The Ivanpah solar energy plant in Nevada is a horror, slaughtering thousands of birds annually by incinerating them mid-air, failing to deliver much more than 25% of the power it promised, soaking up hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidized federal loans, and now seeking to have taxpayers pay off those loans with a gift (a “grant”) to its ultra-wealthy owners Google and solar energy giant NRG, who have already reaped huge tax benefits.

William La Jeunesse reports for Fox News:

After already receiving a controversial $1.6 billion construction loan from U.S. taxpayers, the wealthy investors of a California solar power plant now want a $539 million federal grant to pay off their federal loan.

"This is an attempt by very large cash generating companies that have billions on their balance sheet to get a federal bailout, i.e. a bailout from us - the taxpayer for their pet project," said Reason Foundation VP of Research Julian Morris. "It's actually rather obscene."

The Ivanpah solar electric generating plant is owned by Google and renewable energy giant NRG, which are responsible for paying off their federal loan. If approved by the U.S. Treasury, the two corporations will not use their own money, but taxpayer cash to pay off 30 percent of the cost of their plant, but taxpayers will receive none of the millions in revenues the plant will generate over the next 30 years.

Evidently, the money is already appropriated, so the Treasury Department, acting on executive power, can make a goft from taxpayers to these large corporations and their shareholders, to reward the failure of their project.

Norman Rogers has documented for AT readers the appalling ordeal of birds attracted to the mirrors the plant uses, thinking they are water, lured to mid-air incineration. Peter Wilson and Scott Mayer have also documented problems with the plant, including its hazard to pilots blinded by the intense glare of its concentrated mirrors.

Now these ultra-rich green cronies want taxpayers to pay off the loans they incurred constructing this misbegotten experiment, from which they have already reaped huge tax benefits.