On Friday, the White House National Security Council is schedule to review a draft proposal from the Energy Department that would order power grid operators to buy energy from ailing coal and nuclear power plants, citing national security needs, Bloomberg News reports, calling the proposal "an unprecedented intervention into U.S. energy markets." Coal and nuclear plants are closing down due to age and market forces — natural gas and renewable energy are cheaper and cleaner — and the proposal is pitched as a "prudent stop-gap measure" that will subsidize struggling coal and nuclear plants while the Energy Department conducts a two-year study on "grid security challenges."
This isn't Energy Secretary Rick Perry's first attempt to subsidize coal and nuclear plants — federal regulators shot down his plan to directly compensate those plants in January, saying there's no evidence closing coal-fired plants would endanger the electric grid and such a move would raise costs for consumers. But this new 41-page proposal, dated May 29 and marked "not for further distribution," relies on emergency powers under the Federal Power Act and the 68-year-old Defense Production Act. Experts told Bloomberg that invoking national security concerns could stave off challenges this time around.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
5 hilariously spirited cartoons about the spirit of ChristmasCartoons Artists take on excuses, pardons, and more
-
Inside the house of AssadThe Explainer Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez, ruled Syria for more than half a century but how did one family achieve and maintain power?
-
Sudoku medium: December 22, 2024The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons mergerSpeed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
-
Rupert Murdoch loses 'Succession' court battleSpeed Read Murdoch wanted to give full control of his empire to son Lachlan, ensuring Fox News' right-wing editorial slant
-
Bitcoin surges above $100k in post-election rallySpeed Read Investors are betting that the incoming Trump administration will embrace crypto
-
Enron mystery: 'sick joke' or serious revival?Speed Read 23 years after its bankruptcy filing, the Texas energy firm has announced its resurrection
-
US charges Indian tycoon with bribery, fraudSpeed Read Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been indicted by US prosecutors for his role in a $265 million scheme to secure solar energy deals
-
Boeing machinists approve contract, end strikeSpeed Read The company's largest union approved the new contract offer, ending a seven-week strike
-
US economy still strong in final preelection reportSpeed Read It grew at a solid 2.8% annual rate from July through September
-
Boeing machinists reject deal, continue strikeSpeed Read The rejection came the same day Boeing reported a $6.2 billion quarterly loss
