Ranger Power

What is Ranger Power?

Ranger Power is a solar development company which has a questionable track record. They are known for strong-arming local legislative bodies, against the will of the communities they trample over, to make a quick profit. Their MO is to pop up under a new name, use dirty tricks to force their solar projects through local government, capitalize on the government's solar subsidies, and then pawn the execution and responsibility of the project to other big corporations.  They then move on to their next cash grab in another community using the same set of tactics. 

  • Building Solar Farms May Not Build the Middle Class (The New York Times)
    • In Southern Illinois they promised to use a union but "mostly hired nonunion workers" and "used workers who are not qualified and not supervised by a qualified person to perform electrical wiring and connections and paid them less than the union rate." 
    • "Given the sometimes messy maneuvering that goes into obtaining land and permits, it can be helpful for [firms funding Ranger Power] to stand at arm’s length from the development process."
    • A worker splicing cables together was asked "if she was a licensed journeyman or if a journeyman was directly supervising her work, as state regulations require. The worker indicated that neither was the case".
    • "The solar industry is shaping up to look less like a workers’ paradise than something more akin to an Amazon warehouse: grueling work schedules, middling wages and steady profits for wealthy investors."
    • "There’s a nagging concern among worker advocates that the shift to green jobs may reinforce inequality rather than alleviate it."
    • "Green jobs created then coincided with a loss of jobs elsewhere, including high-paying, unionized industrial jobs. And the green jobs did not appear to raise the wages of workers who filled them."

Western Mustang Solar

Western Mustang Solar, a shell company for Ranger Power, illegally rammed their project through Gilman Township, Wisconsin and Pierce County, Wisconsin local government. Using dirty tricks, bribery, and a team of out-of-state suit and ties they rushed to get their project approved before selling the project and the community's future off to large corporations and jumping ship. 

Phil Verges - Gilman Township, Wisconsin Board Chair

Tom Manley - Gilman Township, Wisconsin Planning Commission

Other

Other Shell Companies