Energy

California Regulators Fight To Keep Massive Solar Boondoggle Kicking

(Screen Capture/PBS NewsHour)

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.”

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.

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.”