Do Not Take a Finance Class (or an English Class) from the College of Marin

At the College of Marin, located a few miles north of San Francisco, it would be foolish to take a class in finance. Tesla is receiving $5.3 million in state and utility incentives to install a battery array on campus to save at most $150,000 a year. The Marin Independent Journal explains:

Tesla will get $5.3 million in state and utility incentives and rebates covering site preparation, installation of lithium-ion battery packs, a liquid thermal control system, and software commanded by a solar inverter.

“It won’t cost us a dime and we’ll save $100,000 to $150,000 on our power bills,” college president David Wain Coon said. “It’s very exciting.”

Coon added that “as a college committed to innovation and sustainable practices, we are thrilled to be partnering with a company that is on the forefront of advancing energy alternatives.”

At zero percent interest, it would take more than 35 years to payback $5.3 million with $150,000 a year. At a mere 3 percent interest, the payback period is over 50 years. Worse, the Tesla batteries will certainly not last anywhere near that long because Tesla’s Powerwall battery is only warrantied to last 10 years.

English classes from Marin are also likely suspect due to Marin College’s torturing of English. The College claims to be “committed to innovation and sustainable practices” and this battery array is not at all financially sustainable without government and utility subsidies.

P.S. You really shouldn’t take an ethics class at Marin College either. This battery array is paid for by taxpayer and ratepayers. Hard working people paid their taxes and their electricity bills only to have the government and the utility give that money to a billionaire to install a product which makes no financial sense. Also troubling is that David Wain Coon, the college president, is “excited” (in his words) for the government and utility to pass the taxpayer and ratepayer money on Elon Musk because Coon’s College saves some money. Coon should be embarrassed, not excited.