Full Title: Protect the American People: Moratorium on Coal Plant Closures Essential
Author(s): Roger Bezdek and Frank Clemente
Publisher(s): Institute for Energy Research
Publication Date: June 1, 2014
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Recent events in New England and elsewhere in the U.S. have demonstrated that policies which hurt the U.S. coal fleet are placing the reliability, affordability, and security of America’s electric supply system at risk:
- These policies will significantly increase wholesale electric rates – and could increase them by as much as 80 percent – according to Dr. Julio Friedmann, Assistant Secretary for Clean Coal at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).1
- The increases will be especially harmful in certain states – such as Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, West Virginia, and Wyoming (Figure EX-1).
- Severe economic hardship will be imposed on people who can least afford it – low income families, minorities, children, and the elderly.
Therefore, policymakers, regulators, and electric utilities should institute an immediate moratorium on the premature closure of coal power plants and should reverse planned closures where possible.