There's No Power Grid Emergency Requiring a Coal Bailout, Regulators Say

"The idea that the power grid is so frail it’s become a national security crisis got little support from FERC commissioners testifying before Congress. "

"The top regulators of the nation's power grid told Congress on Tuesday that they see no immediate national security emergency to justify propping up coal and nuclear power plants with a government order, as the Trump administration is considering.

All five members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, weighed in at a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on a debate that has been roiling the industry and its regulators for months. It was the first time in many years that the whole commission had appeared before the committee together.

Even though most of them were appointed by President Donald Trump, they seemed ambivalent or even hostile to his repeated attempts, along with Energy Secretary Rick Perry, to require grid operators to buy power from uneconomical coal and nuclear power plants."

John H. Cushman Jr. reports for InsideClimate News June 12, 2018.

SEE ALSO:

"Trump's Coal, Nuclear Bailout No Shield From Hackers: Cyber Experts" (Reuters)

"All 5 Federal Energy Regulators Don’t Believe There’s A National Security Emergency On Coal" (Think Progress)

"Energy Commission Sees No National Security Risk From Coal Plant Closures" (The Hill)