'Polar Vortex' Fuels Political Whirlwind

This winter's deep freeze, also known as the "polar vortex," continued to fuel energy debates in the Senate yesterday as conversation about grid reliability spilled into fretting over the closure of large baseload coal and nuclear plants across the country.

During a hearing in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Manchin peppered regulators, grid overseers, energy companies and interest groups with questions about looming U.S. EPA rules and coal plant closures -- an issue that system planners have already said is a point of concern in some regions.Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) pushed Cheryl LaFleur, the acting chairwoman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, for assurances that the commission is keeping a close eye on grid reliability in 2016, when U.S. EPA's landmark mercury and air toxics standards take effect.

Although LaFleur said FERC is providing comments to EPA, Portman said he wants to agency to do more, including modeling grid stability to prevent brownouts and blackouts.  "We've gone through a tough winter, admittedly; we really stressed the system," Portman said.  "We're at a point where we need your input on the front end."

FERC Commissioner Philip Moeller said the country is undergoing an unprecedented energy shift in a very short time frame and a more "formal review" -- one that includes FERC, EPA and nongovernment entities -- is needed to analyze plant retirements and additional transmission that may be needed.

'Polar Vortex' Fuels Political Whirlwind