|
 |
 |
|
First Solar CEO steps down
The CEO of First Solar, a major solar company that failed to meet the necessary requirements to receive an Energy Department loan guarantee last month, has stepped down.
Mike Ahearn, the company’s founder and board chairman, will step in as CEO on an interim basis while executives search for a permanent replacement, the company said Tuesday. CEO Robert Gillette has resigned.
“Effective immediately, Rob Gillette is no longer serving as Chief Executive Officer, and the Board of Directors thanks him for his service to the company,” First Solar said in a short statement. “The Board of Directors has formed a search committee and is initiating a search for a permanent Chief Executive Officer.”
A company spokesman declined to comment further on the announcement.
The news comes at a sensitive time for the solar industry. The bankruptcy of California-based solar panel maker Solyndra -- which received a $535 million loan guarantee under the same program in 2009 -- has set off a firestorm in Washington.
First Solar received conditional commitments for Energy Department loan guarantees for several projects earlier this year.
Reuters reported last week that company executives do not believe that completion of the Topaz project will be delayed.
The Energy Department finalized loan guarantees for three other First Solar projects in recent months. But the company quickly sold the projects.
First Solar announced Sept. 30 that it would sell its Antelope Valley solar project to Exelon. The project received a $646 million Energy Department loan guarantee.
On the same day, the company said it would sell its Desert Sunlight solar project to NextEra Energy Resources and GE Energy Financial Services. The project received a partial loan guarantee of $1.46 billion from the Energy Department.
First Solar sold its Agua Caliente solar project to NRG Energy in August shortly after it received a $967 million loan guarantee from the Energy Department.
