the investors in the project that has been given the staggering loan, which even dwarfs that given to failed company Solyndra. Other investors include one of the major investors in Solyndra, which is run by one of the directors of Solyndra. Steve Mitchell, who served on the board of directors at the bankrupt energy company, is also managing director of Argonaut Private Equity, which has invested in the latest project.
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Nancy Pelosi's brother-in-law given $737m of taxpayers' money to build giant solar power plant in middle of desert
From the Daily Mail Online.com - Nancy Pelosi is facing accusations of cronyism after a solar energy project, which her brother-in-law has a stake in, landed a $737 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, despite the growing Solyndra scandal. The massive loan agreement is raising new concerns about the use of taxpayers' money as vast sums are invested in technology similar to that of the doomed energy project. The investment has intensified the debate over the effectiveness of solar energy as a major power source. The SolarReserve project is backed by an energy investment fund where the Minority Leader's brother-in-law Ronald Pelosi is second in command. PCG Clean Energy & Technology Fund (East) LLC is listed as one of the investors in the project that has been given the staggering loan, which even dwarfs that given to failed company Solyndra. Other investors include one of the major investors in Solyndra, which is run by one of the directors of Solyndra. Steve Mitchell, who served on the board of directors at the bankrupt energy company, is also managing director of Argonaut Private Equity, which has invested in the latest project. Read more
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Unlike the DOE loan guarantee for the Southern Co's Vogtle 3 & 4, which are two 1100 MW AP1000 reactor plants, the Crescent Dunes loan guarantee was funded under Section 1705. A key aspect is that unlike a nuclear power loan guarantee, the Credit Subsidy Cost (CSC) for the "renewable energy" project is paid for by the DOE, which is guaranteeing 80% of the loan. The CSC is analogous to paying "points" on a loan, and is non-refundable.
https://lpo.energy.gov/?page_id=41
The $880M CSC was the straw that broke the camel's back of Calver Cliffs unit 3. $880M was 11.6% of the total loan. However, this plant was to use the very large 1650 MW Areva/EDF/Siemens European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) design, which has been plagued by cost overruns on the first builds in Flamanville, FR and Olkiluoto, Finland.
Not mentioned in the press releases about the Crescent Dunes molten salt solar tower is that the capacity factor is still only 52%. Yes, the plant can produce power overnight or during cloudy conditions, but not at 110 MW output. In addition, the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Nevada Power Co is 13.5 c/kWh. Compare that to EPE's PPA with NM SunTower's Santa Teresa PV array of 12.745 c/kWh, and EPE's base fuel and purchased power cost of 4.5 c/kWh (from my latest bill).
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