AEE Statement on FERC Action on DOE Proposed Grid Rule

Written by Advanced Energy Economy | Jan 9, 2018

AEE Reacts to FERC Action on DOE Proposal to Subsidize Coal, Nuclear Power Plants

WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 8, 2018 — Today, Advanced Energy Economy reacted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) formal action on the Department of Energy’s (DOE) proposed rulemaking on grid resiliency pricing, issuing the following statement by Malcolm Woolf, SVP for Policy:

“We commend the FERC commissioners for rejecting an unwarranted bailout of uneconomic power plants in order to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. We look forward to engaging in a holistic look at what it takes to keep the lights on, and to demonstrating the contribution of advanced energy technologies to an affordable, reliable, resilient grid.”

Late this afternoon, ahead of its Jan. 10 extended deadline, FERC issued its long-awaited final order on the grid-resilience docket. In a unanimous vote, FERC commissioners rejected Secretary Perry's proposed NOPR, FERC closed the docket on the NOPR, opting to not take any action. The Secretary, along with major coal companies, had stated there was an urgent need to take out-of-market action in order to preserve baseload generation resources such as coal and nuclear plants. However, FERC clearly felt there was no emergency, as evidenced by the termination of the cost-of-service proposal. Three of the five commissioners (LaFleur, Glick, and Chatterjee) wrote concurring opinions supporting this action, although Commissioner Chatterjee made clear that he continues to believe there is an existing concern that requires interim action.

Still, FERC wants to examine the issue of resilience. In a new docket (AD18-7-000), FERC has requested information from the regional grid operators in the next 60 days about resilience, including its definition. FERC is suggesting the following: “The ability to withstand and reduce the magnitude and/or duration of disruptive events, which includes the capability to anticipate, absorb, adapt to, and/or rapidly recover from such an event."

BACKGROUND RESOURCES:

Refer to FERC Docket RM18-1-000 (access via AEE’s PowerSuite tool).
Joint group comments filed Oct. 23, 2017.
Joint Group reply comments were filed Nov. 7, 2017.
AEE Backgrounder on FERC DOE Proposed Rule is here.
FERC's new Docket is AD18-7-000.

About Advanced Energy Economy
Advanced Energy Economy is a national association of businesses that are making the energy we use secure, clean, and affordable. Advanced energy encompasses a broad range of products and services that constitute the best available technologies for meeting energy needs today and tomorrow. AEE’s mission is to transform public policy to enable rapid growth of advanced energy businesses. AEE and its State and Regional Partner organizations are active in 27 states across the country, representing more than 1,000 companies and organizations in the advanced energy industry. Visit AEE online at www.aee.net.

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