The nation’s largest grid operator issued a report Monday that could undermine a Ohio utility’s bid for the Trump administration to save its fleet of ailing nuclear and coal power plants.
Closing several FirstEnergy nuclear reactors would pose little harm to reliability and the energy market PJM Interconnection oversees, according to the report released by the federally overseen electricity operator.
“Units can retire as scheduled,” PJM said in a summary of the report, which the grid operator will discuss Thursday. It said that transmission upgrades will be in place to help overcome FirstEnergy’s closure of three nuclear plants in the next three to four years.
PJM said it has the “flexibility” to ensure the closing of the power plants will not harm reliability, even if there are delays with transmission upgrades to reroute electricity to account for the closures.
FirstEnergy has asked Energy Secretary Rick Perry to use his emergency authority to direct PJM to allow nuclear and coal-fired power plants to continue operating despite their weak economic performance. Perry is expected to decide on the request soon.
But the PJM study makes a case against the request.
“Sufficient transmission margin remains after deactivations to import emergency power into impacted” areas, according to PJM.
Influential environmental groups are betting that the PJM study, with opposition from a broad throng of the energy industry, including oil businesses, merchant utility companies, and the renewable energy and natural gas industries, will squash the request.
“Three FirstEnergy nuclear plants aren’t needed to provide reliable electric service for customers in Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to PJM’s finding,” said John Moore, who heads a group focused on the electricity markets within the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“This is yet another reason for the Department of Energy to deny FirstEnergy’s request for a bailout,” Moore said.
“There is more than enough power supply in the region to serve customers into the next decade,” he added. “FirstEnergy’s plea for a profit guarantee would stiff customers with billions of dollars without getting any reliability benefit in return.”
