Tag: Trump
Energy Secretary Perry Tells Trump He is Resigning
The post Energy Secretary Perry Tells Trump He is Resigning appeared first on POWER Magazine.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry told President Donald Trump on Oct. 17 that he is resigning his post. Trump confirmed to reporters in Texas, where he and Perry flew Thursday, that the energy secretary will step down, and Trump said he would quickly name a replacement.
DOE Deputy Secretary Don Brouillette is viewed as Perry’s likely successor, probably taking the top spot at DOE before the end of the year. Analysts have said his agenda is likely to be similar to Perry’s, support for financially troubled coal-fired and nuclear power generation, along with exports of U.S. oil and liquefied natural gas.
Media outlets including POWER magazine reported on Oct. 4 that Perry was planning to step down, possibly by the end of the year. A Department of Energy (DOE) spokeswoman at that time would not confirm those reports. Perry himself earlier Thursday told a Dallas, Texas, radio station that “[Media has] been reporting [he would resign] for eight or nine months now.…
Trump EPA Scraps CCS as BSER for New Coal Units
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has significantly relaxed requirements needed to build new coal-fired power units in the U.S.
The revisions proposed on December 6 for performance standards governing carbon dioxide emissions from new, reconstructed, and modified coal power units respond to the Trump Administration’s Executive Order on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth, which directed the EPA and other agencies to review existing regulations and revise or rescind “those that unduly burden the development of domestic energy resources beyond the degree necessary to protect the public interest or otherwise comply with the law.”
Among the proposal’s key changes to the Obama administration’s 2015-finalized New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) are that they drop partial carbon capture and storage (CCS) as the best system of emission reduction (BSER) for new coal units, citing “high costs and limited geographic availability of CCS.”
Instead, for new units, the EPA proposed limits for CO2 emissions based on “the most efficient demonstrated steam cycle in combination with the best operating practices.”…
Reports: Trump Administration Supports GE Over Siemens in $15B Iraq Deal
Iraq signed a memorandum of understanding on October 15 to develop power plants in the country with General Electric (GE). The Financial Times on October 18 said the $ 15 billion deal was brokered after senior officials in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iraq that relations with the U.S. would be threatened if Iraq signed an agreement with Munich, Germany-based Siemens instead of GE, which is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
Siemens in 2016 said it had about 50,000 workers in the U.S. and reported 2016 revenue from its U.S. operations, including more than 60 manufacturing sites, at $ 23.7 billion. GE last year reported it has about 106,000 U.S. employees.
Bloomberg on October 18 said two Trump administration officials who asked not to be identified said senior U.S. officials warned Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi not to move forward with Siemens. Bloomberg reported the Trump administration suspected Iran was pushing Iraq to accept a deal with Siemens “as a way of undercutting ties with the U.S.,”…
EPA Sends Replacement for Clean Power Plan to Trump
The Trump administration is moving forward with its effort to replace the Clean Power Plan, with the president set to review a document sent to the White House on July 9.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on July 10 said a new rule, which insiders said would be more favorable to the coal industry, was sent to the president on Monday. The document itself has not been released. The EPA in a statement Tuesday said would seek public comment on the new measure only after a White House review is completed. EPA spokeswoman Molly Block in a statement said the agency would move quickly on the replacement rule but did not provide a timeline.
Trump has repeatedly said the Clean Power Plan (CPP), pushed by the Obama administration, was part of the previous president’s “war on coal.” The CPP was part of that administration’s push for tougher environmental regulations and pollution standards for power generation and other industries. Trump has moved to support both coal and nuclear power, asking for government intervention in power markets to help both coal and nuclear power plants.…
[UPDATED] Trump Administration to Force Purchases of Coal, Nuclear Power
A draft memo circulated by the Trump administration before the National Security Council urges federal action to force grid operators to buy power from uneconomic coal and nuclear plants.
Bloomberg on May 31 first pointed to the existence of the 41-page memo, which is dated May 29 and distributed Thursday. The memo outlines plans for a directive by the Department of Energy (DOE) under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act (FPA) to “direct the operators to purchase electricity or electric generation capacity from at-risk facilities.”
The draft memo, which is tagged “Privileged & Confidential, Attorney-Client Privilege,” says that regulatory and economic factors have prompted the premature retirement of “fuel-secure” plants—which include nuclear and coal, but also oil-fired and dual-fuel units with adequate storage. “Although the lost megawatts of power often are replaced by new generation from natural gas and renewable energy sources, this transition comes at the expense of fuel security and resilience,” it says.
The memo reasons that because premature retirements of fuel-secure baseload plants reduce resilience to fuel supply disruptions, and because this “crisis” is caused by regulatory and economic actions, federal and state regulatory bodies as well as the private sector must act promptly “to achieve a lasting solution that meets the needs of both national security and the efficient operation of energy markets.”…