Unused solar panels featured in on-line ad campaign

Unused solar panels featured in on-line ad campaign Unused solar panels installed two years ago outside the State Library with $550,000 in federal stimulus are featured in a national conservative group's online ad campaign to expose government waste. Tech signed the agreement but later filed a complaint with the state Puplic Service Commission, arguing the state constitution prohibits the state, including higher education institutions, from entering into an indemnification agreement with a corporation. "We felt after the legislative session that there is a need for Arkansans to see what spending is occurring in Arkansas, just generally an information piece,. "This is an Arkansas specific project that we came up with," Oelke said, adding that similar ads are running in other states. The $550,000 solar panels, a key component of the new State Library's environment-friendly character, were expected to generate as much as 3 percent of the building's energy needs. arkansas. Oelke said today that the unused solar panels are "just the latest example of how the federal and state government wastes taxpayer dollars on politically-correct green energy projects that serve ideological policy goals rather than real taxpayer needs. In 2009, Arkansas Tech was renovating a dormitory and Entergy, which owns and maintains electrical equipment on campus, insisted the university either sign an agreement making Tech liable for any injuries related to the equipment or purchase the equipment. 25 billion has been spent, according to recover. Arkansas received $3. "Hard working taxpayers don't like watching their money go down the drain on show-boat 'green energy' projects. The PSC, after a hearing, ruled in Tech's favor, saying the state university could not be indemnified. The state Supreme Court declined Entergy's petition to review the case and referred it back to the PSC, which is thinking of whether to strike the indemnification rule altogether in light of regulatory and court rulings. Stimulus funds have been spent on state education, highways, housing and community development, energy and weatherization, natural resources, the state Department of Human Services, public safety, public transportation and environmental programs. Unused solar panels featured in on-line ad campaign Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 16/05/2012