Embattled BP collecting millions in government stimulus funds for California power plant

[marmar]

August 3rd, 2010 7:04 PM
Embattled BP collecting millions in government stimulus funds for California power plant

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By Will Evans / California Watch


The federal government is giving a joint venture involving oil giant BP millions of dollars in stimulus money to build a power plant on Southern California farmland, even as the company faces heavy government pressure and a criminal probe into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

BP is benefiting from a $308 million federal grant over several years to help build the power plant on cotton and alfalfa fields seven miles from the western edge of Bakersfield. Half of the money is coming from stimulus funds and the rest from other federal programs.

The stimulus portion alone qualifies as the second biggest award in California to a corporation and among the largest in the country benefiting private interests, according to data reported by stimulus recipients to the government.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced the grant last year to Hydrogen Energy California, a joint partnership of BP and the multinational mining firm Rio Tinto, and has paid out $13.6 million so far. The money continues to flow even as the Obama administration bills BP for the massive costs of the oil spill.

“If you’re trying to get money out of them, why are you giving them money?” said Tom Frantz, a local environmental advocate and part-time almond farmer who opposes the power plant. “If I was the government right now, I would not give BP $300 million to do anything.”


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