Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Kevin McIntyre said Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s proposed use of a Cold War-era law to help coal and nuclear plants is “perhaps not the most obvious fit.”
“It’s perhaps not the most obvious fit,” but “I am sure DOE has a handle on that issue,” McIntyre said. Perry is considering using the 1950s Defense Production Act or another related law that were meant to keep power plants running during wartime.
The Trump administration’s controversial strategy on addressing nuclear and coal plant retirements has become a huge part of the president’s energy agenda and a major sticking point for many industry groups that oppose it. Both fossil and renewable energy proponents oppose the steps the administration is considering.
McIntyre spoke at an electric grid conference put on by the Washington Post on Thursday. He was asked by the moderator about Perry’s potential use of various laws to bail out power plants after FERC rejected a plan Perry proposed in the fall.
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., who spoke on a panel before McIntyre, said the idea of “baseload has become a political term” when asked about Perry’s use of various laws to try and save baseload coal and nuclear. “Baseload” refers to plants that can constantly run without interruption.
Heinrich said coal plants “go down,” but solar and wind are reliable if they are managed properly. Perry’s proposal is “just not market based,” the senator said. It’s a measure meant to bail out a “few uneconomic” power plants.
Sen. John Hoeven, R,N.D., said one has “to be careful when you say market based.” He said his state is a “microcosm” for many of the problems affecting the grid, because it has both coal and renewables.
He said some policies undermine baseload resources based on tax burdens and conflicts over who has access to transmission lines.
Hoeven appeared skeptical of Perry taking steps that would in any way nationalize private power plants. “I don’t favor nationalizing anything,” he said. The panel’s moderator suggested the use of the Defense Production Act would be akin to nationalizing private power plants.
Meanwhile, Hoeven said he was hopeful that the Senate will pass a comprehensive energy bill. “I’ll think we’ll get there on the energy bill,” he said.
A comprehensive energy bill died last Congress while it was midway through the final stages of a House-Senate conference as the presidential election was wrapping up. House Republicans thought they could get a better deal under Trump and withdrew from the deliberations.
