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Daniel Yergin of IHS and Nuclear CEOs Alike Cite an Urgent Need for Electric-Market Reforms
Statement from IHS Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin in:
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(38 seconds)
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Electric-utility executives have warned that flawed markets still aren't recognizing the value of baseload power sources such as nuclear and coal as "the backbone of the electricity grid".
During a panel discussion at this year's "Nuclear Energy Assembly"--the annual conference of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)--the executives said that markets and regulators are imperiling energy diversity--by favoring newer energy technologies while not recognizing the value of the existing electricity infrastructure.
Daniel Yergin--the vice chairman of the information and analytics firm IHS, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author--led the discussion. He identified regional market deficiencies as among the challenges that face many nuclear-energy facilities--despite the technology's proven ability to reliably generate large amounts of electricity.
Ninety-nine nuclear-energy facilities, in 30 states, provide 19 percent of America's total electricity supplies--and 63 percent of the electricity that's generated by carbon-free sources. This year's "Nuclear Energy Assembly" was held May 12th-14th; for more from this particular discussion, click here.
(YERGIN):
"NUCLEAR ENERGY IS A BULWARK OF [THE] U-S ELECTRICITY-SUPPLY--ABOUT 20-PERCENT OF OUR TOTAL
ELECTRICITY--BUT IS BEING CHALLENGED BY CHANGES IN SUPPLY, PARTICULARLY [IN THE] INSTANCE OF NATURAL
GAS--MATCHED, AT THE SAME TIME, WITH SOME FLAWS IN THE WAY [THAT] ELECTRICITY-MARKETS ARE SET
UP--WHICH MEANS THAT THE SHORT-TERM MARKET-PRICES ARE NOT SUPPORTING NUCLEAR POWER, EVEN THOUGH
IT'S CARBON-FREE. SO, ONE OF THE KEY THINGS THAT NEED TO BE DONE IS TO FIX THE MARKET-DESIGN AND BE
COMPETITIVE--SO THAT WE CONTINUE TO HAVE THE BENEFITS OF NUCLEAR POWER:
IT'S A VERY IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF OUR OVERALL ENERGY-SYSTEM."
