Solar Plant Wants to Pay Off Massive Government Loan with Massive Government Grant

Solar Plant Wants to Pay Off Massive Government Loan with Massive Government Grant - Hit & Run : Reason.com:
American taxpayers are on the hook for the Ivanpah solar project out in the California Mojave Desert close to the border of Arizona Nevada. 
The massive plant received $1.6 billion in loan guarantees from the Department of Energy to build it, out of a total cost of about $2.2 billion.  

The plant went online in December of last year.
After operating for most of 2014, the plant seems to have hit a significant problem.
It’s only producing about a quarter of the power it has promised. 
That could present a bit of a challenge paying back its loan. 
So what are they doing? 
Why they’re asking for a federal grant, of course. 
That is to say, they are asking for taxpayer dollars to pay back the loan that they got from the federal government that is guaranteed to be paid back with taxpayer dollars should the project fail. Fox news has the details, with some contributing analysis by Reason Foundation Vice President of Research Julian Morris:

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."