The sun sets on solar

[Elderberry]

Powerline by Bill Glahn 9/24/2025

    $2.2 billion solar plant in California turned off after years of wasted money: ‘Never lived up to its promises.’

They never do, do they? The entire history of renewable energy is overpromise and underdeliver.

It’s the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in California’s Mojave Desert. Rather than miles of solar panels, it’s fields of mirrors focused on a central pillar to produce heat, and eventually, electricity. It never quite worked out as designed.

Details from the Post,

    In 2011, the US Department of Energy under former President Barack Obama issued $1.6 billion in three federal loan guarantees for the project.

More: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/09/the-sun-sets-on-solar.php

[Bigun]

The entire history of renewable energy is overpromise and underdeliver.

While stealing billions for themselves and their causes!

[Fishrrman]

"It’s the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in California’s Mojave Desert. Rather than miles of solar panels, it’s fields of mirrors focused on a central pillar to produce heat, and eventually, electricity. It never quite worked out as designed..."

Is the company that operates this monstrosity just going to walk away and leave it in place for someone else to clean up?

Or... will they have to bear the cost of removal and restoration of the land it sat upon to its former state...?

[Bigun]

"It’s the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in California’s Mojave Desert. Rather than miles of solar panels, it’s fields of mirrors focused on a central pillar to produce heat, and eventually, electricity. It never quite worked out as designed..."

Is the company that operates this monstrosity just going to walk away and leave it in place for someone else to clean up?

Or... will they have to bear the cost of removal and restoration of the land it sat upon to its former state...?

That is an excellent question @Fishrrman

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Save the Pacific NW where hydro dominates, one can tell leftist states by the amount charged for power.

Green schemes are expensive

[IsailedawayfromFR]

"It’s the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in California’s Mojave Desert. Rather than miles of solar panels, it’s fields of mirrors focused on a central pillar to produce heat, and eventually, electricity. It never quite worked out as designed..."

Is the company that operates this monstrosity just going to walk away and leave it in place for someone else to clean up?

Or... will they have to bear the cost of removal and restoration of the land it sat upon to its former state...?

Who ever said it would be restored? 
The scheme seems to be to  'repurpose it' for newer greenie technology once Dems get back into power.

NRG Update on Ivanpah Solar Power Plant
At its inception more than 15 years ago, the iconic Ivanpah Solar Power Plant was envisioned as a facility that would bring advanced technology to help drive the transition to low-cost renewable energy sources. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Ivanpah’s investors joined forces to bring the world’s largest concentrating solar power (CSP) project to life in California’s Mojave Desert.

Ivanpah is a 386-megawatt solar concentrating thermal power plant consisting of three individual units. It demonstrated that CSP technology was a viable and innovative renewable energy source, selling about two-thirds of the power it generates to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), and the rest to Southern California Edison (SCE), under purchase power agreements (PPAs) through 2039.

Ivanpah proved to be a successful demonstration of CSP technology, however it has been surpassed by solar photovoltaics (PV) due to much lower capital and operating costs in producing clean energy.

In accordance with regulatory requirements, in 2023 PG&E sought proposals for restructuring or terminating its renewable PPAs to reduce the cost to its customers. On January 14, 2025, Ivanpah’s owners and the DOE finalized negotiations with PG&E to terminate their two long-term purchase power agreements, allowing the DOE to maximize the recovery of its loans and provide savings for California ratepayers. Unit 2, contracted to SCE, is not covered under this agreement.

Regulatory approvals before the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) and at the federal level are underway. When a final order is received, Ivanpah will begin the process of closing its units in early 2026 after more than 10 years of providing renewable energy to two of California’s largest utilities.

Once deactivated the units will be decommissioned, providing an opportunity for the site to potentially be repurposed for renewable PV energy production. https://www.nrg.com/insights/sustainability/nrg-update-on-ivanpah-ppa-buyout.html

[Kamaji]

It’ll be used for the same purpose it has always been used for: extracting  billions of dollars from the taxpayers pockets and using them to line the pockets of politically connected leftists.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Just when you think common sense will finally reach the minds of leftists, you see this.

California regulators fight to keep massive desert solar boondoggle kicking

California regulators rejected a plan to close the controversial Ivanpah solar plant on Thursday, despite federal government and private sector concerns.

The massive $2.2 billion plant features three 459-foot towers and was set to run until 2039 before Ivanpah’s owner, Solar Partners, offered Pacific, Gas and Electric (PG&E) the opportunity to end its power purchase agreement for several units at the plant in January. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) elected Thursday to keep the units at Ivanpah going for the sake of “reliability” and meeting California’s green energy mandates.

“The CPUC must consider other factors related to utilities’ duties to ensure safe, reliable, and affordable utility services that meet the state’s clean energy goals,” the regulators wrote in their Thursday filing. “Uncertainty in renewables project development driven in part by changing federal policy may undermine a core assumption of current reliability assessments.”

A solar receiver and boiler on top of a tower is reflected in a heliostat with two mirrors at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System on March 3, 2014 in the Mojave Desert in California near Primm, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller via Getty Images)

California has stringent green energy goals, aiming for 100% clean energy by 2045. PG&E argued that ending the project would save customers money and that advanced solar technology is more efficient than the plant, which had been juiced by three $1.6 billion Obama-era loan guarantees.

Why did Ivanpah Fail?

The Trump Department of Energy (DOE) supported the shutdown plan, as Greg Beard, a senior advisor in the agency’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing, told E&E News that the DOE “will absolutely be appealing this decision.”

Ivanpah made headlines in recent years for reportedly blinding pilots, incinerating birds and energy policy experts dubbing the project “inefficient.”

“Ivanpah stands as a testament to the waste and inefficiency of government subsidized energy schemes,” CEO of the American Energy Institute, Jason Isaac, told Fox News. It “never lived up to its promises, producing less electricity than expected, while relying on natural gas to stay operational.”https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/california-regulators-fight-to-keep-massive-desert-solar-boondoggle-kicking/ar-AA1RWMWZ

[Bigun]

It’ll be used for the same purpose it has always been used for: extracting  billions of dollars from the taxpayers pockets and using them to line the pockets of politically connected leftists.

 

[GtHawk]

It sure would be sad if