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Elon Musk is CEO-owing one of the most surprising automotive companies in the US: Tesla Motors. But as we all know, he has many other ventures ongoing, one of which is SolarCity - one of the largest American providers of sustainable energy services. That same company is rumored to have been involved in a bad contract that includes a massive solar-panel project launched in 2012.
Before we look into the details, here’s what happened. Two Oregon universities launched a big solar-panel project in 2012 that was meant to stimulate the “buy American/buy local” initiative for the regional economy. A complicated and meandering course of events led to something else instead: the local people who were employed to build the panels were prison laborers who instead of earning anywhere between $27 and $70 an hour - which is what workers make - were paid less than a dollar an hour.
Why is this a problem? Because the whole point of this $27 million collection of solar arrays was to bring a fresh bump to the local economy as well as protect the environment. We are talking about nearly $12 million in tax credits, with the contractor’s assurance that in exchange the developer would buy local and hire locally.
As a result of an elaborate investigation by Oregon Live/ The Oregon, it appears that even though Elon Musk’s SolarCity eventually installed the panels, the company failed at refreshing the regional economy by partnering with a business that used Sheridan Federal Prison inmates to manufacture those panels.
Reportedly, Elon Musk’s solar power company was afraid their partnering firm would go bankrupt, so they ended up closing a deal with Suniva - a Georgia company producing solar panels out of the local Sheridan prison - for the final three phases of the project. Meanwhile, there was a race towards meeting the government’s deadline, as the primary deal was that the projects had to be done by January 2013.
Fast forward to today and the solar panels have already celebrated a year since they fired up, generating even more e-juice than expected at the Oregon Institute of Technology and Oregon State University.
One thing is certain, the incentives the Energy Department granted to SolarCity were promised only if the project would create new jobs and boost the regional economy.
Why is this a problem? Because the whole point of this $27 million collection of solar arrays was to bring a fresh bump to the local economy as well as protect the environment. We are talking about nearly $12 million in tax credits, with the contractor’s assurance that in exchange the developer would buy local and hire locally.
As a result of an elaborate investigation by Oregon Live/ The Oregon, it appears that even though Elon Musk’s SolarCity eventually installed the panels, the company failed at refreshing the regional economy by partnering with a business that used Sheridan Federal Prison inmates to manufacture those panels.
It’s China’s fault
As to whom is to blame for the outcome, according to the source, the lowering prices of Chinese solar-panel competitors would be the short answer. At the time, SolarCity was working with another company called SolarWorld. The Hillsboro, Oregon-based company paid the fair wage to its workers, but over a dispute regarding “alleged dumping of Chinese solar panels,” SolarCity ended up calling it quits with SolarWorld.Reportedly, Elon Musk’s solar power company was afraid their partnering firm would go bankrupt, so they ended up closing a deal with Suniva - a Georgia company producing solar panels out of the local Sheridan prison - for the final three phases of the project. Meanwhile, there was a race towards meeting the government’s deadline, as the primary deal was that the projects had to be done by January 2013.
Fast forward to today and the solar panels have already celebrated a year since they fired up, generating even more e-juice than expected at the Oregon Institute of Technology and Oregon State University.
A chance for the inmates
However, meanwhile, things remain under a question mark. Naturally, both sides have different opinions. SolarCity spokesperson Jonathan Bass claims that providing job training to prepare inmates for successful re-entry to the workforce is great and can make a difference in the workers’ eventual rehabilitation. Moreover, the company’s representative told the source they never were aware of the poor wages offered to employees.One thing is certain, the incentives the Energy Department granted to SolarCity were promised only if the project would create new jobs and boost the regional economy.
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