Shitstain's Visionary Energy Plan: Raise Rates To Subsidize Dying Coal & Nuclear Plants, Big Donors

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The biggest champion of the Bruce Mansfield generating plant in Shippingport is Robert E. Murray, chief executive officer of Murray Energy Corp. The coal miner is a prime supplier to the plant’s owner, FirstEnergy Corp., and both companies have lobbied the Trump administration for an industry bailout. It would raise rates for electricity customers to pay struggling coal and nuclear plants to stay open. Regulators Thursday proposed a 30-day extension to announce details of the plan, which had been expected Monday.

The proposal could determine the future of Bruce Mansfield. The energy generator has provided jobs and revenue to Coombs’ hometown, population 210. It’s brought problems, too, from ash that falls like gentle snow to a leaking waste pool just up the road. Now, the plant is running at just 36 percent capacity this year, half of what it did in 2014, and employment is down to 350 thanks to cheaper and cleaner natural gas. FirstEnergy has considered selling it as the unit that runs Bruce Mansfield flirts with bankruptcy.

In this cluster of Ohio River towns a half-hour north of Pittsburgh, it’s easy to find people who share Coombs’ ambivalence toward Bruce Mansfield’s fate. The jobs are important, sure, but the region has become the country’s leading producer of natural gas, thanks to the fracking boom in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations. To locals, those jobs are just as good if not better than working in coal. “Why not use what we’ve got lots of?’’ said Kathryn Gregory, a nearby resident whose son works in natural gas. “We’ve got lots of gas.” “It’s a transition,’’ said her husband, Austin. “If folks lose their jobs at Shippingport, hopefully they’d be able to find work in the gas industry.’’
Bailout Backers

Backers of the government’s proposed bailout say it would add “resilience” to America’s electric grid by rewarding coal and nuclear plants for storing fuel on site. Murray Energy wrote a letter to the Trump administration requesting emergency aid for Bruce Mansfield and other FirstEnergy plants, saying their failure could wipe out 6,500 mining jobs. He’s hailed the proposal being considered by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Opponents call the proposed bailout a solution in search of a problem, saying there’s plenty of ways to back up the country’s grid without costing ratepayers billions of dollars a year. While the subsidies are being hashed out in Washington, folks in Shippingport and surrounding towns say they feel hopelessly out of the loop.

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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-08/trump-bailout-set-for-coal-plant-with-politically-connected-fan