25 August, 2017
The preparation of the Trump administration's first comprehensive energy policy review lit fires under Washington's energy lobbies as those who feared or welcomed President Trump's thumping advocacy for the coal industry fired salvos at each other.
President Donald Trump has vowed to revive the coal industry.
"Trump and his dirty DOE refuse to face the facts - thanks to growth in renewable energy and efficiency, America's demand for electricity is flatlining, and clean energy options like solar and wind power are outperforming dirty energy like coal".
Obama introduced regulations meant to slash emissions of carbon dioxide, which are blamed for climate change. About 15 percent of the generating capacity that existed in 2002 has been retired, including many coal-fired plants that were replaced by plants burning cheap natural gas. Helped by federal tax credits and favorable state policies, the department said, renewables have lower variable costs than so-called baseload plants - the coal and nuclear behemoths that steadily churned out electricity at high rates for many years.
"The biggest contributor to coal and nuclear plant retirements has been the advantaged economics of natural gas-fired generation" fueled by the shale revolution, the report says.
Perry himself sidestepped direct recommendations in a cover letter today, saying that it's "apparent that in today's competitive markets certain regulations and subsidies are having a large impact on the functioning of markets, and thereby challenging our power generation mix".
The administration had not yet reviewed the earlier draft, which was written by department staff.
"This is a much-needed, pragmatic look at US electricity reliability and resilience, including the priority of maintaining critical clean baseload power as electricity markets change", said Rich Powell, director of ClearPath, which advocates for nuclear and hydropower. The Center for Biological Diversity called the report's recommendations "dangerously misguided", and the Sierra Club also bashed the study.
The report does also argue that renewable energy plants play a small role in the demise of coal and nuclear plants - but it doesn't suggest taking away their federal subsidies.
Solar and wind advocates found the report troublesome. That is, renewable energy and environmental protections have little or nothing to do with the reliability of the grid.
