Beyond Extreme Energy Responds to FERC Denial of DoE Secretary Perry's Proposal

Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry

The following statement was submitted today by Beyond Extreme Energy. 

Beyond Extreme Energy cautiously welcomes the unanimous decision by the five FERC Commissioners rejecting the directive of Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry that they revamp FERC regulations to economically prop up the troubled coal and nuclear power industries.

While we welcome this decision, we are not surprised by it. It was very clear from the negative reaction of the oil and gas industry, the solar and wind industries, environmental organizations and others to this proposal soon after it was made by Perry that it was in trouble.

We are deeply concerned, however, by the Commissioners’ decision to initiate a new proceeding “to take additional steps to explore resilience issues in the Regional Transmission Organizations/Independent System Operators.” RTOs and ISOs were directed to “submit specific information regarding the resilience of its respective region within 60 days.”

A major reason for our concern is the fact that PJM Interconnection, the largest RTO within FERC with 65 million customers and over 1000 member companies across 15 states, publicly announced in November a proposal that, in the words of an article in Utility Dive, “would raise prices across the RTO in an effort to provide incentives to ‘inflexible’ generating units such as ‘coal, nuclear and large gas units.”

BXE organizer Ted Glick said, “Given FERC’s history and the fossil fuel industry-connected backgrounds of almost all the FERC Commissioners, it looks likely that this is a case of ‘out of the frying pan, into the fire.’ Rick Perry’s rushed effort may have been rejected primarily because it didn’t include ‘gas units,’ which we know from bitter experience FERC looks upon very favorably, rubber-stamping virtually every proposed new gas pipeline for the last 30 years.”

Glick added, “The fact is that we need an electric grid regulatory agency which prioritizes a rapid shift from dirty and dangerous fossil fuels to renewable energy and energy efficiency.We doubt that FERC can become such an agency, but we appreciate the statement that FERC Commissioner Richard Glick (no relation) made after the unanimous vote on this issue January 8:

“‘Utilities face diverse challenges, including the threat of cyber or physical attacks and natural disasters, such as the extreme weather events that are occurring more frequently as a result of climate change. It is not without irony that the Department’s Proposed Rule would exacerbate the intensity and frequency of these extreme weather events by helping to forestall the retirement of coal-fired generators, which emit significant quantities of greenhouse gases that contribute to anthropogenic climate change.’”

Ted Glick stated, “All the commissioners, not just Glick, should have this issue, as well as the issues of community and environmental impacts, foremost in their thinking as they make their decisions, but there is no evidence that they do. This is an urgent problem that BXE and its allies fighting pipelines and infrastructure around the country will continue to address via organizing and action.”