Billion dollar Obama-era solar power project to shut down

The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California is set to shut down years ahead of schedule despite receiving billions from the Obama administration.

The solar power plant, which generates energy by funneling solar energy into a central tower that boils water, received billions from the Department of Energy under President Barack Obama has failed and will shut down 14 years ahead of schedule. 

The plant received a massive $1.6 billion in loan guarantees from the federal government but that massive stimulus still couldn't cut it as the plant has become the latest example of the failed renewable energy initiative that was propped up by government money.

Then-Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz touted the project as an “example of how America is becoming a world leader in solar energy," back in 2011 when the loans were handed out.

Now fourteen years later, the plant will stand as a monument to the failure of the Democrat Party's energy policy that hyperfocuses on renewable energy.

Renewable Energy Corruption

In the past decade, Americans have seen multiple companies and projects fail after taking billions in government funding after promising cheap and environmentally friendly energy.

The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is far from the first Obama-era project to fail in epic fashion.

The Obama administration gave half a billion dollars to solar panel manufacturer company Solyndra which proceeded to go belly up and taxpayers received nothing.

The New York Post reported that "In January, [Pacific Gas & Energy] announced plans to cancel its agreement with Ivanpah 14 years early, determining that “ending the agreements at this time will save customers money compared to the cost of keeping them through 2039” – ultimately putting Ivanpah on notice for closure."

The plant was financially insolvent which has been a criticism that many have levied against many of these renewable energy projects that Democrat administrations have pushed over the past couple of decades.

With these companies and projects going belly up, it's beginning to look like the entire renewable energy agenda has been a corrupt scheme to funnel millions of taxpayer dollars to Democrat allies.

Severe Issues At Ivanpah

Not only has the Ivanpah power station failed to remain financially solvent, but it also did serious damage to the desert ecosystem in California's Mojave desert.

Julia Dowell, senior campaign organizer at the Sierra Club, one of the most influential environmental groups in America, railed against the plant saying it "was a financial boondoggle and environmental disaster. The project’s construction destroyed irreplaceable pristine desert habitat."

Construction of the massive solar panel farm disrupted the habitat of a threatened species of desert tortoise and the intense solar rays reflected at the towers would incinerate birds.

The irony of a renewable energy plant destroying a fragile environment while failing to generate enough power is remarkable. This is yet another blemish on former President Barack Obama's "legacy."