1/8/2018

ENERGY/ENERGY ALT/NUCLEAR ENERGY: “Federal energy regulators on Monday [1-8-18] rejected a Trump administration proposal aimed at shoring up struggling coal-fired and nuclear power plants to bolster the nation’s electricity grid, saying the administration hadn’t persuaded them the plan was needed to ensure the system’s reliability.
The administration plan, proposed in September, is one of its biggest initiatives to help those fuels compete amid a boom in gas-fired and renewable power. The Energy Department submitted the proposal, warning that so many coal-fired and nuclear plants are under threat of closing that the country’s electric grid faced a rising risk of outages and price spikes without it.
The five-member Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruled unanimously that the administration hadn’t provided enough evidence that the measures proposed were needed. The commissioners—including four Trump administration nominees, three of them Republicans—said the government hadn’t provided adequate justification for changing the rules currently governing competitive electricity markets and that the proposal would have unfairly limited competition…
Dozens of nuclear and coal-fired power plants—once the bedrock of the country’s electricity system—have closed in recent years as falling prices for natural gas and improving technology have made it harder for them to compete. The proposal from President Donald Trump’s administration came on the heels of attempts by several states to raise revenue for older plants to keep them in operation.”

-Timothy Puko, “Federal Regulators Rule Against Trump Administration on Power Plants,” The Wall Street Journal online, Jan. 8, 2018 08:25pm