New Department of Energy report urges relaxation of regulations on all forms of energy generation

Last week, the energy department released a report detailing electricity markets and reliability. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said the study is part of a broader strategy to ensure the availability of affordable electricity. The report states the government should make it easier and cheaper for generators to operate power plants to strengthen the nation’s electricity grid.

The department said the closure of many plants that once formed the backbone of the grid has raised the risk that consumers might not have reliable electricity.

According to the study, there were 306,000 megawatts of coal-fired power in the U.S. in 2002. Fourteen years later, the number fell to 270,000 megawatts, for a decline of 36,000 megawatts — enough power for as many as 36 million households, according to PJM Interconnection, which operates the region’s electricity grid.

In recent years, electricity producers such as FirstEnergy Corp. and American Electric significantly cut coal-fired generation to comply with President Barack Obama’s environmental regulations, such as the Clean Power Plan and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. In June 2015 alone, AEP shut down 5,535 megawatts of coal-fired power across Appalachia, while the firm plans to switch its portion of the Jefferson County Cardinal Plant to run on natural gas by 2030.

In a key recommendation, the report urges the federal government to make licensing and permitting faster and cheaper for facilities “such as nuclear, hydro, coal, advanced generation technologies, and transmission.”

Environmentalists and advocates for renewables have been bracing for the report since drafts that leaked to the press in recent weeks. They said the department will use the study to argue that fossil-fuel plants are needed to make the grid reliable, and policies promoting renewables should be cut back.

“The spin surrounding this report is nothing more than a half-baked attempt by the Trump Administration and its dirty energy allies to assemble a flimsy rationale in hopes of pressuring FERC, grid managers, and utilities to bail out uneconomical, highly subsidized coal and nuclear plants,” Mary Anne Hitt, director of the Sierra Club’s “Beyond Coal” campaign, said of the study.

Because of coal’s decline amid the efforts of the Sierra Club and other environmental advocacy groups, St. Clairsville-based Murray Energy Corp. is pushing President Donald Trump and Perry to invoke a section of the Federal Power Act to stop the “ongoing, and irreversible, closure of many coal-fired power plants in America, and the tremendous human and financial costs which will result.”

According to the energy department, the clause is generally used “during the continuance of a war in which the U.S. is engaged … .”

Robert E. Murray, who serves as chairman, president and CEO of his company, said multiple times that Obama and his administration waged a “war on coal” during his time in office.

“We will continue to work with the Trump administration and Secretary Rick Perry in this regard, in order to preserve the security and reliability of our nation’s electric power grid, and the jobs and family livelihoods of thousands of coal-mining families,”Murray spokesman Gary Broadbent said.

Published reports indicate Perry has declined to invoke this clause, despite personal requests made by Murray.

“We are pleased that this report acknowledges the importance of coal-fired baseload electricity generation in this country. There is, however, much more which must be done in order to ensure low-cost, reliable, and fuel-secure electricity in the U.S.,”Broadbent added.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he is glad the report recognized the importance of coal, natural gas a nuclear power to protecting the energy grid.

“As Americans, we are increasingly reliant on electricity to grow our economy and maintain our way of life. It is imperative that we stay vigilant in ensuring that baseload power plants are able to compete in order to truly achieve an all-of-the-above energy mix,” he added.