Advanced Energy Perspectives

What is the price of political cronyism? High, when it comes to paying power plants that are not needed to keep the lights on, just to exist. But that is what the Trump Administration is apparently getting ready to do. Or at least trying to do – an earlier attempt to do so was rejected by regulators, most of them appointees of President Trump. Not taking no for an answer, the Administration has decided to go bigger, with a bigger price tag. How much bigger? That’s what we wanted to find out.

In what feels like a never-ending showing of the movie Groundhog Day, the Trump Administration is yet again trying to bail out uneconomic power plants that are slated for retirement. This time, it looks like the Administration is using a national security approach to justify its attempt to help major campaign donor Bob Murray’s failing coal business. But once again, within the broader energy industry, the reaction against this latest scheme has been strong, with AEE fully engaged. 

Image by junaidrao, used under a Creative Commons license

This year was a busy one for federal energy policy. That’s not surprising, given a new President with same-party control of the White House and Congress. But the flurry of activity has not been exactly as one might have predicted on January 1. Here are some of the biggest moves in energy made by Congress and the Trump Administration in 2017, as they might have been seen from a galaxy far, far away. (With apologies to George Lucas.)

Last week, in an unprecedented move, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to stay EPA’s Clean Power Plan. While this is certainly a setback for the CPP at the federal level, it is clear that work will continue at the federal and state levels in a variety of forms. Since the stay, many states have weighed in on the decision: 16 states will continue to plan for compliance with the rule, 12 states have suspended planning efforts, eight states have yet to announce any planning process, and six states are still reviewing their options post-stay. AEE will continue to monitor states’ actions in the aftermath of the ruling. Here is what we know so far.