WASHINGTON, D.C.— Earlier today, Energy Secretary Rick Perry directed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to take action to preserve the nation’s baseload sources of electricity. The direction was issued after the Secretary determined that these facilities were integral to the resiliency of the nation’s electric grid. The following statement is from Maria Korsnick, president and chief executive officer of the Nuclear Energy Institute.
“We applaud Secretary Perry for taking decisive action to preserve the nation’s nuclear fleet, a step that will benefit ratepayers, homeowners and small businesses from all walks of American life. In the wake of the incredible disruptions caused by extreme weather events in recent years including multiple hurricanes and polar vortices, the urgency to act in support of the resiliency of the electric grid has never been clearer.
"This remarkable action by Secretary Perry will help ensure that America’s baseload nuclear fleet will remain a strategic asset that contributes to energy security, reliability, economic growth and environmental protection, while advancing American influence abroad.
“The Trump administration’s action today addresses two fundamental problems in the electric sector. One is markets that fail to value everything that is important to our electricity system. America needs energy that is clean, reliable, and obtained from diverse sources, that contributes to economic prosperity and national security. But our pricing system is badly broken and is failing to serve the interests of Main Street USA. It is based almost entirely on short-term price. As a result, nuclear reactors, which provide benefits that everyone agrees we need, find themselves struggling to survive when the nation needs them most.
“The other problem is that electricity is essential to modern life, but only gets noticed if the electricity fails to flow, as has happened most recently in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. It is taken for granted, and it does not command the attention it needs from policymakers all across the nation. This course needs to change, because if it doesn’t, Americans will continue to suffer.
“This timely move is especially needed for nuclear plants because once they close, they close forever. The clear benefits they provide in terms of jobs, economic growth and environmental protection disappear too, thus the need for this decisive action now. The Secretary’s action makes clear that for FERC and the independent system operators that this must be their top priority.”