New Energy And Big Oil Unite Against Subsidies For Coal And Nuclear

How Trump Did the Impossible: Getting Solar and Oil Lobbyists to Unite

Ari Natter and Jennifer A Dlouhy, December 5, 2017 (Bloomberg News)

“…Within hours of Energy Secretary Rick Perry releasing a proposal to overhaul the country’s power markets to advantage unprofitable coal and nuke plants…[a team of unlikely allies [came together], including solar installers, oil refineries and natural gas drillers, all of whom were worried that the plan would raise electricity costs and undercut their fuel source in the power markets….[The American Council on Renewable Energy] joined the American Petroleum Institute and 19 other groups to submit comments that…dubbed the plan ill defined, unwarranted and unreasonable…The lobbying is aimed at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees the nation’s electricity markets and is set to decide by Dec. 11 whether or how to act on the Energy Department’s proposal. If approved, it could…[give] unprofitable coal power plants an edge against more economical ones that run off cheap wind, solar and natural gas…[by allowing] power plants with 90 days of fuel on site to charge customers more money. Coal and nuclear plants store their fuel at the plant; natural gas and renewables typically don’t…Estimates [of how much it would raise customers’ bills] range from a few hundred million dollars to more than $200 billion…” click here for more

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