Iberdrola laying off 25 in Portland

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Iberdrola Renewables is laying off 50 employees, including 25 at its headquarters in Portland.

Portland Mayor Sam Adams blames the U.S. government for the layoffs.

To Adams, the federal failure to extend a wind energy production tax credit beyond the end of this year has created uncertainty that's killing orders for renewable-energy producers such as Iberdrola and Vestas Wind Systems, which is also bracing for Portland job cuts.

"Without the certainty of that extension, project developers are not doing projects in the U.S., and manufacturers are not getting orders," Adams said.

Renewable-energy developers confirm that orders have declined because of uncertainty over the tax credit, which gives wind operators 2.2 cents per kilowatt hour.

Comments

0 #1 Reality is about to hit home — MEJAC 2012-01-25 12:30:37

The Federal government borrows .40 cents of every dollar they spend. They tax nearly 20% of our gross product now to cover the other .60 cents of every dollar they spend.

How do we spend that money loaned to us and taxed from us? Our domestic spending at the federal level alone is .70 cents of every dollar spent.

Our lenders have asked us to fix this. This is only the beginning of cuts to non-mission critical domestic spending. Sam needs to look at the math. It is beginning to look a lot like Greek to me.

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0 #2 Iberdrola Renewables - Business Model — Dan Reid 2012-01-26 10:59:41

If a company need to rely so heavily on tax credits to sustain sales, then it’s probably a poorly conceived business plan to begin with. Good riddance to government handouts to bolster up inefficient companies whether they are “green” companies or brick and mortar companies!!

Oregon Business

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