Energy Secretary Perry agrees to extension on pro-coal, nuclear rulemaking

Enlarge / WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 19: Former Texas Governor Rick Perry, President-elect Donald Trump's choice as Secretary of Energy, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Capitol Hill January 19, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images) (credit: Getty Images)

On Friday afternoon, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said the US energy regulator could take an extra 30 days to make a decision on a proposed rule that would boost struggling coal and nuclear power in the US.

Perry proposed a rule in late September that would require grid operators to change how they value "reliability and resilience attributes" in energy generation. Specifically, generation plants with such attributes were defined by the Energy Secretary as plants that could keep a 90-day supply of fuel onsite. Although the proposed rule was written to appear energy-agnostic, it clearly favors coal and nuclear plants. Natural gas tends to be delivered by pipeline and is rarely stored onsite in large quantities, and wind and solar energy have free but variable fuel sources, though pioneers in the field are trying to mitigate this with the help of stationary storage.

Without government intervention, coal has become more expensive to burn compared to natural gas in many areas. It's also a major contributor to climate change, something the president has falsely called a hoax.

Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments