Energy Dept. chief Perry says coal retirements threaten to destabilize the grid

Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Rick Perry ordered a review of electricity markets and reliability late last week, saying that "certain policies" have hindered the development and use of baseload energy sources like coal. Although Perry never mentions renewable energy explicitly in his letter, he references "significant changes within the electrical system." That seems to be a direct allusion to the record amount of renewable capacity that has been added to the grid in recent years.  The Trump administration has been openly critical of climate change science, with the president even falsely claiming that climate change is a hoax made up by China. In March, the president killed the Clean Power Plan and ordered agencies to ignore climate change. Perry, too, spent most of his early career rejecting climate change science, but during his January Senate confirmation hearing the former Texas governor said he now accepts science showing that the Earth is warming. Still, Perry has remained coy about whether he believes that climate change is caused by humans. The erosion that Perry suggests doesn't seem quite so dire yet. Regional transmission organizations like the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas have been able to accept up to 50 percent wind energy penetration during low-demand times. A 2015 study from SPP said it could "'reliably handle’ wind representing up to 60 percent of internal SPP load.” PJM, a regional transmission organization that serves the East Coast, said in March that recent coal retirements don't threaten grid reliability, according to Utility Dive. PJM was also the subject of extensive research from Princeton and the University of Delaware on how much offshore wind the wholesaler could accept. A conservative estimate suggested that 11 to 20 percent of PJM's power demand could be met by offshore wind additions. In California, where a natural gas leak shut down one of the biggest storage facilities on the West Coast in 2015, the state ordered battery storage installations to help smooth out potential baseload disruptions.