Federal regulators reject Rick Perry's plan to subsidize coal and nuclear plants

Rick Perry.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The Republican-controlled Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Monday rejected a proposal put forward by Energy Secretary Rick Perry that would have subsidized coal and nuclear power plants.

The commission said the Trump administration was unable to provide any evidence that shutting down coal-fired power plants threatens the nation's electric grid; critics said the plan would have disrupted electricity markets and raised prices in certain areas of the country. FERC said it will review information submitted by the system operators in charge of the grid, and will decide within 60 days if additional action is necessary.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.