Massive NJ solar project fizzles, leaving taxpayers $88 million in the hole

Another green energy fail.

Except, and this is the key part, they weren't actually selling electricity.

Nope, they were selling tax credits. And it turns out, the market for those tax credits dried up.

But the market for state solar-energy tax credits -- a key part of the deal -- plummeted in the months after the deal was struck. Cost overruns mounted, and the developer and contractor became embroiled in a dispute that ended in lawsuits, according to court papers. Work ground to a halt. And while the projects in Somerset were mostly completed, only about half were completed in two of the counties, Morris and Sussex.

Green energy is simply not viable without taxpayer subsidies. The subsidy either comes on the front-end via tax credits, or on the back-end as we see here. Either way the taxpayer is left holding the bag just so the ecotwits can smugly preen in their coal-powered Priuses.

There's a reason private enterprise won't build these boondoggles without government guarantees. They're too risky, and the potential returns too meager. Remember Solyndra? Or the myriad failures of wind power?

Meanwhile environmental groups like the Sierra Club raise hundreds of millions of dollars from their deluded supporters, which they use to lobby government into wasting tax dollars on green energy. Here's an idea. They should put up their own damn money. Pledge their $88 million instead of mine. Walk the walk. Stop blowing smoke up my ass.

They won't, of course. Because they're not stupid, and they know that green energy is Teh #Fail.

Posted at 10:49 by Chris Wysocki   [/agw]   Comments | Perm Link |
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