More on the Georgetown Lawsuit Against Buckthorn Westex

The following excerpts from the Austin Statesman sheds additional light on the contract between the City and Buckthorn Westex. The City has gone to great lengths to keep the contract details secret from the rate payers of Georgetown.

"The city of Georgetown has sued the company that it contracted with for solar power alleging that the firm breached at least three sections of the contract.

The lawsuit says Buckthorn Westex LLC had information about the expected performance of its solar facility that it was supposed to disclose, but never revealed it during negotiations with the city over contract amendments in 2016. 

The city is seeking more than $1 million in damages and a cancellation of the 25-year contract, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday. 

Buckthorn Westex sent the following comment by email on Monday night:“Buckthorn strongly disputes all claims in the complaint made by the City of Georgetown,” the email said. 

“Buckthorn has and will continue to honor all terms of its contractual agreement with the City and any claims to the contrary are inaccurate. Just two days before filing its lawsuit, the City agreed to formal mediation.” 

“Rather than working in good faith, Georgetown elected to pursue litigation in a clear attempt to terminate its contractual obligations, the email also said. It said “Buckthorn is eager to present the facts in the legal process.” 

By October 2017, Georgetown Mayor Dale Ross had visited South America and done interviews in China, Japan and England to talk about the city’s switch to renewables. 

Ross had also appeared in three movies about the city’s reliance on wind and solar power. “Happening: A Clean Energy Revolution,” Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power” and the anti-coal documentary “From the Ashes." 

But Georgetown contracted for more energy than it could use and the falling prices of gas and oil meant it has to sell its renewable surplus for less than forecast. Last year, city officials said they would try to renegotiate the wind and solar power contracts."

At last report the City has lost $33M selling excess electricity into the ERCOT market at a price below the contract price they are obligated to purchase under the secret contracts with the solar and wind energy companies.