The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected a plan Monday by Energy Secretary Rick Perry to prop up ailing coal and nuclear power plants – a bit of an embarrassment for the former Texas governor. But what does it mean for the broader energy industry?
Darius Dixon, energy reporter for Politico, says Perry’s plan came as a surprise to the energy industry.
“It was basically that any plant that can store 90 days of fuel onsite should get paid for its cost, and usually that would mean having some baked-in profit, too,” he says. “Any coal plant that was losing money, so long as they had 90 days of fuel onsite, they’d be okay.”
The natural gas industry opposed the plan, Dixon says, because most natural gas is used as delivered.
“It was also opposed by basically every renewables energy industry organization,” he says. FERC chairmen from both parties also opposed the plan.
Dixon says that FERC is traditionally an independent agency, so there’s no explicit instruction from the White House.
Written by Jen Rice.
