FILE - Workers continue to build rows of solar panels at a Mesquite Solar 1 facility under construction in Arlington, Ariz., Sept. 30, 2011. One of President Joe Biden’s signature laws aimed to invigorate renewable energy manufacturing in the U.S. …WASHINGTON — As he campaigned for the presidency, Joe Biden promised to spend billions of dollars to “save the world” from climate change. One of the largest players in the solar industry was ready.
Ahead of what is shaping up to be a tight race for the White House this year, Biden and his fellow Democrats point to the sprawling legislation as an example of investing in alternative energy in ways that will help the environment and lift the economy. But First Solar offers an example of how the same piece of legislation, shaped by a team of lobbyists and potentially influenced by a flood of campaign cash, can yield mammoth returns for the well-connected.
“President Biden has led and delivered on the most ambitious climate agenda in history, restoring America’s climate leadership at home and abroad,” Fernández Hernández said in a statement. “The White House regularly engages with industry leaders across all sectors, including clean energy manufacturers and gas and oil producers.”
When the Biden administration started writing rules to implement the Democrats’ new law, First Solar executives and lobbyists met at least four times in late 2022 and 2023 with administration officials, including John Podesta, who oversaw the measure’s environmental provisions.
Farhad “Fred” Ebrahimi, co-founder of the software company Quark, was added to Forbes billionaires list in 2023 thanks to the skyrocketing value of his roughly 5% stake in First Solar, financial disclosures show. Ebrahimi, along with his wife and family, contributed at least $1 million to Biden’s 2020 election effort, according to campaign finance disclosures.
Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund founded by Simons, also started buying First Solar shares. The hedge fund purchased 60,000 shares between July, when Schumer was privately negotiating with Manchin, and September, when Biden held a celebration after signing the bill, financial filings show. The fund eventually increased its position to 1.5 million shares, which it sold in 2023 after the company’s stock price price shot up.
It also drew a spotlight to First Solar, whose chairman was called to testify before the GOP-controlled House Oversight Committee in 2012, when he was grilled about strong-arm tactics used to secure over $2 billion in loans from the Obama administration for projects First Solar was involved with.