FERC Rejects Coal, Nuclear Subsidies

On Jan. 8, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission unanimously denied U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry’s plan to subsidize struggling coal and nuclear plants on the grounds that it did not satisfy “clear and fundamental legal requirements” of the Federal Power Act.

The Department of Energy proposed the plan in September and stated the reforms were “necessary to maintain the reliability and resiliency of our nation’s grid.”

PJM Interconnection LLC, an Eastern regional grid operator, had opposed Perry’s plan.

“I don’t know how this proposal could be implemented without a detrimental impact on the market,” PJM President and CEO Andrew Ott told Bloomberg Markets in October.

In their denial of the plan, FERC gave grid operators 60 days to suggest any necessary grid resiliency measures.

— Kevin Ridder