Fake Fuel War: Reflections from the NARUC Winter Policy Summit

The title is based on comments our CEO, Paul Bailey, made at NARUC’s recent Winter Policy Summit.  A few people seem to feel that ACCCE has been attacking natural gas.  We disagree.  While ACCCE represents the coal fleet, we also believe that other energy sources have an important role to play.  Coal has its strengths, and natural gas has certain advantages.  This is one of the reasons why we support fuel diversity.

Paul went on to point out that NERC, grid operators, and others that support fuel diversity have, at the same time, raised cautions about overreliance on natural gas to generate electricity.

Their concerns about natural gas are well known (e.g., just-in-time delivery).

Discussing these concerns is not a hostile act; neither is pointing out the contributions of the coal fleet to grid reliability and resilience.

Taking advantage of all energy resources helps make the grid more reliable and more resilient, so let’s call an end to this fake fuel war.