Perry’s Grid Study Willfully Ignores Energy Innovation

(WASHINGTON, DC – August 23, 2017) Energy Secretary Rick Perry released today the so-called grid study he commissioned in April to determine whether retiring ‘baseload’ resources could undermine grid reliability. In July, an initial draft of the study came to the same overwhelming conclusion as existing, extensive research: the transition to cleaner energy, away from dirty coal, supports a reliable and affordable electric grid. As anticipated, the final version’s politically-driven recommendations ignore its own evidence, twisting facts to reach a predetermined conclusion in favor of coal.

“Perry’s backward-looking grid study is no surprise from an administration determined to prop up the coal industry at taxpayers’ expense. We already know a flexible, modern system with less coal and more renewables is the most reliable, resilient, and cost-effective path forward. Just this week, officials across California – home to six times more solar electric capacity than any other state – reported no major reliability issues when the solar eclipse blocked the sun for hours. Yet, Perry’s study ignores innovation and new technologies, instead suggesting America go back to the future by interfering with a well-functioning electricity sector that no longer needs inefficient, dirty, and uneconomic coal plants.”

• Jim Marston, Vice President, Clean Energy