| NEWS | Hands Out, Don’t Bitch ‘No Handouts’ Jim Lamon took billions in federal help at solar venture. BY ELIAS WEISS D espite taking billions of dollars in federal help throughout his career in the solar energy sector, U.S. Senate hopeful Jim Lamon insists government should “get the hell out of the way” of American businesses. Lamon is the former CEO and founder of DEPCOM Power Inc., a Scottsdale- based utility-scale solar company. In 2019, the Paradise Valley Republican claimed on a Freedom Files podcast that neither he nor DEPCOM “ever asked for a subsidy or handout from anyone.” “No handouts,” Lamon said in March. “We can’t have this constant Big Brother government to help. That’s not going to allow us to be the strong and the powerful nation that we can be to help our own.” But in December 2020, Lamon accepted $2,660,600 in federal relief from the Paycheck Protection Program, designed by Congress to provide economic reprieve for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, and utilities, records show. At the same time, Lamon and other solar industry heads signed a letter calling for the passage of a law that would delay implementing a federal tax credit for solar companies by a year. Solar execs reasoned that the global pandemic had stalled solar projects, rendering the federal help as unnecessary. “A lot of companies took PPP dollars during a very uncertain time at the begin- ning of the pandemic in order to protect the jobs of employees,” campaign spokes- person Amy Wilhite told Phoenix New Times. “Jim’s company at the time employed over 1,200 staff, and payroll taxes far exceeded the PPP payment. Plus large federal and state corporate and indi- vidual income taxes.” The PPP money helped protect those jobs at the time, Wilhite said. The company now employs about 300 people. However, in October 2021, Lamon said DEPCOM “[did] not want to be on subsi- dies. As soon as we get off [the ground successfully], we want [subsidies] off.” Then, at the America Uncanceled Conservative Political Action Conference this March, Lamon again claimed he did not want to be on government subsidies, despite building his career with federal help. He went on to criticize the govern- ment’s power to “spend so much money” last year, noting that Congress had disbursed $4 trillion in coronavirus relief spending, even though his company got a slice of the pie. Lamon believes the solar industry could survive if its tax credit disappeared and said it needed to survive on its own, unsubsidized. “As an industry, we need to stand on our own two feet,” he said. Lamon sold DEPCOM to Wichita, Kansas-based Koch Engineered Solutions in November for an undisclosed amount as he shifted focus to his U.S. Senate bid. He’s looking to unseat incumbent Democrat Mark Kelly, but he first needs to win the Republican nomination in Arizona’s August 2 primary. His opponents include Attorney General Mark Brnovch and venture capitalist Blake Masters, who leads in the most recent polls. “Blake Masters has never had the pres- sure of creating jobs and turning a profit so employees can keep their jobs,” Wilhite said. “He has depended on the largesse of a Big Tech billionaire for his livelihood, and for more than $13 million for his campaign. He is 100 percent subsidized and completely indebted to his Big Tech Master.” Wilhite was alluding to Masters’ biggest backer, billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel, who co-founded PayPal with Elon Musk. Thiel doled out more than $13.5 million from his own coffers to Masters’ campaign. But Lamon, who is the former senior vice president of engineering, procure- ment, and construction at Tempe-based First Solar, Inc., knows a thing or two about financial help, too. Lamon held that high-ranking execu- tive position from 2008 to 2012 and was closely involved in the company’s decision- making during his tenure there. He was responsible for overseeing the design and construction of solar farms. In 2011, First Solar received more than $3 billion in loan guarantees from the Obama administration to build the Agua Caliente, Antelope Valley, and Desert Sunlight solar farms in Arizona and California. First Solar later announced it was cutting American jobs. Lamon took a leading role in the three projects that were funded by the $3 billion in Department of Energy loan guarantees in 2012. First Solar implicitly threatened to scrap plans for its Arizona manufacturing plant if it did not receive loan guarantees for the three projects. “If First Solar’s project applications are not approved, or if they’re delayed beyond September 30, we believe it could jeopar- dize our ability to close financing ... and, frankly, undermine the rationale for a new manufacturing center in >> p 13 11 phoenixnewtimes.com | CONTENTS | FEEDBACK | OPINION | NEWS | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | PHOENIX NEW TIMES JULY 21ST–JULY 27TH, 2022
