Nine states and the District of Columbia have formally called on Energy Secretary Rick Perry not to use the Federal Power Act to bail out FirstEnergy Solutions’ ailing nuclear and coal power plants.
Just before declaring bankruptcy in late March, Akron, Ohio-based FirstEnergy Solutions said it would by October 2021 halt power production at three nuclear plants: the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio; the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Perry, Ohio; and the Beaver Valley Power Station in Shippingport, Pa.
The company then asked Perry to use his authority under Section 202 (c) the Federal Power Act to order regional power clearinghouse PJM Interconnection to sign contracts that guarantee FirstEnergy’s nuclear and coal plants can fully recover their costs along with a return on their investments.
“Abusing section 202(c) in the manner requested by FirstEnergy would set a dangerous precedent that threatens all of our states, including those located outside of PJM’s service territory,” the state officials wrote in a May 9 letter to Perry. “The Request is legally flawed, and you should unequivocally deny it. Because the requested section 202(c) order would be unlawful. … The requested order would undermine competitive regional power markets, burden customers with excessive costs, undercut state energy laws and policies, and exacerbate pollution and public health harms.”
The letter is signed by officials from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia. Of those, PJM serves Illinois, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
“The ‘sudden’ “emergenc[ies]’ contemplated in section 202(c) do not include inefficient generators’ failure to turn a profit or their orderly displacement by other resources—a natural consequence of competitive markets,” the letter says
The Energy Department has not yet ruled on the FirstEnergy Solutions’ request, which PJM Interconnection also opposes.
