Barack Obama’s failed multi-billion taxpayer funded Solar Plant has officially come to an end 12 years after opening its doors
California’s Ivanpah Solar Power Facility – a $2.2 billion plant backed by the Obama administration and paid for in part by federal taxpayer dollars – is set to close in 2026
Once hailed by Obama as a shining beacon of green energy, the massive desert project has instead become a symbol of wasted resources, environmental harm, and unfulfilled promises.
The Ivanpah plant, spreading across more than 3,500 acres of federal land in the Mojave Desert near the California-Nevada border, was developed by BrightSource Energy.
Construction kicked off in 2010 during the Obama administration’s aggressive push for solar energy, with the U.S. Department of Energy providing $1.6 billion in loan guarantees – AKA taxpayer dollars.
Designed to provide enough to power for about 140,000 homes on a good day – it promised round-the-clock energy.
However, from day one it fell short, producing 45% of its projected energy, forcing operators to burn massive amounts of natural gas just to keep the system running, which critics slammed as hypocritical for a “clean” project.
The total price tag hit $2.18 billion.
Electricity bills for Californians skyrocketed, as they paid for the subsidized experiment.
The intense solar beams at Ivanpah incinerated thousands of birds each year– and destroyed habitats for endangered desert tortoises.
As one observer noted, this was supposed to save the environment, not turn it into a wildlife graveyard.
