WASHINGTON — The Institute for Energy Research supports the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissions’s vote to reject the proposed rule from Secretary of Energy Rick Perry to provide cost recovery for plants with onsite fuel supplies. IER President Thomas J. Pyle has issued the following statement:
“As IER has maintained since the fall, DOE’s proposed rule was heavy-handed and off-the-mark. Those of us who recognize the benefits of freer markets, should look upon this FERC decision with approval. This unanimous vote and our support for it is not a rejection of the importance of grid resilience, but rather a rejection of Secretary Perry’s massive proposed intervention in electricity markets on top of an already distorted structure.”
“Electricity markets today are burdened by a tangle of government interventions and regulatory tape, which gives credence to Secretary Perry’s statement that there is ‘no free market in the energy industry.’ The electricity sector has been subjected to distortionary policies such as the subsidization of wind and solar through the Production Tax Credit and renewable portfolio mandates for decades. This has made electricity more expensive for the public and has made resilience a live issue for the industry. But the solution to this challenge is not to layer on another round of mandates and subsidies.
“The solution to the challenge of grid resiliency is to capitalize on this unique political environment to make strides toward a more efficient, effective system by rolling back the government mandates and other policies that have gotten us into this mess in the first place.
“Now that the DOE NOPR has been dispensed with, we look forward to engaging with FERC, the Trump Administration, and Congress to get the federal government out of the energy business and promote policies that empower consumers and businesses to make their own energy choices.”
