Lawmakers have launched an investigation aimed at solar energy companies who may have “improperly received” about $25 billion in tax incentives from the Obama administration.
September 16, 2016
Congressional Investigators Target Solar Companies Over Improper Tax Breaks
Earlier this week, lawmakers serving on the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee launched a formal investigation aimed at solar energy companies who may have “improperly received” about $25 billion in tax incentives from the Obama administration.
From The Wall Street Journal:
Congressional investigators are examining the use of tax incentives for solar-power companies, third-party financing and how the companies determine the value of the credits. The probe is being run by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah), the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Rep. Kevin Brady (R., Texas), the head of the Ways and Means panel.
Of course, solar power has been the darling of the Environmentalist Left. Leading environmental extremist Bill McKibben rejects all energy but solar and wind. It is the cost of subsidizing the energy dreams of the Environmentalist Left that often goes unmentioned.
Even prominent Democrats are speaking out, as Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and Hillary Clinton supporter Warren Buffett blasted rooftop solar subsidies earlier this year, saying that “non-solar” customers should not be “subsidizing the 17,000 solar customers.”
SolarCity, the embattled rooftop solar firm founded by Elon Musk’s cousin, Lyndon Rive, was one of seven companies that received a letter from Congress seeking more information into whether the company may have improperly exploited federal tax credits for its own benefit. According to SolarCity’s 2015 annual report, the company had received a little over a half-billion in taxpayer dollars through December 2015.