A Tale of two Bankruptcies: Solyndra vs. Beacon Power
A second company that got a Department of Energy loan has gone Bankrupt. Fox News made a bigger deal about it than CNN, trying to tie it to Obama.
But looking at this closer, the differences seem clear, even in the Fox article. Beacon Power has filed Chapter 11, not Chapter 7, so they may still be able to turn things around (indeed the Stephentown, New York facility in question is still operating). Moreover, the loan was for much less and was secured with the plant it funded as collateral (which means if Chapter 11 ends up discharging the debt Beacon owes the DoE, the DoE can use its lein on the property to foreclose). Moreover, the Beacon loan has the DoE in the “first position”, so the Feds get paid first. Lastly, Solyndra had very poor business plan that could never have been made to really work. Beacon Power had a decent business plan that has run into severe trouble, but may yet work. So the Beacon loan was a much better investment.
Solyndra was indeed an indefensible series of actions on the whole. Beacon Hill is at worst a decent idea that failed. Not a scandal, not an outrage.