BizWest, in a report by Ken Amundson, covers a lawsuit filed by East West Bank to recover $34.47 million after GreenGas Colorado defaulted on a loan tied to its renewable natural gas operation in Weld County. The bank moved fast, asking the court to preserve assets and appoint a receiver, and Weld County District Court granted that order almost immediately.
The article explains that GreenGas takes manure waste from large livestock operations, captures the gases through anaerobic digestion, and converts them into renewable natural gas. GreenGas has agreements tied to two large Weld County dairies, and its broader corporate family, Green Impact Partners of Calgary, has been under financial strain as well. BizWest notes that the Canadian parent entered a court-supervised restructuring process in February, sold off assets, and raised money through a stock placement, all of which helps explain why the bank got nervous enough to rush into court.
Amundson also lays out just how sweeping the bank’s move is. The receiver now has control over lease rights, improvements, machinery, permits, deposits, software, trademarks, inventory, construction plans, and basically anything else with value. That is not a lender sending a polite reminder. That is a lender smelling smoke and grabbing the fire hose.
The Bullet Point Brief
- East West Bank sued to collect $34.47 million after GreenGas Colorado defaulted on its note. That is a pretty expensive reminder that “future of energy” still has to make payroll and debt service.
- GreenGas’ Weld County operation turns manure gas into renewable natural gas through anaerobic digestion, with agreements involving major dairy operations. The sales pitch is modern, clean, circular, and investor-friendly right up until the bank files suit.
- The court moved quickly, ordering assets preserved and appointing a receiver almost immediately. Translation: the lender did not think this was the kind of situation you solve over coffee and a sternly worded email.
- The parent company, Green Impact Partners in Calgary, is already in a court-supervised restructuring process and has been selling assets and raising cash. That tends to happen when the business model starts wheezing harder than the press release.
- The collateral list is enormous, covering everything from permits and leases to machinery, software, bank deposits, and inventory. When the bank wants the whole toolbox, it is usually because faith in the project has left the building.
My Bottom Line
Time and again, these green energy ventures seem to go bust, or at least wobble around long enough for somebody else to get stuck holding the bill. That does not mean every alternative energy project is fake, foolish, or doomed. But it does mean the burden of proof is on the people promising the miracle, especially when the miracle always seems to arrive with a subsidy application attached.
My guess is simple: green energy is too often nothing without the subsidy, which makes a lot of green energy less an industry than a grift with better branding. If your business model depends on taxpayer preference, regulatory privilege, government mandates, carbon credit wizardry, and investor optimism held together with duct tape, then you do not really have market strength. You have political life support.
And that is the smell on too many of these projects. The technology may be real. The engineering may be clever. The intentions may even be sincere. But when the economics collapse the second the easy money dries up, you are not looking at a revolution. You are looking at a racket dressed up as virtue. The public gets sold a story about saving the planet, investors get sold a story about explosive growth, and eventually a bank gets to tell the truth in court filings.
So yes, prove me wrong. Build one of these things that stands on its own feet, makes money without a permanent government crutch, and survives contact with reality. Until then, every time another “green” venture ends up in receivership, I am going to remain deeply unimpressed by the sermon and very interested in the ledger.
Source: BizWest
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