Dr. David R. Legates is an emeritus professor at the University of Delaware and the director of research and education at the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation. He also serves on the Advisory Board of A Better Delaware.
Bloom Energy’s founder, K.R. Sridhar, recently appeared on Maria Bartiromo’s show on Fox Business. He touted Bloom Energy as a viable solution to President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national energy emergency. But, as we approach the 13th anniversary of Delaware’s investment in Bloom Energy, it is time for the Meyer administration to pull the plug on this energy debacle.
Under the Markell administration, then-Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control secretary Collin O’Mara engineered a sweetheart deal with Bloom Energy of San Jose, California — the same city for which O’Mara was the clean-tech strategist.
The deal O’Mara struck with Bloom Energy was very favorable to the upstart energy company. The University of Delaware would build a 240,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on its Science, Technology and Advanced Research Campus, and Bloom Energy would occupy the building for 25 years at a rent of $1 per year. Moreover, Bloom Energy would receive more than $30 million in grants from the state and a surcharge guarantee that would last 21 years.
In exchange, Bloom Energy was to have spent at least $50 million in the development of six other buildings to encourage like businesses to locate in the university’s STAR Campus. To date, none of this has occurred. It also was to have employed 900 workers by Sept. 30, 2016, or, as then-Gov. Jack Markell said, “It will bring an estimated 1,500 manufacturing, supply chain and construction jobs to the region.” To date, Bloom Energy still has not employed even 800 workers. Note, too, that this sweetheart deal was spurred, in part, by the loss of more than 6,000 jobs due to the closure of the Boxwood Road and Newark automobile facilities.
To pay for this, Delmarva Power ratepayers foot the bill by the addition of a “qualified fuel cells renewable compliance charge” on the delivery price, not the supply charge, of their monthly electric bills. To date, ratepayers have shelled out more than $405 million to Bloom Energy. Adding what state and federal taxpayers have funneled to the company as subsidies, the grand total of the Bloom Energy giveaway so far is more than $580 million.
Bloom Energy argued that its fuel cells are renewable energy, and Gov. Markell said that the surcharge was necessary to achieve the state’s goal of having 25% of its energy come from renewable energy by 2025 and 40% by 2035. The Institute for Energy Research in Washington, D.C., noted that ratepayer subsidies to a private energy business are “unusual.” “This is a serious sweetheart deal,” its vice president of policy said.
Asserting that it is green energy, the state of Delaware leveraged funds from the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards Act by “allowing energy output from Delaware-manufactured (Bloom Energy) fuel cells to be considered a resource eligible to fulfill a portion of the REPSA (requirements).”
Remember that, in July 2014,The Data Centers project was rejected, owing to its requirement for a natural gas plant to be constructed at the STAR Campus. As the university stated, “Given the University’s commitment to reduced carbon emissions, and its strong reputation in renewable and carbon-free energy research, the emplacement of a fossil-fuel based facility of this size does not appear consistent with UD’s vision of a first-class science and technology campus.” An odd reason, given that, at the STAR Campus, Bloom Energy was already producing natural gas-based fuel cells that are less efficient and generate more carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour than the proposed natural gas plant.
And, yes, since Bloom Energy’s fuel cells utilize natural gas as a fuel source, carbon dioxide is produced as a byproduct. While Bloom Energy contends that its fuel cells emit only 700 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour, after just two years of use, its fuel cells exceed 825 pounds. Think about that: Delaware pretends that Bloom’s fuel cells are green, renewable energy, when, in reality, they emit more carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour than a combined cycle natural gas plant does.
Moreover, Bloom Energy’s fuel cells produce hazardous waste as a byproduct. Natural gas contains dangerous elements and compounds, such as benzine, carbonyl sulfide, hydrogen sulfide, arsenic, lead and chromium. Delaware does not track the transport of these compounds to hazardous waste facilities, though manifests have been discovered that indicate that Bloom Energy indeed ships this hazardous waste from its Newark facility to Indiana.
In late 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency fined Bloom Energy $1.37 million for mishandling hazardous materials originating in Delaware, but the fine was kept secret. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, loaned her U.S. Senate Energy Committee’s special counsel to Bloom Energy from 2018-20, so she could minimize Bloom Energy’s fines to the EPA and assist the company in hiding its hazardous waste, in which O’Mara and DNREC were complicit. Indeed, O’Mara gave testimony under oath to the Delaware Public Service Commission that Bloom Energy was clean energy when he knew that Bloom Energy generated hazardous materials and emitted more carbon dioxide than it claimed in its marketing brochures and website.
In summary, rather than being efficient, green and affordable, Bloom Energy fuel cells emit more pollution and the electricity it generates costs more than five times as much as a state-of-the-art natural gas plant. Moreover, it is being used as part of the Delaware Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards Act even though it is based on natural gas — a fossil fuel.
Further, Bloom Energy has lied about the hazardous waste produced by its fuel cells, and its leaders continue to lie — aided by the state of Delaware — about how the hazardous waste is treated and to where it is shipped. Shipping hazardous waste around the country without proper documentation is a fundamental health concern for first responders and citizens alike.
The Markell-O’Mara deal to bring Bloom Energy to Delaware has been a complete and utter disaster for all Delawareans and the ratepayers of Delmarva Power. It’s time to pull the plug on this boondoggle that has plagued Delaware for more than a decade.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
