.
11/28/12, "Solar firm that got $26M in Miss. loans is closing," AP via Bloomberg
"Mississippi taxpayers may have only an empty Senatobia building and
solar panel equipment to show for $26 million in loans to Twin Creeks
Technologies.
The California-based solar technology firm is
liquidating and a company that bought Twin Creeks' assets won't take
over its agreement with Mississippi. Twin Creeks had agreed to invest at
least $132 million and create at least 500 jobs in exchange for loans,
tax breaks and other aid.
The state sued Twin Creeks in Tate
County Chancery Court and has had a temporary restraining order against
the firm since Nov. 8, said officials in the Tate County chancery
clerk's office. That lawsuit is being handled by Jack Wilson, a lawyer
who works directly for Gov. Phil Bryant.
Twin Creeks, like many
American solar firms, was swamped by a wave of cheap solar panels
imported from China, said Kathy Gelston, chief financial officer for the
Mississippi Development Authority.
Twin Creeks also struggled to make its equipment produce energy at a
high-enough rate, said Janie Mortimer, executive director of the Tate
County Economic Development Foundation. Mortimer said that the company
never had more than 25 employees....
The
state loaned Senatobia $15 million to construct the building and $8.2
million to buy equipment. It also transferred $3.5 million to the city,
mainly in a loan but partially in a grant, to prepare the site and build
infrastructure....Lenders sold
Twin Creeks' technology for $10 million to GT Advanced Technologies of
Nashua, N.H., in mid-November. Gelston said Twin Creeks received about
$3 million from the sale,
but there are creditors in addition to the
state of Mississippi....
Then-Gov.
Haley Barbour announced the plant in April 2010 and cut the ribbon in
May 2011, with the company saying it was in startup production. But Twin
Creeks never sold solar panels commercially and announced a change in
business strategy in early 2012, saying it would instead make equipment
for solar panel manufacturers. Though Twin Creeks got a wave of favorable publicity at the time of the switch, it apparently wasn't any more successful.
The
losses could be the biggest bath the state has taken on an economic
development project since the Mississippi Beef Processors plant, 40
miles south in Oakland, collapsed. State local and federal governments
lost something more than $50 million, creating a scandal that led to
jail time for some people....
The state transferred the money to the city of Senatobia, which was
supposed to collect lease payments and repay the state. Twin Creeks'
first loan payment of $1.2 million to the city of Senatobia is due Dec.
31 and Senatobia is supposed to transfer that money to the state, in
turn, by Jan. 5. The state said it's willing to work with Senatobia, but
isn't ready to declare that the city is off the hook for the debt....
Besides what it owes the state, Tate County
says Twin Creeks owes as much as $320,000 in property taxes for 2012 on
the building and equipment. The firm is appealing in Tate County Circuit
Court."via Junk Science, via Climate Depot
.
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