FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JANUARY 10, 2013
CAUSE OF ACTION SUES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY FOR WRONGFULLY DENYING LOANS TO GREEN ENERGY STARTUP COMPANIES AND LEAKING CONFIDENTIAL INTEL TO GM AND FORD
DOE awarded loans to government cronies over more qualified applicants
WASHINGTON – Cause of Action (CoA), a government accountability organization, filed two lawsuits today, one in the United States Court of Federal Claims against the Department of Energy, and another in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against the Department of Energy as well as Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Director of the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, Lachlan Seward , for unlawfully denying XP Vehicles, Inc.’s (XP)and Limnia, Inc.’s applications for funds as well as leaking patented intellectual property to government-backed General Motors and Ford.
“XP and Limnia are fighting against the Department of Energy’s lack of fairness in favor of politics as well as its flagrant abuse of taxpayer dollars to harm small business and benefit political cronies,” stated Dan Epstein, executive director of Cause of Action. “XP and Limnia are now turning to the court for the accountability the DOE failed to administer.”
XP and Limnia allege that the Department of Energy granted loans in an arbitrary and capricious manner, inconsistently favoring some, while disadvantaging other applicants. These loan programs were intended to promote U.S. advanced technology companies and to reduce U.S. dependency on foreign oil.
Evidence suggests that XP’s November 10, 2008 Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan application was deliberately “set aside,” substantially delayed consideration, and later denied by the DOE in favor of loan applications from politically-connected governmentcronieslike Tesla, Fisker, and GM.
Additionally, the lawsuit identifies the multiple violations of Non-Disclosure Agreements in which Limnia’s confidential intellectual property including patented energy storing systems and pressure membrane technology were disclosed to GM and to Ford, a recipient of the ATVM Loan Program.
XP and Limnia turned to Cause of Action to hold the Department of Energy, its Secretary and its programs administrator accountable for their actions in wrongfully denying loan applications while at the same time engaging in the unauthorized disclosure of confidential intellectual property with government-backed competitors.
The complaints can be found here.
To schedule an interview with Cause of Action’s Executive Director Dan Epstein, contact Mary Beth Hutchins, 202-400-2721 or Jamie Morris, jamie.morris@causeofaction.org.
###
