Ivanpah solar plant kills thousands of birds with no fines issued

SAN BERNARDINO, California – Regulators are allowing an Obama-era “clean energy” solar plant to continue operating even as its reflected solar rays kill thousands of people. birds every year, without fines or coercive measures since its opening, according to an investigation by Fox News Digital.

The Ivanpah Solar Power Plant, a sprawling facility built with taxpayer support in the Mojave Desert near the California-Nevada border, remains in compliance with existing regulations even as birds are burned, injured or killed after flying through rays reflecting sunlight off the plant’s three central towers.

Regulators were aware of those risks before approving the project as part of a broader push to expand renewable energy. Today, it remains compliant, meaning wildlife deaths documented at the site are within limits established under its environmental approvals. That framework allows the plant to continue operating even as thousands of birds die each year.

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“Staff is not aware of any formal enforcement actions or fines issued by either the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the California Department of Fish and Wildlife related to bird or wildlife mortality at the Ivanpah Solar Electricity Generation System,” the California Energy Commission, which oversees large energy projects in the state, told Fox News Digital.

The commission also said it is not aware of any special regulatory exemptions for renewable energy projects related to wildlife impacts. Instead, the project was approved as long as monitoring and mitigation requirements were carried out, meaning some level of wildlife mortality was anticipated.

The futuristic-looking facility, known for its three large towers that glow brightly when lit, was approved during the Obama-era push to rapidly expand renewable energy following the 2008 financial crisis, part of a broader effort to reduce emissions and dependence on fossil fuels in the name of climate change.

At the time, it was hailed as the future of “clean energy” technology, and the federal government provided a $539 million grant for its construction, along with a separate $1.6 billion loan.

But its technology was quickly made obsolete by conventional solar panels that absorb sunlight directly and convert it into electricity, making Ivanpah’s energy more expensive to produce. The plant also relies on natural gas to power it each day, producing tens of thousands of metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.

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Researchers say birds are attracted to the glowing towers and then fly through the plant’s concentrated solar rays, known as solar flux, where they can be injured or killed. The researchers called the phenomenon “streamers” and a video published in the US. Geological Survey shows a bird leaving a trail of smoke as its feathers burn. Songbirds, pigeons, warblers and other migratory species have been found dead at the plant.

What regulators knew before approval

Environmental reviews examined by Fox News Digital show that regulators were aware before construction that the project could kill birds, either by being burned by the plant’s concentrated sunlight or by colliding with the tens of thousands of mirrors that surround the three towers like lakes. They also expressed concern about damage to the 4,000-acre physical desert habitat it was to occupy, as well as to protected species that roam the arid terrain, such as the endangered desert tortoise, dozens of which disappeared during early operations.

The end of the project Environmental impact The statement warned that climate efforts could come “at the cost of reducing native biodiversity.”

Even with those caveats, regulators approved the project, allowing it to move forward on the basis that ongoing monitoring and mitigation requirements would be carried out, rather than requiring those risks to be resolved.

A 2016 congressional review raised similar concerns and found no clear evidence that federal agencies had imposed penalties for bird deaths at Ivanpah, a pattern that appears to have continued.

No fines, no compliance

The plant is regulated under a system that tracks wildlife deaths but does not automatically result in fines or closures.

Monitoring reports show that hundreds of birds are found dead at the site each year, with some estimates putting the total in the thousands.

Responsibility for enforcement is shared by multiple agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Bureau of Land Management, each of which has authority over different aspects of the project, the CEC said.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it reviews monitoring data and provides technical information, but did not indicate enforcement actions related to the bird deaths at the site.

NRG Energy, which operates the facility, said in a previous statement that it remains committed to providing renewable electricity but declined to comment further on environmental issues.

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A system that allows harm

Instead of being treated as a typical environmental violation, the project is governed through a permitting system that emphasizes monitoring and mitigation rather than penalties.

In practice, that means damage can be documented without triggering enforcement action, although federal authorities have outstanding penalties for bird deaths in other industries.

Under federal law, violations involving protected migratory birds can carry fines of up to $15,000 per bird.

However, such prosecutions against the industry have become rare in the United States. In 2017, the Department of the Interior reinterpreted the Migratory Bird Treaty Act so that it applied only to intentional kills, not “incidental” deaths caused by industrial activities such as oil wells, power lines or wind turbines. Federal courts, including the Fifth Circuit, have since reinforced that stricter reading, limiting the government’s ability to penalize companies for equipment-related bird deaths.

But even damage reduction efforts (including deterrents, lighting changes, and operational adjustments) have not eliminated the problem at Ivanpah, and monitoring reports continue to document annual wildlife deaths.

More than a decade later, Ivanpah shows what that system looks like in practice: a project approved as clean energy that kills wildlife, relies on fossil fuels, and continues to operate without sanctions.

WATCH: Experts weigh in on future of $2.2 billion Obama-era Ivanpah solar plant as regulators keep it open

This is the third in a series about California’s troubled Ivanpah solar power plant in the Mojave Desert.

Part 1 – Obama-backed $2.2 billion green energy ‘boondoggle’ leaves taxpayers on the hook

Part 2 – Obama-era ‘clean energy’ solar power plant still uses fossil fuels and kills thousands of birds a year