Geothermal founder files $50 million suit
OREGON - The founder of a Bend geothermal energy company has filed a $50 million lawsuit against investors he claims fraudulently took over the company.
Stephen Munson filed the suit against investment funds created by Merrill Lynch Commodity Partners and Denham Capital Management, as well as board members they appointed.
Munson founded Vulcan Power Co. in 1991, and served as its president, CEO and chairman until new directors, appointed by the new investors, ousted him in October and fired him on November 20.
Vulcan Power officials say the complaint is without merit while investors declined to comment.
Munson portrays himself in the lawsuit as a visionary entrepreneur who built up privately held Vulcan Power so that it had one of the largest geothermal portfolios in the country.
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Court reinstates constitutional challenge to Ontario's hefty ‘global adjustment’ electricity charge
TORONTO - Ontario’s court of appeal has decided that a constitutional challenge of a steep provincial electricity charge should get its day in court, overturning a lower-court judgment that had dismissed the legal bid.
Hamilton, Ont.-based National Steel Car Ltd. launched the challenge in 2017, saying Ontario’s so-called global adjustment charge was unconstitutional because it is a tax — not a valid regulatory charge — that was not passed by the legislature.
The global adjustment funds the difference between the province’s hourly electricity price and the price guaranteed under contracts to power generators. It is “the component that covers the cost of…
