Powelson rejects Polar Vortex arguments

[georgepds]

Latest

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/pe...y-extension-on-cost-recovery-proposal/512654/

Secretary of Energy Rick Perry on Friday begrudgingly granted the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 30 more days to act on his agency's controversial cost recovery proposal for coal and nuclear plants, warning that doing so would mean continued risk to the nation's electric system.Perry wrote that while the "better course of action" would be to act on the DOE proposal by Dec. 11, he would grant the extension "under the assumption that the Commission cannot act within the original 60-day deadline." In the interim, Perry wrote he would "examine all options in my authority ... to ensure the security of the nation's electric grid."The extension came in response to a request from FERC Chairman Kevin McIntyre, who wrote to DOE late Thursday asking for more time to analyze the proposal. McIntyre noted FERC has added two new regulators in the past two weeks and received more than 1,500 comments on the plan.

 

[georgepds]

The two group analysis of the comments. Pretty good.. which group are you ?

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/the-doe-nopr-aint-a-damn-thing-changed/512448/

First, there are the market purists, who continue to insist that Restructured Administrative Markets are fine (never-mind the myriad of already-existing interventions and price distortions). ....

The difficulty, at the blackboard economics level, is that a neoclassical competitive market clearing at the marginal cost of production does not present an opportunity to recover fixed costs....

The second group of commenters are the end of game proponents, the “winning isn’t everything — it’s the only thing” point of view. For these commenters, it does not matter how we achieve a particular result from a legal or regulatory perspective so long as the result ends up killing fossil generators, with nuclear as an unfortunate (or in some cases desired) casualty. ....

Forget about constitutional consistency. Expect those advocating for state rights to protect renewables to jettison those principles when it comes to fossil fuels.

 

[peakbagger]

I am waiting to see how the proposed subsidies are written. There is a already a small country wide fleet of renewable power plants that are capable of being dispatched and store 90 days of fuel. They are called biomass power plants. I hope they get the same treatment as coal and nuclear.

 

[georgepds]

Good point... renewables were 8%of iso ne load today, with
wood 46%, Refuse 33%, And landfill gas 3% of that, all of which qualify under simple interpretation of the proposed subsidy

https://www.iso-ne.com/isoexpress/web/charts

 

[peakbagger]

Unfortunately, the devils are in the details. Northern New England in particular doesnt have coal but it does have a low grade wood market. This market is needed to encourage landowners to manage their land more actively. Back years ago there were quite a few biomass power plants in rural areas in the region, these were small plants that would fit nicely into a distributed energy model. Sadly many have gone away but there is still are quite a few around struggling to keep open. Unfortunately the owners are small players competing with very large competitors so they have little voice. They also dont have access to various subsidies and incentives that other renewable do.

 

[georgepds]

Vox weighs in.You get a sense of their opinion from the attached quote ( clue: they hate it) , but the article is a good review of the players for (few) and against ( many) the proposal

https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/12/9/16745084/rick-perry-coal-bailout-ferc

"The decision will serve as a barometer measuring how deep partisan hackery has penetrated the federal bureaucracy. It has become extremely clear since Perry debuted his proposal that it is nothing but pure crony capitalism — a bid to heap rewards on a few wealthy friends, with no larger justification."

 

[georgepds]

Latest

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/af...urray-says-he-never-proffered-grid-re/513771/

Coal mining company Murray Energy filed comments with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) asserting that it did not propose the Department of Energy’s controversial cost recovery proposal for coal and nuclear plants in wholesale markets. The filing came after the publication of photos showing CEO Bob Murray in March delivering a coal “Action Plan” to Secretary of Energy Rick Perry that called for plant payments similar to the DOE’s proposal. Environmental groups filed comments last week asking FERC to dismiss the proposal because the text “closely resembled” DOE’s eventual proposed rulemaking.




Photos here


http://inthesetimes.com/features/murray_energy_trump_doe_coal_industry_grid_plan.html

 

[georgepds]

Proposal rejected



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...al-and-nuclear-plants/?utm_term=.1344f66b5ff6
"

"The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Monday unanimously rejected a proposal by Energy Secretary Rick Perry that would have propped up nuclear and coal power plants struggling in competitive electricity markets.


"The law and common sense prevailed over special interests today,” John Moore, director of the Sustainable FERC Project Coalition, said in a statement. “The FERC correctly found that the Department of Energy’s proposal violated the basic requirements of the Federal Power Act.

 

[peakbagger]

I expect the new ball to drop is to replace the FERC commissioners until they vote the way the administration wants

Seems to work for net neutrality and many EPA policies

 

[vinny11950]

I expect the new ball to drop is to replace the FERC commissioners until they vote the way the administration wants

Seems to work for net neutrality and many EPA policies

They are going to do what they do.....

But at some point there has to be a reckoning with reality. I mean we can't keep trying to turn back the clock to make a lie true.

 

[georgepds]

I expect the new ball to drop is to replace the FERC commissioners until they vote the way the administration wants

Seems to work for net neutrality and many EPA policies

I think 4 of 5 commissioners are newly appointed.. so not likely

Their response, to give the DOE cover, was to thank Perry for bringing up the issue of resilience, and a promise to study it