Anne Readel, New York Times, March 28, 2022
July 2018 - The President has instructed Rick Perry, the Secretary of Energy, to bail out obsolete coal and nuclear power plants by raising electricity rates. A draft Energy Department plan exploits the Cold War-era Defense Production Act and Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act to force grid operators across the country to buy electricity from failing coal and nuclear plants. The Defense Production Act is an obscure wartime law that allows the president to secure scarce resources for national defense. There is, however, no case that failing coal and nuclear plants are essential to military defense. The Federal Power Act, Section 202(c) allows the Energy Secretary to issue an “emergency run order” where potential shortages of energy are imminent. Grid operators, industry experts, and utilities, however, have repeatedly and forcefully stated that there is no energy shortage and no evidence of an emergency.
ACTION: Contact your Senators and Representative. Urge them to oppose this initiative, which would require American families to bail out obsolete coal and nuclear power plants. Such initiatives would prop up polluting, dangerous, and expensive sources of power while disadvantaging efforts to provide clean, cheap, renewable alternatives.
Contact Your Representative and Senators:
- Web: Find their names and links to their websites at senate.gov, www.house.gov; send an email or leave a message via ‘Contact’ on his/her website
- Tel: 202 224-3121 (Capitol switchboard-ask for his/her office & leave a message)
- Mail: Senator or Representative (first & last name) S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510
or U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515
Multiply this Message: Use this information to write a letter to the editor about this important & timely issue. This is a powerful way to educate and mobilize others—our job now & in the coming years!
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