Generate: Sizing up Perry's Coal and Nuclear Plan
View on Axios website"Two researchers with the nonpartisan think tank Resources For the Future have published a new analysis of Energy secretary Rick Perry's plan to guarantee at-risk coal-fired and nuclear power plants sufficient revenues in some power markets to keep them running.
Some key findings:
Having the proposal in effect from 2020 to 2045 would prevent the retirement of dozens of coal plants and 20 gigawatts worth of nuclear power in that period.
The pollution from those preserved coal plants would cause an estimated 27,000 deaths during that period.
Total estimated net costs are $263 billion over 27 years, including $217 billion in environmental damages.
'We find that the policy's net cost for electricity end-users is $72 billion and its net benefit for generation owners is $28 billion,' it states.
Why it matters: The paper is likely to be cited by critics of the plan at a time when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, an independent agency, is weighing Perry's controversial proposal."
