In this Bloomberg News article, Ari Natter looks at the newly released The Brattle Group Report, which estimates the costs of the current administration's coal bailout at $35 billion. AEE with funding from a coalition commissioned the report. Link to the full article here. Link to the Brattle Group Report here. Excerpts below:

The Trump administration’s plan to subsidize unprofitable coal and nuclear plants may cost as much as $35 billion a year, according to a study backed by trade groups opposed to the idea.

Giving power plants an out-of-market annual payment of $50 per kilowatt of capacity -- roughly the average operating shortfall for plants running at a deficit -- would cost $16.7 billion a year, according to a report Thursday from The Brattle Group. Another model that includes a return on invested capital, as the U.S. Energy Department proposed last year, could cost $20 billion to $35 billion per year.

The report was commissioned by Advanced Energy Economy with funding from trade groups including the American Petroleum Institute and the American Wind Energy Association. It assumes the government’s effort to keep unprofitable power plants running would apply to all operating U.S. coal and nuclear plants. A third scenario that subsidizes only power plants experiencing shortfalls would range from $9.7 billion to $17.2 billion per year, according to the report.

Link to the full BN article here. This story was also covered by Daily Energy Insider (link here) and Greentech Media (link here) among other trade press.