Archives

PUR Guide 2012 Fully Updated Version

Available NOW!

This comprehensive self-study certification course is designed to teach the novice or pro everything they need to understand and succeed in every phase of the public utilities business.

Order Now

California Opposes DOE Subsidy Plan

The California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is the latest state regulatory agency to weigh in on Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Rick Perry’s proposal that urges the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to consider helping coal-fired power plants and nuclear generating facilities by modifying the manner in which their production is priced in wholesale electric markets.

The California PUC joined a number of other states, as well as utilities and consumer advocacy groups, in opposing DOE’s plan. As set forth by Secretary Perry, the plan encourages FERC to include an “adder” in pricing wholesale capacity from coal and nuclear units so as to reflect the value of the resilience and dependability they provide to the grid. In comments submitted to FERC about DOE’s proposal, the California commission averred that the plan was unwisely constricting the definition of what types of plant qualify as “resilient” or “reliable.”

The comments go on to criticize the compressed time frame that was permitted for input from the public. More specifically, the PUC said that “this rushed effort erodes trust in U.S. wholesale electric markets and undermines the role of the FERC as an independent body.” The PUC’s statement also argues that the adder for nuclear and coal generation, far from assuring more accurate pricing, would instead distort the true value of the resources.

In his own individual assessment of the plan, PUC Chairman Michael Picker remarked that Perry’s proposal was yet one more indication that the Trump administration is choosing to ignore “a series of long-held conventions on wholesale markets.”