Solar power company withdraws offering

U.S. solar power company BrightSource Energy withdrew its initial public offering this week, saying tough market conditions prompted its decision.

BrightSource had been expected to raise roughly $180 million from the IPO, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The company's solar power installations include one in California's Mojave Desert,

Encouraged by California police that encouraged utilities to buy solar power, BrightSource had signed long-term deals to sell much of its planned electricity output to two large utilities.

But when prices plunged for power generated by competing energy sources like natural gas and traditional photovoltaic solar panels, government subsidies dried up and investors began backing away.

"The continued market and economic volatility are not optimal conditions for an IPO,"John Woolard, BrightSource's chief executive, said in a statement announcing the withdrawal of the stock offering.

Some in the industry say the solar power segment is a victim of its own success, with subsidies and government requirements to buy green power creating an overheated market that is now undergoing a correction.

"For solar stocks, things are bad; for solar, things are good," said Andrew Beebe, chief commercial officer of Suntech, one of the largest Chinese suppliers of solar panels.

"The thing that's causing the disconnect is that it was too hot for a while. Solar was too exciting. So many companies came in that there was a greater supply than there is demand."