WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 10,000 comments were submitted today for the record at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in opposition to Trump Administration plans for the Commission to enact massive bailouts of the coal and nuclear industry at the expense of renewable energy and with the added downside of higher bills for consumers. The comments were delivered at 9 a.m. shortly after an 8:45 a.m. protest organized by the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) outside the main entrance of FERC at 888 First St NE, Washington, D.C.
NIRS noted that the stakes for wind, solar, and the pocketbooks of U.S. ratepayers is very high. A November 2016 report by NIRS concluded that a federal bailout for nuclear alone could add up to $280 billion by 2030. When a major nuclear reactor project in South Carolina failed this year, ratepayers were left holding the bag for $9 billion or more—even though they will never see a single electron of electricity for their steep investment.
NIRS Executive Director Tim Judson said: "Survey after survey shows that Americans want more clean and safe renewable energy and there is very little support for perpetuating the old, unsafe and dying coal and nuclear industries. To artificially prop up these dirty energy industries and then to force consumers to pay the bill to enrich these already astonishingly profitable companies would have to rank as one of the most anti-environment and anti-consumer steps of the last 50 years."
Most of the 10,000 individuals' public comments to FERC submitted by NIRS read as follows:
"Call off your plans to promote coal and nuclear power, and commit to a transition to 100% clean, efficient, renewable energy. Nuclear and coal are two of the dirtiest, most polluting, dangerous, and uneconomical energy sources in the world."
"If you really want to revive our economy, create jobs, revitalize local communities, and boost small businesses—then clean energy is the only way to go. Our green energy economy can keep the lights on and create millions more jobs than dirty energy could ever provide. Solar and wind are already creating twice as many jobs as coal and nuclear combined—that is ten times as many for the amount of energy generated, and at lower cost."
"Renewable energy is now providing more electricity than nuclear power. Wind and solar are growing by leaps and bounds, are already cheaper than coal and nuclear, and will soon be the cheapest sources of power available."
"America needs to get off of dirty sources of energy, not spend billions of dollars propping them up. No coal and nuclear bailout—invest in our clean energy future."
To submit your own comments to FERC, members of the public must register an online account with FERC at https://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp and then submit their comment to FERC docket RM18-1.
Because of FERC's cumbersome process, NIRS is collecting comments by the general public via online petition at www.nirs.org or http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5502/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=25145. NIRS plans to submit comments by the public to FERC at the agency's site.
On October 2, 2017, FERC published for public comment an official proposal for rulemaking by the U.S. Department of Energy calling for coal and nuclear bailouts. Comments are due by October 23rd. The FERC draft rule is available online at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/10/10/2017-21396/grid-resiliency-pricing-rule.
ABOUT NIRS
2018 will mark the 40th anniversary of Nuclear Information and Resource Service. NIRS was founded to be the national information and networking center for citizens and environmental activists concerned about nuclear power, radioactive waste, radiation and sustainable energy issues. www.nirs.org
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SOURCE Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS)
