Ener1 is the latest Obama endorsed Green Energy company to file for bankruptcy protection. The cost to taxpayers is $118.5 million and the company needs an “infusion” of $81 million to restructure.
Obama mentioned this partnership in his state of the union address:
“In three years, our partnership with the private sector has already positioned America to be the world’s leading manufacturer of high-tech batteries”
With green energy companies leading the way for the Obama recovery, the president’s economic policy has turned out to be another expensive failure for the taxpayer.
David DeGerolamo
Obama-backed electric car battery-maker files for bankruptcy
An Indiana-based energy-storage company that received a $118.5 million stimulus grant from the Energy Department filed for bankruptcy Thursday.
Ener1 is asking a federal bankruptcy court in New York to approve a plan to restructure the company’s debt and infuse $81 million in equity funding.
“This was a difficult, but necessary, decision for our company,” Ener1 CEO Alex Sorokin said in a news release. “We are extremely pleased to have the strong support of our primary investors and lenders to substantially reduce the company’s debt.”
The company said it hopes the plan will “support continued operation of Ener1’s subsidiaries and help ensure that the restructuring will not adversely impact their employees, customers and suppliers.”
The Energy Department in 2009 approved a $118.5 million stimulus grant for EnerDel, a subsidiary of the company that develops lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. The grant was part of a broader program aimed at promoting the development of electric-vehicle battery technology.
President Obama touted the program in his State of the Union address this year.
“In three years, our partnership with the private sector has already positioned America to be the world’s leading manufacturer of high-tech batteries,” he said.
At the time, EnerDel said the grant would help the company double its production capacity and create 1,700 jobs. But the company has faced major financial problems in recent months.
