Proposed Federal coal and nuclear energy subsidies unite everyone else, forging a natural coalition of natural gas and renewables so many try hard to avoid.

Eleven very diverse energy trade groups (the Energy Trade Associations) have weighed in with FERC against the DOE’s nuclear and coal subsidy rule (a/k/a guaranteed profit rule), which DOE calls the “Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule.” The diversity of the group is notable and speaks volumes; it includes renewable energy groups, oil and gas groups, electricity consumers, rural electric cooperatives, and natural gas pipeline interests. Everyone but coal and nuclear groups of course who would be the recipient of the public largesse should the NOPR become law.

The Energy Trade Associations’ main complaint is that the DOE is attempting a cram down. DOE’s demand of a 60-day turn-around time for such a sea change in energy policy is unreasonable, unjustified and legally unsupported they say. There’s no reliability emergency and no expert (for example the North American Reliability Council or NERC) even hints that there is one. In fact, both NERC and DOE have recently released report “categorically concluding that there is no reliability emergency.”

Read more:

http://naturalgasnow.org/coal-nuclear-subsidy-cram-brings-everyone-...