CLEVELAND – A little-understood player in the Baard Energy fiasco is a company based in Boca Raton, Florida, called “Planck Holdings.” For the past year, Baard Energy’s John Baardson has been saying that Planck Holdings would bankroll his proposed coal refinery in Wellsville. Baardson said Planck was run by Perian Salviola, but she refused to speak publicly about the company or her role. Now Baardson is out of the picture, the coal refinery project is dead, and newspaper reports have Planck Holdings ready to invest in a natural gas plant for the same site.
What is Planck Holdings? A year ago, Ohio Citizen Action assembled evidence that Planck was closely tied to JSW Steel in India. Now, in JSW Steel’s 2011 Annual Report, page 79, Planck Holdings LLC is listed as a JSW Steel subsidiary. Also listed as subsidiaries are Planck Trading LLC, Periama Holdings LLC, and Prime Coal LLC, all companies for which Perian Salviola has been identified as a top officer.
The above chart comes from a recent Fitch Ratings Agency report on Periama Holdings, LLC.
— Paul Ryder, Ohio Citizen Action
Reservoir of natural gas could hurt coal interests
— Spencer Hunt, Columbus Dispatch
New Baard project could be an improvement for county
— Editorial, Lorain Morning Journal
‘Stars’ honored in Wellsville
— Ana Yanni, East Liverpool Review