By Molly Young | The Oregonian
Oregon officials greenlighted a $20 million tax credit for SoloPower — tripling taxpayers’ stake — despite unfulfilled job and production promises and signs the Portland solar panel factory was sliding even further behind.
That was December. In January, company executives were deep in negotiations to refinance a $197 million federal loan commitment, also threatened by the missed benchmarks. The money was meant to fund subsequent manufacturing lines and hundreds of high-paying jobs.
It was those jobs, and the lure of building up Oregon’s green energy sector, two years ago that put the California-based startup in line for nearly $58 million in state and city incentives, including loans, tax credits and abatements.
But today, that investment appears at risk. Questions are mounting about the company’s missed deadlines and its ability to survive in a market that’s already taken down dozens of solar players.
The death toll includes publicly backed Evergreen Solar and Solyndra — companies that state recruiters courted but didn’t land. Others they did win over are reeling: SolarWorld has shed hundreds of jobs at its Hillsboro plant and seen its stock value plummet 96 percent in five years. MEMC Electronic Materials has shrunk its Portland workforce by more than 70 percent, to a few dozen.
If you’d like to discuss energy issues, contact Court Rich, Co-Chair of Rose Law Group’s Renewable Energy Department at crich@roselawgroup.com
