Massachusetts’s taxpayers will have to foot a $10-million bill for a bum government investment in a bankrupt solar panel manufacturer, the Boston Herald reports.
Evergreen Solar, a now-broke clean energy company, received around $30 million from the administration of Gov. Deval Patrick, but the investment has backfired, according to the Herald.
The paper reports:
The bankrupt solar panel maker expects to sell its shuttered Devens factory — where it wiped out 800 jobs last year — and fork over $5 million to MassDevelopment in a settlement. This would be the last major asset sale as the Marlboro-based company winds down.
The state will still be $9.6 million in the hole on its estimated $31 million investment in Evergreen, even after factoring in the sale proceeds, a voided $7.5 million tax credit and $8.9 million in tax revenue while the Devens plant was operating.
"It’s not the role of state government to be involved in these projects — period," said state Sen. Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth), who scrutinized Evergreen’s incentives on a state panel last year. "It’s a reckless use of our tax dollars."