Pflugerville claims losing money on solar energy is actually savings

Photo: The Pflugerville Pflag

PFLUGERVILLE, TEXAS – The City of Pflugerville has a serious math problem.

Pflugerville just completed construction of 500 new solar energy panels for the city’s water treatment plant that cost $1,040,000.

The city received $870,038 in federal stimulus money and claims that they will save residents $415,000 over 20-25 years.

The city says this is a good investment.

To most of us, if you spend $1,040,000 and only get $415,000 of your money back in savings, that would represent a loss of $625,000.

Not even the esteemed Warren “I pay more taxes than my secretary” Buffet would call that a good investment, much less a savings.

But according to the math at the City of Pflugerville and to a reporter at the Austin-American Statesman, it’s a savings.

$870,038 came from federal stimulus funds and grants. It was given to Pflugerville in the form of a renewable energy grant from the Texas Comptroller’s State Energy Conservation Office.

In other words, the funding came from borrowed taxpayer dollars at the federal level, was shifted down locally, and is now being twisted by Pflugerville into a “savings”. Even if the projected “savings” of $415,000 is realized after 20-25 years, over half a million dollars will of been lost. Gone. Poof.

And keep in mind, the savings is just a projection. It’s not real savings yet, and it’s not guaranteed. Much more money could potentially be lost on the solar energy project.

But in gov-world and in the minds of green economy types, the basic principals of economics and accounting don’t matter. That just gets in the way of green ideology.

Not even Austin-American Statesman reporter Marques Harper, who reported on the story, could make the obvious connection.

Her article opens with the declarative statement that the the project will, “save the city $415,000 over the 20- to 25-year life of the panels.”

City of Pflugerville public information Terri Waggoner told the Statesman, “It’s good for the environment, and it’s good for us to be good environmental stewards. We don’t just say that we’re green. We’re living it.”

The Statesman reporter failed to ask the obvious question. How can a projected loss of over half of the investment ($625,000) over 20-25 years amount to a savings for Pflugerville?

Taxpayers continue to bleed greenbacks for the so-called green energy economy. And feeling good is more important than a bunch of numbers on a spreadsheet.

The solar energy industry hasn’t proven itself to be a viable business or a viable energy source, yet government continues to pour billions of taxpayer’s dollars into it at the expense of proven businesses. It’s an industry that currently thrives on government handouts and insider taxpayer loans.

The most well known example of this is the much publicized Solyndra, a California solar energy panel company that went belly up after receiving half a billion dollars from the Obama administration.

Billions more are being doled out by federal, state and local governments to green energy companies. Government is simply gambling fast and loose with borrowed taxpayer money.

And if Pflugerville’s solar energy panel project is any indication, taxpayers will forced to pay the house for the lost bets.