Trump Won’t Use Emergency Power for FirstEnergy Coal Plants

The Associated Press this week broke a report that the “Trump administration has rejected a coal industry push to win a rarely used emergency order protecting coal-fired power plants, a decision contrary to what one coal executive said the president personally promised him.”

Bob Murray, CEO of Murray Energy, a major coal company, has stated that the president, in private conversations with Murray and FirstEnergy, agreed to use the emergency power for the coal plants.

“The Energy Department’s authority comes from section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, designed for major problems such as war, natural disasters or increased energy demand that require federal government intervention. It appears the Energy Department’s reading of the law precludes it from using the authority to save coal jobs,” according to a report in the Washington Examiner. 8/23/2017