Roundup: Lawsuits, Bond Issues, and Wind Energy

Chevron has come out swinging against the city of Richmond which last year passed Measure T, a business license fee that is estimated to cost Chevron anywhere from $16 million-$26 million per year.

In a lawsuit filed yesterday against the city, the company presented a "kitchen sink complaint" that claims the Business License fee violates everything from state laws against taxing business inventory, to state regulations on sales and use taxes, to the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. Needless to say, Christmas came early this year for the lawyers, and this will not be decided any time soon.

This episode is but a minor distraton to Chevron, however, which is proving to be one of the few corporate citadels in this free-falling economy. Yesterday, Chevron completed a $5 billion bond issue as one of the biggest players in what Bloomberg is calling a record month for non-financial debt issuances. I guess it's good to be Chevron these days...

On an unrealted note, and as a follow-up to yesterday's post about Solano County being one of only a couple of brights spots on the California Wind Energy front, Chris Bowman profiles in the Sacramento Bee Enxco's development efforts in Solano, and the economic impact it is having on displaced workers there.