FirstEnergy seeks emergency order to save nuclear, coal plants
FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. (FES) requested Thursday that U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry issue an emergency order directing PJM Interconnection (PJM) to begin negotiations to prevent the shutdown of nuclear and coal-fired power plants in the region.
The letter requested that the proposed emergency order direct PJM to compensate the owners of these plants “for the full benefits they provide to energy markets and the public at large, including fuel security and diversity.”
FES requested an order under Section 202c of the Federal Power Act, which gives the Secretary of Energy extraordinary powers to address national emergencies.
The company cited in its letter the accelerating rate of retirement for “at-risk” plants that have the technical potential to continue operating but cannot remain profitable under current conditions.
Keeping coal and nuclear plants operational is necessary, FES said, because they can store fuel on-site for more than a year and, therefore, can continue to provide power during times of high demand or when another generation is disrupted.
“PJM has demonstrated little urgency to remedy this problem anytime soon – so immediate action by the Secretary is needed to alleviate the present emergency,” FES President Donald R. Schneider said. “Such quick and decisive intervention is necessary to avoid a crisis point where such baseload generation will cease to exist in competitive markets, and to ensure that nuclear and coal-fired generators operating within PJM are compensated fairly for their costs and the benefits that they provide such that they can continue to operate and ensure a dependable, affordable, safe, secure, and clean supply of electricity.”
The request comes approximately 18 hours after FES notified PJM and the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that it would deactivate two nuclear plants, one in Ohio and one in Pennsylvania, over the next three years.
In January, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) from the Department of Energy (DOE) that would have provided compensation to power plants for resiliency attributes. Instead, FERC asked grid operators to file comments on methods for identifying, defining and valuing resiliency.
In the comments submitted thus far, most operators have argued that their existing stakeholder processes can adequately handle any resiliency issues. PJM, however, asked FERC to direct operators to propose compensation mechanisms for resiliency. PJM also indicated that it had begun weighing potential compensation reforms and asked FERC to allow “non-market operations” including “provisions for cost-based compensation” during emergencies.
Neither PJM nor DOE immediately responded to FirstEnergy’s emergency order request.
