It has been two years since the Spanish government of Socialist Workers' Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez signed contracts with U.S. businesses to build up that country's renewable energy sources – windmills, solar panels, and similar sources.
All this was meant to fulfill Sánchez's campaign promise to completely transform Spain's environment – a promise underscored by the prime minister's rallying cry "Green. Baby, Green!"
But this year, citing budgetary constraints, Sánchez and fellow Socialist Workers politicians in his government are doing a 180-degree turnabout and reneging on those contracts.
In so doing, they might stick renewable energy companies in the U.S. with a bill estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars.
The dispute between Madrid and American businesses is now in the U.S. court system.
NextEra Energy, one of the companies that provides diverse sources of energy, charged that Spain's abrupt backtracking on renewable energy severely harmed the American firm. A complaint filed with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a branch of the World Bank, ended with a ruling in favor of NextEra and awarded the company over $370.4 million in damages.
That was in 2024. In August of that year, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that U.S. courts do have jurisdiction to enforce the contracts and to confirm awards of contracts by a foreign country to American businesses under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).
In short, Spain's claim of immunity through sovereignty – in other words, its right to renege on a contract – was rejected.
Rather than paying NextEra and its sister companies a nine-figure settlement, the Sánchez government is now, more than a year later, seeking a writ of certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court -– that is, an order to the Court of Appeals to send up the case for review.
This will come at a time when Spain's commitment to renewables – despite the prime minister's cry of "Green, Baby, Green" – is drawing increasing skepticism.
On April 28, a blackout left homes, businesses, public transportation and schools without energy – all at a time Spain registered a record 61.5% of people using solar energy.
The feeling that Sánchez and the Socialists are moving away from "going green" and will not honor any previous commitment made to American businesses regarding renewables is growing throughout Spain.
In the U.S., the case now pending before the Supreme Court is Kingdom of Spain v. Blasket Renewable Investments LLC, et al. The Sánchez government argues it is immune under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), and notes the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has struck down European Union regulations for intra-EU disputes.
The Australian courts, however, have ruled that an award to Blasket Renewable and other renewable energy outlets must be honored.
In the U.S., it is up to the Supreme Court whether to uphold or overturn the D.C. Court of Appeals on whether American businesses can be awarded or face major losses on what can only be called bad faith.
One of the worst-kept secrets in Washington is that the career officials in the State Department and other government outlets – the so-called "deep state" – place loyalty to international organizations and their agendas over that of President Donald Trump and his administration.
Put another way, the "deep state" will do its utmost to ensure the lower-court ruling is undermined and Sánchez and the Spanish Socialist Workers get a boost at the polls in the next national election scheduled for 2027.
(The latest Poll of Polls in Spain shows the center-right Partido Popular (PP) leading the Socialist Workers by 31.4%-25%, with the nationalist Vox Party in its strongest position with 17.5%.)
A case that is dragged out before the parties begin moving toward a court date could mean that, whatever the final resolution, Prime Minister Sánchez could be out of power and a future right-of-center government in Madrid will be left holding the proverbial bag for brown-outs, power losses and the eventual defeat in court requiring the Spanish government to pay the beleaguered U.S. businessmen.
The key figure in the controversy at this time is U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, who can request the Supreme Court to grant certiorari and move the case to a speedy ending that will almost surely end the worries of U.S. businesses who have been treated so shabbily by the Spanish government.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Click Here Now.
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