Eastern Railroad Discussion > White House shelves "coal plant rescue" plan

The Hill, a political news service, reports the White House has quietly shelved a so-called rescue plan intended to save coal fired electric plants.  The plan would have ordered the regional power grid authorities to purchase a specified % of their electricity from coal fired plants.  The grid operators objected, claiming the higher priced electricity would raise energy prices overall.  The proposal did  not address how large manufacturers and government installations, who buy their own power from merchant providers, would be brought into the mix.

This matters because carrying  thermal coal to domestic generating stations has been a core traffic element for railroads over the past 150 years.  Losing the regular flow of coal has created havoc on many lines and in many communities.

Adding more expensive coal produced electricity to the retail delivered mix of electricity would raise the price of electricity for households, and nobody wanted their finger prints on that.

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/411604-white-house-shelves-rescue-plan-for-coal-nuclear-report



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/18 08:57 by Lackawanna484.

I hope this opens some eyes to the fact that while some people insisted this was an environmental and politically driven agenda it really boils down to economics.
It was always pretty clear that the abundance of natural gas was pushing utilities to build new gas fired plants to replace out dated coal plants. Public policy can drive economics and it is true that environmental rulings put pressure on coal plants. But the economics of cheap natural gas really drove the downturn in coal generated power. It is amazing how many natural gas plants are being built or have recently been built in the northeast, especially PA. 

I am willing to pay a few more bucks....

bluesboyst Wrote:
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> I am willing to pay a few more bucks....

So are you saying you are willing to pay a few more bucks a month on your electric bill so that outdated, inefficient coal plants can stay in business so that there are trains to take the coal to them for you to watch as a railfan? I worked in the coal industry for years and still miss it but it's on the way out. That train has already left the station.

2 things:

1. not EVERYBODY is able to pay a few more buck$ for energy,  especially those on fixed incomes.

2. IF, supply and demand increase nat gas prices, see #1........

66

I noticed that nat gas was up again this morning, Winter is coming and gas prices will rise. You are not only paying
a bit more for the btu units to heat the house but also for the power to run the fan. There's more (ignored) to consumer
inflation than just the price of gasoline.

Out

Well said. It had much, much more to do with natural gas.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

CP4743 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I hope this opens some eyes to the fact that while
> some people insisted this was an environmental and
> politically driven agenda it really boils down to
> economics.
> It was always pretty clear that the abundance of
> natural gas was pushing utilities to build new gas
> fired plants to replace out dated coal plants.
> Public policy can drive economics and it is true
> that environmental rulings put pressure on coal
> plants. But the economics of cheap natural gas
> really drove the downturn in coal generated power.
> It is amazing how many natural gas plants are
> being built or have recently been built in the
> northeast, especially PA. 

Will there be some sort of surcharge on natural gas in the furure to help sustain the Railroad Retirement system which depends on contributions from employed railroaders to remain solvent?

ubee1964 Wrote:
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> Will there be some sort of surcharge on natural
> gas in the furure to help sustain the Railroad
> Retirement system which depends on contributions
> from employed railroaders to remain solvent?

Nope.

Milk and live cattle were once huge traffic sources for the rails too.

Posted from Android

ubee1964 Wrote:
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> Will there be some sort of surcharge on natural
> gas in the furure to help sustain the Railroad
> Retirement system which depends on contributions
> from employed railroaders to remain solvent?

Although railroad employees pay into the Railroad Retirement system, technically under the current agreement, the carriers themselves are responsible for keeping it solvent if this becomes an issue.  In reality though, I have no doubt that changes would happen at that time before the carriers would have to make any kind of rescue of it.  Fortunately, RR retirement system is doing well - keeping our fingers crossed...

Didn't the feds make a huge contribution to RRF when Conrail was formed?

The bankrupt carriers were way behind in contributions, and huge layoffs were on the way.

Posted from Android

Thank you all; I feel much better now knowing the government will back up the RRB.

RRB and its assets are a little different than the situation that the trucking companies are in. 

RRB is a government supervised industry  and labor program. The truckers participate in what's called a multiple employer trust program or MET.  Trucking companies and their unions contribute to, and maintain, pension plans.  The Teamsters operate several of these plans, and have a voice in the selection of custodians and managers..

When a MET employer participant goes belly up, the remaining employers in the trust have to pony up to provide for the remaining members of the bankrupt.  In an eroding industry like union trucking, that means the remaining companies have the burden of paying for their ex-competitors' mistakes.  Which raises their costs relative to a non-MET participant.

UPS saw the madness of this program, and paid a nine figure penalty to take its assets and liabilities out of the MET.  And had the strong support of its Teamster members

ubee1964 Wrote:
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> Will there be some sort of surcharge on natural
> gas in the furure to help sustain the Railroad
> Retirement system which depends on contributions
> from employed railroaders to remain solvent?


ubee1964 Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------
>Thank you all; I feel much better now knowing the government will back up the RRB.


Dang, that is an impressive self own!
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/18 20:00 by portlander.