Officials in Trump’s Department of Energy prepared a plan to use unprecedented “emergency powers” to force the US grid to rely on expensive, unprofitable coal and nuclear power, rather than paying market rates for cheaper sources of energy: renewables and natural gas. The plan will cost Americans an additional $311,000,000 – $11,800,000,000/year according to estimates from researchers at Energy Innovation and the Climate Policy Initiative. The plan poses the “premature retirements” of these unprofitable power-plants as a national security matter, that would leave the country vulnerable to cyberattacks and extreme weather events.
Boing Boig 2nd June 2018 read more »