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According to the American Council on Renewable Energy, investment in renewable energy companies has gone from $28B in 2004 to $71B in 2006. Sooner or later, investors are going to expect a return on that investment or the money will dry up.

The Wilder Hill Clean Energy Index is down 14% in the past year showing that in a strong rally period, renewable shares aren’t necessarily participating. However, the index is still up 50% since its inception in 2004.



There is cause for hope, oil prices remain high, pressure for carbon regulation is steadily increasing, and government support for clean energy is on the uptick (with the notable exception of geothermal energy.)


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In what seems to be common practice among the geothermal companies listed on the Toronto Venture Exchange, Nevada Geothermal has issued 23M units @ $0.55 per unit (a share and a warrant) in order to raise $12.75M in a private placement. Presumably the proceeds will be used to advance the Blue Mountain project.

While it’s clear these smaller geothermal companies are gaining access to funding, it’s unclear if this is a winning strategy in the long term for any party other than Dundee Securities or Jacob & Company Securities (who charge 8-10% commission on each deal.)


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A picture is worth 1,000 words. In one day, Polaris Geothermal saw their market capitalization cut by more than 50%. Why? Because the government of Nicaragua is questioning the validity of their concession in the country. The company’s Nicaraguan subsidiary, PENSA, is already operating at 10MW facility in Jacinta and is actively pursuing plans to expand to 66MW over the next two years.

True or not, the action by the government has had a big impact on the company. If the concession claim is upheld, expect a big uptick in this issue. If not, I would expect further decline even with the bad news already reflected in the share price.


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Through a private placement, Sierra Geothermal is selling 20,000,000 units (a unit is a share and a warrant to buy another share at a fixed price) for C$0.50 per unit yielding C$10,000,000. Net of the 8% fee charged by Jacob & Company Securities Inc. to raise the cash, Sierra should end up with just over $9M to help with projects like Reese River in Nevada.


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