Friday, September 26, 2008

Dept. of Futile Gestures: House Passes Energy Tax Credits, To No Avail

Sweet headline from Environmental Capital. Here's their take on the state of the subsidies:

Put away the champagne, and park those plans to buy new solar panels for the roof.

The House passed its version of the energy and tax package, which is different from the Senate version and which isn’t to the White House’s liking.

That means, for all intents and purposes, that the long-awaited renewal of tax credits for renewable energy are on hold again—unless the House and Senate can somehow reconcile their different versions over the weekend and avoid a White House veto. The other alternative is that Congress comes back for a tenth time in a lame-duck session after the election to try to tackle energy tax policy again....MORE

In another part of the Dow Jones empire, Eric Savitz posts, without the picture of the Veuve Clicquot brut (that yellow label is recognizable at 100 paces):

Solar Stocks Slide; House May Derail Tax Credit Extension

...If no compromise is reached, there is a risk that the credits will expire; that would be troublesome for both the industry and for solar investors.

In today’s trading:

  • First Solar (FSLR) is down $18.92, or 8.6%, to $202.46.
  • SunPower (SPWR) is down $6.74, or 7.1%, to $88.10.
  • Suntech (STP) is down $4.57, or 10.6%, to $38.61.
  • Canadian Solar (CSIQ) is down $2.33, or 9.4%, to $22.52.
  • Solarfun (SOLF) is down 90 cents, or 6.9%, to $12.15.
  • MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) is down $2.65, or 8.5%, to $28.47.
  • Evergreen Solar (ESLR) is down 22 cents, or 3.5%, to $6.03.
  • LDK Solar (LDK) is down $2.72, or 7.2%, to $35.08.
  • China Sunergy (CSUN) is down 80 cents, or 9.1%, to $8.01.

Mr. Savitz works out of Palo Alto, so his picture might be of something locally grown.