A majority of Americans support safeguarding base load energy

According to Morning Consult for the National Mining Association (NMA), polling conducted by 51% of Americans agree with the premise of the proposal – and just 18% oppose it. 31% were unsure or did not answer.

Hal Quinn, NMA President and CEO said: “Completely missing from the debate over grid reliability has been the most important perspective of all: that of the American family”.

“Americans expect the lights to come on when they flip a switch, not bear the risk of future blackouts or electricity rationing. Today’s poll shows that Americans believe the government should be doing more to ensure a reliable, resilient and affordable power grid,” Quinn comtinued.

American households and businesses have long relied on dependable electricity provided by a combination of coal and nuclear plants that allow for fuel storage onsite, natural gas plants that rely on pipeline delivery of fuel, and renewables such as solar and wind supplying power when possible.

However, in the past seven years,108,000 MW of coal-fired generating capacity has retired or has announced plans to retire – enough to power more than 65 million American homes. Power generated from fuels that can be stored on-site is rapidly being replaced by natural gas and renewables.

Consistent with the DOE proposal, the poll shows that Americans believe that the government should take steps to retain coal and nuclear power plants that can provide power through high-impact events such as extreme weather and cyber-attacks, which might interrupt operations at sites that are unable to store fuel onsite.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/power/02112017/a-majority-of-americans-support-safeguarding-base-load-energy/