With the Solyndra solar scandal still in the news, we should keep in mind that solar subsidies are not limited to the federal government or to California.
Here in Minnesota a new solar panel manufacturing plant has opened. The four-year-old company, Silicon Energy, chose the northern Minnesota town of Mountain Iron "because of a state incentive program encouraging purchase of solar panels made in-state, said company president Gary Shaver."
The state incentive program consists of a mandated utility rebate program that will provide $5 million a year for the next three years (2012-2014). Funds for 2011 are already sold out. Of course, Silicon Energy is not the only plant in Minnesota that qualifies for the rebate, so there is no guarantee that they will get all of the $5 million a year. And there is no guarantee that the state legislature will continue the mandated rebate beyond 2014.
In addition to the utilty rebate (paid for by ratepayers), the state government provided a $1.5 million loan for the plant to buy equipment, through the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB), an agency funded with taxes on the state's iron mining industry.
Further, the plant occupies a building owned by the local Mountain Iron Economic Development Authority (a city-owned agency), built with a second $3.6 million loan from the state government's IRRRB. The $5.1 million in state loans represents most of the $6.85 million project's costs.
So far, the plant has hired 15 people, with plans to hire 10 more.
As a taxpayer and a utility ratepayer, I wish them luck. Hopefully, by the time the utility subsidy ends, they will be able to complete, unsubsidized in the market.
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