Battery maker’s bankruptcy gives Obama critics more ammunition
WASHINGTON -- Exposing President Obama to further criticisms of his administration’s economic policies, a leading electric-car battery maker that received a large federal grant filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday and said it was selling its auto-business assets.
A123 Systems Inc., a company built with innovative MIT-developed technology and a $249-million grant under Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus program, said it signed a deal to sell its two Michigan manufacturing plants and some other assets to Johnson Controls Inc. in a deal valued at $125 million.
The announcement by A123, coming on the day of the second presidential debate, could be seized by Republican challenger Mitt Romney to further his attacks on the administration’s stimulus and in particular its use of federal dollars to help certain companies as a boost to the nation’s green technology.
Another advanced-battery maker that received a federal grant, Ener1, filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year. And Obama took considerable heat after the demise of Solyndra, a solar company that lost $527 million in government money.
Two Republican senators immediately pounced on the news Tuesday.
“A123 is yet another example of President Obama gambling with taxpayer dollars and picking winners and losers in the green energy world,” said John Thune of South Dakota, who joined with Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa in issuing statements questioning whether the Energy Department had done adequate due diligence before making the grant.
The Energy Department, in a memo Tuesday that seemed to anticipate renewed criticisms, said the advanced-battery market was continuing to expand significantly in the U.S. and around the world, and that A123’s sale will allow it to remain a vital part of the industry in America.
“Four years ago, virtually all advanced vehicle batteries were built overseas, and it looked like the United States might miss out on this enormously important, rapidly expanding market,” the memo said in explaining why the Energy Department began making investments to jump-start the industry.
The memo said the department, with bipartisan support, awarded $2 billion in grants to 29 companies to build or retool manufacturing facilities for advanced-battery manufacturers and other companies making parts for electric cars. As for A123 and its promising lithium-ion technology, the memo said, the company has a long history of having garnered bipartisan support.
The Chapter 11 filing by A123, which is based in Waltham, Mass., came a day after it said it couldn’t make a $2.8-million interest payment to bondholders due Monday. In August, the company struck a deal for a $75-million loan with an American subsidiary of Chinese auto-parts giant Wanxiang Group, but A123’s chief executive, David Vieau, said in a statement Tuesday that there were “unanticipated and significant challenges to its completion.”
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