Biofuel manufacturer KiOR’s financial struggles might leave Mississippi holding the title to another failed green energy project.
According to the company’s quarterly report, without additional financing KiOR won’t be able to meet its financial obligations past Sept. 30.
One of its biggest creditors is the state of Mississippi.
The company owes the state $69.275 million on a no-interest loan to build a first-of-its kind plant to convert wood pulp into gasoline, fuel oil and diesel fuel in Columbus, Miss. It missed its most recent semi-annual payment of $1.875 million to the state, which granted forbearance June 3. But that ends Oct. 31.
The company revealed in its most recent quarterly report it lost $24 million in the previous quarter and $629.3 million since the company was founded in 2007. The company’s stock price was down to 23 cents per share on the New York Stock Exchange last week after opening at $15 per share in 2011.
The state’s possible loss on KiOR would dwarf both the Yalobusha County beef plant (more than $50 million in a loan given in 2003 under the administration of then-Gov. Ronnie Musgrove) and Twin Creeks Solar ($26 million in 2010).
If KiOR defaults on its loan, the administration of then-Gov. Haley Barbour would be responsible for more than $95 million in taxpayer money spent on failed green-energy ventures.
