WASHINGTON \u2014 Federal regulators on Tuesday disputed the Trump administration\u2019s claim that struggles facing the coal and nuclear industries threaten the reliability of the nation\u2019s power grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is no immediate calamity or threat,\u201d the Republican chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission told Congress. Existing power sources are sufficient to satisfy the nation\u2019s energy needs, FERC Chairman Kevin McIntyre added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Four other commissioners from both parties agreed there is no immediate threat to the grid. The comments before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee contradict a recent White House directive ordering action to keep coal-fired and nuclear power plants open as a matter of national and economic security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think reliability has been protected and I am confident it can continue to be if we are vigilant about any localized issues,\u201d said commissioner Cheryl LaFleur, a Democrat and former FERC chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., asked LaFleur and other commissioners whether any of them believe the U.S. is facing \u201can actual national security emergency\u201d as President Donald Trump claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
None answered yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Commissioner Robert Powelson, a Republican, warned that Trump\u2019s June 1 directive imploring Energy Secretary Rick Perry to take immediate steps to bolster coal and nuclear plants threatens to \u201ccollapse the wholesale competitive markets that have long been a cornerstone of FERC policy.\u201d A plan being considered would direct regional transmission operators to buy power from coal and nuclear plants for two years to ensure grid reliability and maximize domestic energy supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Federal intervention to subsidize failing coal and nuclear plants could \u201cblow up the markets\u201d and \u201cresult in significant rate increases without any corresponding reliability, resilience or cybersecurity benefits,\u201d Powelson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He and other speakers cited a recent report by a regional transmission organization that oversees the grid in 13 states and the District of Columbia declaring there\u2019s no need for drastic action to protect the grid. \u201cThere is no immediate threat to system reliability,\u201d Pennsylvania-based PJM Interconnection said in response to Trump\u2019s directive. The organization oversees the grid in a region that stretches from Illinois to Virginia, including several states where coal-fired power is a major source of electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who chairs the Energy Committee, said she was concerned about Trump\u2019s directive, but said the Energy Department was \u201ctrying to fill a perceived vacuum\u201d left by FERC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn my view, FERC should be pointing the way on policy improvements that address grid vulnerabilities, while reaffirming our commitment to competition in wholesale power markets,\u201d Murkowski said. \u201cI find it unfortunate that prior commissions did not lead more effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McIntyre, the FERC chairman, agreed it was prudent to study grid resilience, saying regulators \u201cneed to take a longer-term lens\u201d to ensure future reliability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While there is no immediate threat to reliability, Congress and the Trump administration \u201cshould not assume that good fortune will continue,\u201d said Republican commissioner Neil Chatterjee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chatterjee, a former aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., compared inaction on grid reliability to driving without a seat belt: \u201cYou may not get into an accident tonight. That doesn\u2019t mean you won\u2019t get into an accident at rush-hour tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Democrats slammed the administration\u2019s proposal, saying Trump was working to \u201cprop up\u201d uneconomic and polluting energy sources like coal to fulfill a campaign promise to bring back coal jobs and reward coal executives that contributed to Trump\u2019s 2016 campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is no mystery behind the radical proposal\u201d the Energy Department is considering, said Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state, the senior Democrat on the Energy Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A top coal CEO, Robert Murray, \u201csent a letter to the Trump administration with pre-written executive orders to bail out coal mines, eliminate worker safety and allow more pollution,\u201d Cantwell said. Murray called for an emergency Energy Department order to keep coal plants open for two years \u201cand that is exactly what DOE is proposing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know the president wants to deliver on this, but the grid operators say the emergency does not exist,\u201d Cantwell said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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