Retiring Nuclear Plants Poses Risks To Grid Resiliency In The US, NEI Warns FERC

24 Oct (NucNet): Premature closures of nuclear power stations in the US present a risk to long-term reliability and resiliency of the national electricity grid, Washington-based Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) warned in comments provided to the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). NEI, which represents the US nuclear industry, said that it supports the US Department of Energy’s goals of ensuring that energy source diversity and resiliency are appropriately valued, and urges FERC to encourage the necessary market reforms. ”The current failure to value important attributes of nuclear generation, including those that significantly contribute to grid resiliency, has prompted retirements of well-functioning, highly-efficient, and environmentally-valuable nuclear plants”, said NEI’s chief executive officer Maria Korsnick. She said neglecting potential grid resiliency problems today could lead to “serious breakdowns in electricity service” in the future. Last month, energy secretary Rick Perry directed FERC to issue a rule requiring electricity markets to develop and implement reforms that would fully compensate generation resources necessary to maintain the grid’s reliability and resiliency. NEI sent its comments to FERC yesterday, suggesting that reforms should include the need for respect for current and future state policies, continuation of price rules reform, a “cost-of-service option” until other market structures are implemented, as well as development of market structures to value resiliency and diversity. “Short-term prices should not dictate significant changes in our generation fleet, reducing the nation’s resource diversity and grid resiliency”, Ms Korsnick said. Such changes will go contrary to plans by the US government to make resiliency a key element in its national security strategy for more than twenty years, she added. Details of the proposal are online: http://bit.ly/2yNNpJw