Victorville RC – 内陆能源Inland Energy公司可能会甩掉Victorville太阳能项目

根据《Victorville日报》报道：Victorville付了内陆能源公司1100万美元在失败的能源项目里。

 http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/victorville-25706-project-solar.html

在城市拥有的土地上建立太阳能项目的领先竞标者是被Inland Energy部分拥有的 - 是与从Victorville收到做一个停工的电厂1100万美元并使得该市到了破产边缘。

During closed session at tonight’s meeting, the City Council will hear final offers from two companies to develop the solar portion of the Victorville 2 power plant, planned north of Southern California Logistics Airport. A special subcommittee, which included Mayor Ryan McEachron, former Councilman Terry Caldwell and staff, chose NRG Solar and Colusa Solar Project from seven developers who bid on the 50-megawatt project last fall.

In preparing for tonight’s discussion, Councilwoman Angela Valles said she got suspicious of the way City Manager Jim Cox and Deputy City Manager Doug Robertson were rushing over the agenda item. She asked if William Buck Johns, president of Inland Energy, was involved and was “outraged” to learn Inland is a partner in Colusa Solar.

“I’m really upset that if I hadn’t asked that question, I could’ve passed that and been part of the problem,” Valles said, citing concerns with the Newport Beach company’s role in the city’s failed Foxborough power plant and federally terminated EB-5 visa investor program. “I’m afraid everything they put in front of me is a trick.”

Neither Johns nor his spokesman responded to a request for comment on the solar project. And a call to Inland’s partner in Colusa, Faros Infrastructure Partners out of Connecticut, was not returned.

VV2 has been in the works for more than half a decade and was supposed to be operating in 2010. The $1.2 billion plant was expected to provide electricity directly to the state’s energy grid — 520 megawatts generated through a natural gas-powered plant and 50 megawatts from 250 acres of solar panels.

Victorville has paid Inland Energy upwards of $11.2 million to secure state permits and related contracts for VV2, as part of the city’s estimated $80 million investment into the power plant. But the project fell apart in 2008, before construction ever started, when the city defaulted on payments to General Electric for equipment and the financial market collapsed.

After trying unsuccessfully for two years to get a private developer to build VV2 as planned, Victorville decided instead to solicit bids for a stand-alone solar farm, looking for someone to buy or lease 300 acres the city had purchased at $8.4 million. A deal would help the city recover some of those funds, plus provide a tax revenue stream and stable energy source for customers at SCLA and Foxborough Industrial Park.

Early reports were that established solar plant operator NRG was the leading bidder. However, following a Nov. 30 special meeting, called just before Caldwell and Councilwoman JoAnn Almond gave up their seats on the City Council, knowledgeable sources confirm Colusa emerged as the leading bidder. The company has never developed a solar project.

McEachron said he knew Inland was connected with Colusa, but that most of the dealings so far have been at the staff level. When asked if he was concerned about Inland Energy’s involvement, the mayor replied, “Yes and no.”

Victorville’s main considerations in evaluating bidders have been which deal will “get some money back into the city,” McEachron said, and which one will move quickly to make the solar project a reality.

“We want to see something done with that land,” the mayor said, “and seeing a solar project built out there would be a nice thing for Victorville.”

McEachron said he’s hoping they’ll be able to reach a decision tonight, but that it could be another two weeks — and likely a year or two — before the solar project actually starts construction.