Trump orders Energy Department to help ailing coal, nuclear plants

[rooster59]

Trump orders Energy Department to help ailing coal, nuclear plants

 

U.S. President Donald Trump participates in the U.S. Coast Guard Change-of-Command ceremony at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, U.S., June 1, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday directed Energy Secretary Rick Perry to take emergency steps to keep at-risk coal and nuclear plants running, the White House announced.

 

Under the directive, Perry would require grid operators to buy electricity from ailing nuclear and coal-fired power plants to keep them from being shuttered.

 

"Unfortunately, impending retirements of fuel-secure power facilities are leading to a rapid depletion of a critical part of our nation's energy mix, and impacting the resilience of our power grid," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-06-02

[Emster23]

Such a brilliant businessman, this Trump fellow. I hear he also wants to up orders of buggy whips and hitching rails

[Becker]

Arnold Schwarzenegger tweeted this in response:

 

“I eagerly await the administration’s regulations protecting pagers, fax machines, and Blockbuster.”

 

Game, set, match.

[Jingthing]

Just when you think "trump" has finally hit bottom, he goes even lower. 

[Srikcir]

How does one buy energy from excess capacity generation sources?

The so-called grid operators are electric utilities who deliver electricity to their customers. Buying electrical power is not like buying coal for a boiler or wood for the fireplace. You can't reasonably stockpile electrical energy (yes I know about batteries but such options drive the cost of energy higher) like you can wood or coal.

[notmyself]

2 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Just when you think "trump" has finally hit bottom, he goes even lower. 

 

I gave up considering that there may be a bottom to Trump's stupidity after Charlottesville last year JT.

 

 

[cycolista]

19th century energy for a 21st economy.  Brilliant strategy. ?

[notmyself]

I could be argued that forcing the issue is the only way of appeasing his base whom he promised more coal job to though I'm not sure any action is actually needed because most will believe he has done if he just says he has.

[thaibeachlovers]

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday directed Energy Secretary Rick Perry to take emergency steps to keep at-risk coal and nuclear plants running,

 

Good job, President Trump, good job. Nuclear is the only way to reduce CO2 pollution. Windmills and solar just isn't going to provide enough energy for all the toys and electric cars the trendies use.

 

[notmyself]

1 minute ago, thaibeachlovers said:

 

Good job, President Trump, good job. Nuclear is the only way to reduce CO2 pollution. Windmills and solar just isn't going to provide enough energy for all the toys and electric cars the trendies use.

 

 

Renewable energy was the biggest growth sector in the U.S. economy as I remember and then Trump imposed a tariff on Chinese made solar cells and withdrew support for the sector as a whole.

 

 

[Dumbastheycome]

How  obvious  is it  that  unlike developing and  economically  progressive  countries who  need  solve  the  issue  of  supply of  electrical  energy  that  the  ailing   USA  needs   to  encourage / demand/ order consumption is a symptom of what?

 

[Estrada]

One reason the US is not a democracy is because people like Robert E. Murray, a long time Trump supporter, donated $300,000 to Trump's inauguration in return for the President implementing the Coal Baron's wish list to support coal against renewables and clean energy.

[Becker]

15 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

 

Good job, President Trump, good job. Nuclear is the only way to reduce CO2 pollution. Windmills and solar just isn't going to provide enough energy for all the toys and electric cars the trendies use.

 

And coal fired plants?

[mtls2005]

Half-expecting 19th century inventor Leon Smuk to develop a self-driving coal-fired car, or a coal-fired rocket, or everyone to start heating their homes with coal.

 

Future to the back.  

[Srikcir]

12 hours ago, Dumbastheycome said:

a symptom of what?

Fake news and pandering to the "swamp" (ie., political donors).

As per the US government's report Annual Energy Outlook 2018 issued February 6, 2018, there is no projected shortfall for electrical energy capacity but rather overcapacity and specifically from coal-fired plants. In fact it's projected that by 2020 the US will become a net energy exporter.

https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/

Electric utilities are not going to buy power that they can't justify. As government licensed monopolies they have a fiduciary responsibility to supply cost effective energy to its ratepayers. Purchase of unusable capacity cannot be passed through to the ratepayers.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, Becker said:

And coal fired plants?

I deliberately didn't mention coal plants, but I believe scrubbers eliminate/ reduce CO2 output.

The ideal would be to build enough nuclear plants to allow coal fired plants to close.

[geriatrickid]

19 hours ago, Srikcir said:

How does one buy energy from excess capacity generation sources?

The so-called grid operators are electric utilities who deliver electricity to their customers. Buying electrical power is not like buying coal for a boiler or wood for the fireplace. You can't reasonably stockpile electrical energy (yes I know about batteries but such options drive the cost of energy higher) like you can wood or coal.

They can't, but wait it gets worse. The cost of generating electricity from dirty coal and nuclear reactors is significantly more than from traditional  hydro electric sources. It is much cheaper for  the USA to purchase electricity from Canada when needed. Mind you with the looming trade war, maybe Trump is on to something because Canada may slap tariffs on energy exports for its national security. Too bad  this doesn't come in the winter or a heat wave.  Americans will either  freeze or  cook because they won';'t be able to afford the  large   increased cost of electricity  ? 

[geriatrickid]

10 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I deliberately didn't mention coal plants, but I believe scrubbers eliminate/ reduce CO2 output.

The ideal would be to build enough nuclear plants to allow coal fired plants to close.

Can they bury the nuclear waste  in your backyard?

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, geriatrickid said:

Can they bury the nuclear waste  in your backyard?

The shame of the nuclear industry is that they will not pay to construct proper waste disposal facilities. That however, does not say that it is not possible to store it safely.

The companies should be required to pay for such, though the US government should contribute as they use the industry to obtain material for nuclear weapons.

[mtls2005]

When will Trump be petitioning us to buy Betamax VCRs to allow Sony to 'retain' jobs?

 

Jared and Ivanka will be investing in a new buggy-whip factory soon.

 

I think most coal in the U.S. is now mined in Wyoming and Montana, with massive, highly-automated systems requiring very few actual workers.

 

No clue why Trump has such a soft-spot for coal? I guess he sense it resonates with his "base" at rallies so it must be good?

 

 

[Srikcir]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

The shame of the nuclear industry is that they will not pay to construct proper waste disposal facilities. That however, does not say that it is not possible to store it safely.

The companies should be required to pay for such, though the US government should contribute as they use the industry to obtain material for nuclear weapons.

There is the government's Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository plan in Nevada.

President Trump asked Congress to approve $120 million in spending to restart licensing activity at the Yucca Mountain repository and fund an interim storage program. That would allow development at the remote site.

On the other hand the budget proposal puts Energy Secretary Rick Perry in a tough spot. While serving as governor of Texas, he said Nevadans shouldn't be forced to house the country's nuclear waste in their state if they don't want to.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/16/the-yucca-mountain-nuclear-waste-dump-a-political-hot-potato-is-back.html

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, Srikcir said:

There is the government's Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository plan in Nevada.

President Trump asked Congress to approve $120 million in spending to restart licensing activity at the Yucca Mountain repository and fund an interim storage program. That would allow development at the remote site.

On the other hand the budget proposal puts Energy Secretary Rick Perry in a tough spot. While serving as governor of Texas, he said Nevadans shouldn't be forced to house the country's nuclear waste in their state if they don't want to.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/16/the-yucca-mountain-nuclear-waste-dump-a-political-hot-potato-is-back.html

Sounds like a lot of NIMBYism going on. If the storage facility is properly designed and run it would be impossible for a nuclear explosion to occur, and same goes for transportation of the waste causing contamination. It has to go somewhere.

I would suggest requiring the people that run the facility to live next door to it.

 

[Dumbastheycome]

10 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Fake news and pandering to the "swamp" (ie., political donors).

As per the US government's report Annual Energy Outlook 2018 issued February 6, 2018, there is no projected shortfall for electrical energy capacity but rather overcapacity and specifically from coal-fired plants. In fact it's projected that by 2020 the US will become a net energy exporter.

https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/

Electric utilities are not going to buy power that they can't justify. As government licensed monopolies they have a fiduciary responsibility to supply cost effective energy to its ratepayers. Purchase of unusable capacity cannot be passed through to the ratepayers.

All  that  indicates  is a potential for a  silver  lining in  the  clouds . No  gold.