First, it is noteworthy that as governor, Perry supervised expansion of Texas’ wildly successful Competitive Renewable Energy Zones. It was an initiative that
spurred the construction of electric transmission lines to connect with renewable energy facilities. That initiative took great advantage of wind and solar, and energy storage facilities as a preferred option for sustained power grid reliability; options he now says “
have destroyed jobs and economic growth, and threaten to undercut the performance of the grid.”
Perry’s sudden reversal is due to being tasked by Trump as Energy Secretary to start “
prioritizing fossil fuels [coal] and nuclear energy over renewables.” He made that abundantly clear in his memo,
reported by Bloomberg, where he said the United States is “
blessed as a nation to have an abundance of domestic energy resources, such as coal, natural gas, nuclear, and hydroelectric. These sources provide a stable, reliable and resilient grid.” As ThinkProgress’ Mark Hand
noted, “
nowhere in the memo did Perry list wind, solar, or energy storage as options for grid reliability.”
The primary point of Perry’s memo was complaining about “
regulatory burdens” on fossil fuels, and mandates and tax and subsidy policies he claims are forcing
baseload power plants to shut down prematurely. A base load on a grid is the “
minimum level of demand on an electrical grid over a span of time, for example, one week.”
Perry doesn’t seem to have an issue with the billions of taxpayer dollars going to the fossil fuel industry as subsidies, or the tax credits the oil industry receives while helping decimate the climate. However, with the Koch cabal pulling the Trump administration’s puppet strings, Perry suddenly has a real problem with renewable energy credits and state legislatures mandating that a percentage of energy be generated by clean and renewable energy sources; mandates that are economically and environmentally beneficial to all Americans. There is no doubt whatsoever that if the Kochs could charge Americans for accessing solar and wind for their electrical needs, there would be free-of-charge solar panels on every building in America and Koch-branded wind turbines in every field.
Integrating a diverse combination, not just fossil fuels, of generating resources was a “
hot topic” at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, including regional transmission organizations. It has to be noted that “
electrical grid resiliency” was a high priority during President Obama’s administration; Perry is not coming up with anything new except forgoing any interest in renewable sources to prioritize using dirty coal.
http://www.politicususa.com/2017/04/...ind-power.html
