Nuclear

A bipartisan group of Pennsylvania lawmakers has advanced recommendations for supporting five nuclear power plants in the state that face stiff competition in wholesale electricity markets, setting the stage for a continued battle with the natural gas industry and other interests opposed to any kind of government intervention.

A coterie of independent U.S. natural gas-fired electricity generators urged FERC on Thursday to weigh the “potential for enormous damage” to competitive wholesale markets when the Commission decides on state subsidies for nuclear and renewable energy facilities.

Senate Democrats took aim at FERC nominee Bernard McNamee over his involvement in crafting a controversial Department of Energy (DOE) proposal to subsidize coal and nuclear power, but the energy sector attorney pledged to serve as an “independent arbiter” of grid resiliency and reliability issues that come before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Pushing back against a Department of Energy (DOE) plan to bail out less competitive coal and nuclear power generators, oil and natural gas trade groups on Wednesday defended the pipeline industry’s cybersecurity efforts.

Now that four courts in Illinois and New York have upheld subsidies for nuclear power plants, representatives of the natural gas interests battling them are looking to FERC for a prescription to counter the state programs and their effects on wholesale electricity markets.

When the Oyster Creek nuclear reactor shutters its doors for the last time on Monday, it will be the first of nine nuclear facilities set to retire in the next five years, setting the stage for U.S. natural gas demand to grow by as much as 1.64 Bcf/d.

FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) subsidiary FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. late Wednesday announced plans to shutter four fossil fuel power plants, including Pennsylvania’s largest coal-fired facility, by 2022.

The annual cost to support coal and nuclear plants as proposed by the Trump administration could climb as high as $35 billion, according to a report from The Brattle Group.

In a break with precedent, FERC Chief of Staff Anthony Pugliese took to the airwaves July 8 to talk politics and promote the Trump administration’s positions on controversial energy policies.