Fred Upton-Backed United Solar Ovonic Files For Bankruptcy

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) has been among the most vociferous opponents of the Obama administration's energy policies. On Tuesday, he stood on the other side of a failed solar proposition.

United Solar Ovonic (USO) -- a unit of Michigan-based solar-panel producer Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) -- has announced its plans to file for bankruptcy.

The Washington Post noted back in November that the veteran congressman was a proponent of Energy Department loans for USO -- dating back to a December 2009 letter sent by Michigan lawmakers pressing for guarantees under President Barack Obama's stimulus plan.

While USO loans were never approved, Upton's vision will not last, as the Detroit Free Press reported that part of ECD's bankruptcy includes the sale of USO's assets.

Despite pushing for loans to USO, Upton has been one of the harshest critics of the Obama administration for extending $535 million in loan guarantees to Solyndra, the solar energy company that went bankrupt last September. During a Nov. 17 hearing, the House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman blasted Energy Secretary Steven Chu for missing signs that the company was in poor health.

"The number of red flags about Solyndra that were raised along the way -- many from within DOE -- and either ignored or minimized by senior officials is astonishing," Upton told Chu.

On Wednesday, the Energy Committee's subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations announced it would consider subpoenaing five White House staffers as part of its probe into the administration's role in granting the loan guarantees to Solyndra.

Upton was not the only Republican to extend a vote of confidence toward United Solar Ovonic. Back on Feb. 20, 2006, President George W. Bush toured the company's Auburn Hills, Mich., facility, touting the need for the federal government to invest in energy-efficient technologies:

"The role of the government at this point is to continue to spend research dollars, to help push technologies forward; is to get these technologies to be even more competitive in the marketplace. And I'm calling on Congress to join us on this most important energy initiative. As most folks know, there's a lot of needless politics in Washington, D.C. There's a lot of finger pointing and a lot of zero-sum attitude amongst the people up there. And of all the issues, becoming less dependent on foreign sources of energy is an issue that we ought to be able to unite, and show the American people we can work together to help advance the technologies that will change the world in which we live."

Comments

[Genders]

05:30 PM on 03/03/2012

75% of new tech ventures fail.

Grow up.

[rodjard]

08:08 PM on 02/27/2012

Who gives a damned about climate science?
We need energy independance.

[rodjard]

04:33 PM on 02/27/2012

Print money. Hire and pay people with it. Produce energy.
The profit made from the energy produced pays off the deficit
from printing the money and the job is done.
That is how you do it folks. It ain't no mystery.

[rodjard]

01:54 AM on 02/27/2012

Climate change, no climate change, shortage here,
embargo there, spill somewhere. meltdown over there.
Somebody's buying somebody off, More research on this
or that. Hybrid here, Hydrogen there, Natural gas, switch grass.

It is time to stop all the B.S. and put more into this than the NASA
budget and pentagon budget combined. Get Serious and get this done.

[PlayTOE]

11:12 AM on 02/17/2012

it's only bad if Democrats do it, Republicans get a FREE PASS.

[aligatorhardt]

05:25 PM on 02/16/2012

Find a GOP member that is not a hypocrite and that would be news. Energy self sufficiency could end wars for oil; does anyone think that is not a good goal?  Bankruptcies occur all the time in all industries. What should we do, give up and stop trying? We persevere and many companies do well. Who buys only the cheapest product? Do we all drive Yugos? Do we all watch 13 inch TV in black and white? There is room for many price points, and many levels of efficiency. One size never actually fits all. So a company goes out, too bad for them, but someone else takes their place.

[RSKaz]

03:54 PM on 02/16/2012

Upton's problem is that he still can't figure out where the sun goes at night.

[CERDA]

02:32 PM on 02/16/2012

typical republican hypocracy

[mamadeus]

12:07 PM on 02/16/2012

Mindless.

[mijjy]

12:07 PM on 02/16/2012

It's just different when THEY do it, right?

[arigg]

11:38 AM on 02/16/2012

fraud

[harpo73]

10:57 AM on 02/16/2012

wow

this company was the pioneer in thin film amorphous silicon flexible lightweight modules - this is one of the more established companies in the industry - totally different than Solandrya.

A mega shakeout is occuring in solar.

[emmacop]

11:39 AM on 02/16/2012

Can ANYONE take the HuffPuff seriously with this kind of reporting?

Anyone with a ammeter, a calculator, and a whiff of high school physics could tell you solar, wind, and geothermal are an energy production joke.

Sadly for our lefties, only fossil, nuke, and hydro make any economic sense. And they can't deal with it.

[CERDA]

02:30 PM on 02/16/2012

proof?

[aligatorhardt]

05:33 PM on 02/16/2012

Religious assertions without substance or proof are not convincing. Renewable energy is the way of the future, as old extractive fuels will all run out at some point. Only a fool would ignore free motion that only needs to be captured.  Study: Shifting the world to 100% clean, renewable energy by 2030 – here are the numbers

Spanish CSP Plant with Storage Produces Electricity for 24 Hours Straight | Renewable Energy News Article

Spain Sets Wind Power Generation Record

Solar Power Almost as Cheap as Natural Gas in Six States | CleanTechnica

Renewable energy can provide baseload power - here's how

Colorado to Achieve 30% Renewables Eight Years Early | CleanTechies Blog - CleanTechies.com

Wind Could Provide 25% or More Electricity for Most States | john-farrell-ilsr

[DeanAdams]

11:50 AM on 02/16/2012

That's what happens when the Chinese provide $40 billion in subsidies to their solar industry in one year.

[IgnatiusJ]

10:51 AM on 02/16/2012

Blatant GOP hypocrisy?!?! Thank God I was sitting down when I saw this.

[Al Jolson]

09:58 AM on 02/16/2012

A GOP hypocrite????

I'll bet we won't see this story on FOX News!

[lajoan47]

11:39 AM on 02/16/2012

Hypocracy from a news network that chose to discuss the overseas wars while Obama gave a great speech regarding education reform (improvement) in our Country? Say it ain't so!

[Blackwing]

09:18 AM on 02/16/2012

Solar installations are growing like crazy in the West. They will grow even faster as the technology develops and the prices come down as they do every year. I have been totally satisfied with the 12 Evergreen panels that power my off the grid house. However, Communist Chinese slave labor is making it hard for US companies to compete.