nuclear-news

Subsidy for nuclear power stations as a national “emergency”?

FirstEnergy seeks emergency lifeline for U.S. nuclear, coal plants, Scott DiSavino, Valerie Volcovici, MARCH 30, 2018 ,   NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. power company FirstEnergy Corp (FE.N) urged the federal government on Thursday to evoke little-used emergency powers to help it keep several struggling nuclear and coal-fired power plants open, a move critics blasted as an attempt at a corporate bailout.

FirstEnergy’s FirstEnergy Solutions unit called on U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry to use the emergency powers to order PJM Interconnection, the regional power grid operator, to negotiate a contract that would compensate owners of coal and nuclear plants for the benefits such as reliability and jobs those units provide.

On Wednesday, the company said it would shut several nuclear plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania in the next three years without some kind of relief.

PJM, in response, rejected the need for an emergency order to help FirstEnergy. “Nothing we have seen suggests there is any kind of emergency from these units retiring,” said Vincent Duane, senior vice president at PJM, calling the problem “fundamentally a corporate issue.”……… https://www.reuters.com/article/us-firstenergy-nuclear-coal/firstenergy-seeks-emergency-lifeline-for-u-s-nuclear-coal-plants-idUSKBN1H52ET

March 28, 2018 - Posted by Christina MacPherson | politics, USA