“Department of Energy” on The Daily Caller

The chairman of First Solar, speaking to a House subcommittee on Wednesday, admitted that his taxpayer-backed company has created more jobs overseas than it has within the United States. (more)

The government’s green energy policy includes two parts: (1) supporting basic research, with the aim of developing new green energy technologies; and (2) making loan guarantees that promote the adoption of green energy technologies. Supporting basic research is an important role of government, but the loan guarantee program is a wasteful mistake because it doesn’t work. (more)

The Department of Energy announced Thursday a $100,000 prize for software developers to come up with mobile applications to tell consumers how much energy they are using. (more)

In a piece of video that shot across the Internet Thursday like a sports car doing zero-to-60 in four seconds, Energy Secretary Stephen Chu told the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power that he does not own a car. But The Daily Caller has confirmed that Chu’s wife does — and it’s quite an automobile. (more)

It’s time to sound the alarm: Power companies in Vermont have officially declared war on the privacy and wellbeing of their customers. In a rollout largely funded by a massive Department of Energy stimulus grant, Vermont’s electricity utilities have begun replacing standard, analog meters with wireless models known as “smart meters.” While such a technological upgrade may at first glance seem benign, these new meters in fact threaten our health, our privacy and the very values on which this country was founded. (more)

Staring down a subpoena threat, the White House agreed Thursday evening to allow administration officials to testify before a House committee investigating the Solyndra loan guarantee. (more)

Despite a tumultuous political and fiscal year, the Department of Energy is asking Congress for a substantially bigger budget in 2013 for some of its most disputed programs. (more)

“When the government controls your energy, they control your life,” says Dan Kish, the Institute for Energy Research’s senior vice president for policy. (more)

Has the Obama administration learned anything from losing millions of dollars in the solar energy company Solyndra? Not that much, says the Institute for Energy Research’s Dan Kish, an expert in the field. (more)

Some of President Barack Obama’s top donors and fundraising bundlers are partners in Amonix Inc., the latest Solyndra-like corporate crash. The company has announced a layoff of 200 workers — two-thirds of its workforce — despite a federal green-technology tax credit of $5.9 million in 2010. (more)

Texas Gov. Rick Perry may have cursed his memory when he forgot the Department of Energy during a Republican debate in Michigan, but some in the heating and air-conditioning industry would certainly like to also forget the DOE. (more)

The Department of Energy, which issued a $118.5 million grant to the now bankrupt battery company Ener1, is describing a fresh infusion of $80 million in private capital as a sign that the company’s technology “has merit.” (more)

Indiana-based electric car battery manufacturer Ener1 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Thursday. The battery maker received over a quarter of the federal stimulus money granted to projects in the state of Indiana under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act fo 2009, a state which was the second highest recipient of federal stimulus money. (more)

Newly surfaced confidential documents show credit agency Standard and Poor’s considered Beacon Power — a now-bankrupt green energy storage company — a risky investment, even with the $43 million loan guarantee President Barack Obama’s Energy Department was planning to, and eventually did give the company. (more)

The buyers of Chevrolet’s taxpayer-subsidized Chevy Volt hybrid have an average income of $170,000, but still receive thousands in tax breaks for their purchases. (more)

American taxpayers are already on the hook for $535 million as a result of the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee for the now-bankrupt solar company Solyndra. Now they could owe up to $14.3 million more. (more)

House Oversight committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa believes Energy Secretary Steven Chu is in serious trouble. (more)

Energy Secretary Stephen Chu refused to apologize or admit any serious error in the handling of the Solyndra loan Thursday, leading one House Republican to call for his firing. (more)

Energy Department Secretary Stephen Chu will testify Friday that the $535 million loan to bankrupt solar panel company Solyndra was properly vetted and an unfortunate result in an otherwise successful program. (more)

The Obama administration urged officers of the struggling solar company Solyndra to postpone announcing planned layoffs until after the November 2010 midterm elections, newly released e-mails show. (more)