The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is working with the White House, Department of Energy and the National Security Council to identify power plants that are critical to the grid, FERC Chief of Staff Anthony Pugliese told a nuclear conference this week, according to E&E News.
Identifying those plants is the first step in a White House plan to save uneconomic coal and nuclear plants from retirement detailed in a leaked NSC memo this spring. FERC in response said that it is only providing technical assistance to the other agencies, and that Pugliese was “simply stating that the federal government is working to ensure that important critical infrastructure, like hospitals, remains operational.”
Pugliese also said FERC is working with federal lawmakers to potentially expand its permitting authority over interstate pipelines, according to audio of the meeting provided to the outlet. The chief of staff reportedly said expanded authority may be needed to combat states like New York that “have no desire to put infrastructure in the ground, regardless of what it is.”
Gavin Blade – Utility Dive – August 9, 2018.
Want More Investigative Content?
