Enron and the Clinton Administration: Ties that bind

Human Events, Jun 3, 2002 by Morano, Marc

Enron Capitalizes on Clinton Alternative Energy Plans

In 1994, the Department of Energy awarded $1 million to a company called the Central and South West Services, Inc. for a wind turbine plant near Fort Davis, Texas. Central and South West Services then hired a California firm, Zond Systems, Inc., to install the 12 wind turbines, which it did in 1996. Enron benefited indirectly from the deal when it acquired Zond Systems, Inc. in 1997.

Enron became a more direct beneficiary of the administration's alternative energy program and the tax money funding it. The Enron Wind Corp., located near Lake Benton, Minn., developed wind turbines in cooperation with the Department of Energy (DOE) during the Clinton Administration.

Then-Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson announced in a Sept. 24, 1998, statement on the dedication of the Minnesota facility that the administration was "excited that Enron developed this technology with technical contributions made by the department, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration with Enron for the development of their next-generation wind turbine."

The DOE statement also pointed out that its wind power program "has played a key role in supporting Enron Wind Corp. as they have become the premier wind turbine company in the United States."

That year, the Energy Department also touted its work with Enron "to develop a 1,000 (kilowatt) wind turbine, which will greatly enhance the competitiveness of wind energy and open up large markets in the Midwest," supporting the company's research and development efforts.

The following year, Zond Energy Systems partnered with the DOE to develop a wind power technology facility in Storm Lake, Iowa. A Sept. 17, 1999, press release by the DOE boasts of the "public-private partnership" between Zond and the department.

Richardson said at the time, "The turbines at Storm Lake will allow us to better utilize the vast resource of wind power." The secretary also praised the collaboration by noting that it was "producing tangible results that will support continued development of wind technologies"...

The Department of Energy's website noted on Nov. 3, 2000, that this single federal agency's "contributions to the programs that supported Zond's 750-kW turbine since 1994 total nearly $12 million."

Award-Winning Enron 'Protects' Shareholders

In 1998, Enron received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Protection Award. In a letter to Terry Thorn, Enron's Senior Vice President of Environmental and Government Relations, Virginia Lee, the EPA's Director of Climate Protection Awards, wrote that the honor was "in recognition of exemplary efforts and achievements in protecting global climate."

A year later, the government agreed to give the award-winning Enron $200 million worth of loan guarantees to fund a natural gas pipeline from Bolivia to Brazil, The funding through the federal Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) was part of the $570 million project that included a 480megawatt power plant in Cuiaba, Brazil.