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Virginia Advanced Energy Economy's Executive Director Harry Godfrey makes the case that the recently passed SB966 has the potential to dramatically increase renewable energy and energy efficiency deployment, leading to new jobs across the Commonwealth. But, he says, the responsibility rests "on all of us, including elected leaders in Virginia, to hold the utilities to account and ensure they live up to the potential of this legislation."

The story highlights a new study that concluded "expected closure of four nuclear plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania will dramatically harm efforts to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to climate change, and significantly raise electricity prices for consumers in those states and beyond."

The Washington Examiner published this opinion piece from a group of authors representing the perspective of electricity buyers large and small, including the Advanced Energy Buyers Group that AEE coordinates. Excerpts below: President Trump recently announced that the Energy Department is reconsidering funneling emergency aid to unprofitable power plants in response to a request from a bankrupt company. But experts agree that no grid emergency exists, and that such action would cost consumers billions and destroy market competition. Indeed, subsidizing troubled companies would constitute an extreme measure at consumers’ expense. It’s about time consumer voices took control of the grid narrative. The leader of the bailout push is FirstEnergy Solutions, a company that recently declared bankruptcy because some of its coal and nuclear plants are not competitive in today’s market. The company asked Energy Secretary Rick Perry to declare a grid emergency under Section 202 of the Federal Power Act to keep plants online to “ serve the public interest.” Yet such action would be a clear abuse of statutory authority. The Energy Department’s own technical report in 2017 found that the bulk power system is performing reliably. Clearly, “serving the public interest” actually means letting markets run their course. If the plants were necessary for grid reliability and resilience, then customers would share FirstEnergy’s concern. Instead, electricity users are deeply distressed by the immediate costs they could face, as well as the long-term damage to the market, due to the proposed intervention... ...This is not an issue of coal and nuclear versus renewables and natural gas; this is about customers versus rent-seekers, good versus bad governance, and markets versus destructive government intervention.

Virginia AEE Supports Carbon Emission Trading Program as Economic Driver for Commonwealth 

The Hill published this opinion piece by AEE’s head of Congressional Affairs Dylan Reed:

 

The Plain Dealer reported that "A growing chorus of opponents are condemning the maneuver by FirstEnergy Solutions Thursday to convince the U.S. Department of Energy that an electrical supply emergency exists in Ohio and 12 other states.

The Daily Energy Insider reports: Congress and the Trump administration should focus on the electric power system as a key element of infrastructure modernization to accelerate economic growth, according to just-released Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) policy recommendations.In mid-February, the president released his infrastructure plan, “Legislative Outline for Rebuilding Infrastructure in America,” which is designed to spur at least $1.5 trillion in new investment over a decade through $200 billion of federal funding and give Congress a roadmap for developing and passing “the most comprehensive infrastructure bill in our nation’s history,” according to the 53-page document.The plan targets improvements to traditional infrastructure such as roads, bridges and airports, as well as “other needs like drinking and wastewater systems, waterways, water resources, energy, rural infrastructure, public lands, veterans’ hospitals, and Brownfield and Superfund sites.”But what about the inclusion of the nation’s electric grid?The vast majority of the nation’s electricity needs are met through for-profit investor-owned utilities, according to President Donald Trump’s plan. However, what infrastructure the federal government does own and operate “would be more appropriately owned by state, local, or private entities” because “federal ownership of these assets can result in sub-optimal investment decisions and create risk for taxpayers.”

The Hill reported: "Groups representing certain energy sources are joining with environmentalists and others to criticize FirstEnergy Corp.’s request that the Trump administration rescue its coal and nuclear power plants.

Reuters reported that today U.S. power company FirstEnergy Corp (FE.N) urged U.S. Dept. of Energy Secretary Rick Perry to employ rarely-used Section 202(c) emergency powers to order PJM Interconnection to negotiate a contract compensating owners of coal and nuclear plants for benefits such as reliability and jobs those units provide. Critics saw this as a move to protect unprofitable power plants.The story noted that PJM rejected the need for an emergency order to help FirstEnergy, and observed that coal and nuclear power plant operators have struggled with competition from low natural gas prices that have spurred utilities to retire dirtier coal plants. A 2:25 p.m. ET version of the piece included segments of AEE's reaction (this was replaced by API, Sierra Club quotes in a 5:20 p.m. update):Advanced Energy Economy, a trade group, called the move a “blatant appeal” by FirstEnergy for a corporate bailout.“This outrageous attempt to evade established market procedures is unprecedented,” said Malcolm Woolf, senior vice president of policy for AEE. See the earlier Reuters story here (w/AEE perspective), the updated Reuters piece here, a related RTO Insider "Update: FES Seeks Bankruptcy, DOE Emergency Order" story here, and AEE's complete statement here.See the earlier Reuters story here (w/AEE perspective), the updated Reuters piece here, a related RTO Insider "Update: FES Seeks Bankruptcy, DOE Emergency Order" story here, and AEE's complete statement here.

WASHINGTON, March 29, 2018 — Today, national business group Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) issued the following reaction to news about FirstEnergy filing a formal request for federal emergency support of unprofitable coal and nuclear plants, under the rarely used U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) section 202(c) authority:“Advanced Energy Economy calls on Secretary Perry to reject FirstEnergy’s blatant appeal for a multi-billion dollar bailout of uneconomic and unnecessary power plants,” said Malcolm Woolf, senior vice president of policy for AEE, a national business organization. “This outrageous attempt to evade established market procedures is unprecedented. FirstEnergy is asking the Secretary of Energy to exercise authority that is reserved for an emergency threatening national security just to salvage power plants that are losing money for their owners and costing money for consumers. PJM currently has generating capacity well in excess of that needed to keep the lights on. FirstEnergy’s request attempts to short-circuit PJM’s well-established process for analyzing the reliability impacts of generation retirements, and ignores FERC's ruling earlier this year finding that no emergency exists that would justify providing special treatment to coal and nuclear power plants in our competitive electricity markets. We fully expect Secretary Perry to reject this application as an inappropriate use of his emergency powers, just as he did last year when Murray Energy asked him to keep coal plants open.”