Attorney General initiates investigation of BNE loan

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Assistant Attorney General Arnold Menchel has responded to a call for an investigation of BNE Energy’s loan application to the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF).

Members of Save Prospect Corp., a group formed in opposition to the Wind Prospect project, previously wrote a letter to the attorney general complaining that BNE misrepresented its project when applying for the loan.

The Wind Prospect project was voted down by the Connecticut Siting Council last week, but in a letter to Save Prospect President Tim Reilly, Menchel said he forwarded the complaint to the Whistleblower Department and Auditors of Public Accounts for review.

According to the letter sent by Save Prospect Corp., BNE overstated the generating capacity possible at the proposed Prospect site.

BNE received $500,000 in loans from CCEF for the project in Prospect. However, applications for a project that will produce less than 5 megawatts of wind power, as in the case of Wind Prospect, are limited to a maximum of $250,000 in loans, according to the letter.

In the letter from Menchel, he wrote that once the Whistleblower Department reports the results of its investigation back to the Attorney General, the Attorney General may investigate the matter further, if deemed appropriate.

“We hope this process will help address the concerns we all share to eliminate corruption, violations of law, and mismanagement in state government, quasi-government agencies, and large state contractors,” the Mencel wrote in the letter.