John Funk opines that the electric company that championed competitive electricity markets less than a decade ago is now banking on a federal shakeup of those same markets, as well as a handout from Ohio lawmakers (now that they see that wind, natural gas, and solar have unfair market advantages).
FirstEnergy top executive today said the outcome of a 60-day U.S. Department of Energy study into whether the emphasis on the lowest price in regional wholesale power markets (favoring cheap natural gas) is driving old coal and nuclear plants into retirement will be critical to whether the FirstEnergy power plant continues to generate power.
FirstEnergy Solutions, the power plant subsidiary, is losing money because its coal and nuclear plants cannot generate power as cheaply as new gas turbine plants can. Wind farms also, at times, out compete them because of fixes. They are going to have to do something to make sure there is a financial incentive for these plants to not close, he said of the large coal and nuclear power plants that run around the clock but are more expensive to run than gas and wind at present. (But coal should be phased out for climate and health reasons).
Energy Secretary Rick Perry ordered DOE to look into whether federally controlled wholesale markets recognize the importance of the old baseload coal and nuclear plants for the reliability of the high-voltage grid.
The study is also supposed to determine whether federal policies boosting renewable energy, particularly wind turbines, have potentially hurt the reliability of the grid.
The study follows the new administration executive orders aimed at derailing the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, which would have forced the closing of many more coal-fired power plants, (which is justified based on health and climate issues).
Read on. Familiar story. coal vs. nuclear vs. natural gas, vs. wind vs. solar, vs. hydroelectric, etc. Stability of availability and price, and impact on health and the environs?
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Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-
Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-