Energy Secretary Rick Perry voiced doubt Monday that he would approve a plea by a Ohio utility to save its coal and nuclear power plants.
“My job is to find solutions to challenges that face us,” Perry said after addressing the Bloomberg New Energy Finance conference in New York. “The 202(c) may not be the way we decide is most appropriate — the most efficient way to address this. It is not the only play.”
Ohio utility First Energy recently petitioned Perry to use his authority under section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act to order grid operators to keep its nuclear and coal plants online. The company said this month that it would close three of its nuclear power plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania in the next several years before announcing that its subsidiary First Energy Solutions filed for bankruptcy protection. The 202(c) petition came soon after the bankruptcy filing.
President Trump mentioned the First Energy petition in making public remarks in West Virginia last week. Trump said the administration would “be looking at that as soon as we get back.”
