川普退巴週年的核煤救援鬧劇
在川普宣布計劃退出巴黎協議一周年的近日，美國的聯邦能源政策又傳出了不太妙的消息。
美國能源部近日一份遭揭露的文件指出，川普當局考慮利用聯邦電力法（ Federal Power Act）或防禦供給法（Defense Production Act）強制要求電力調度業者收購面臨關廠危機的核煤電廠的發電。
聯邦電力法給予電力管制機關在緊急情況下控制電力市場的權限。防禦供給法則給予在國安有疑慮的情況下相似的權限。
然而關閉老舊、無經濟效益、無減碳成本有效性的核煤電廠，是否真會影響美國電網穩定性，已是一大疑問；此種救援政策是否滿足兩條法源定義的緊急情況，則又是另外一大爭議。
多方反對針對核煤的無效救援
包括一些電力調度業者在內的許多產業和環境團體都批評這種針對核煤的救援無助於供電穩定，增加消費者負擔之餘鮮有正面意義。
PJM Interconnection
Christopher Mansour, Solar Energy Industries Association Vice President of Federal Affairs (SEIA)
“A policy to spend billions of dollars keeping uneconomic power plants afloat, while trying to put clean and affordable solar on the sidelines, is not a recipe for economic success. Energy experts across a range of industries, within the federal government and in academia have agreed that this sort of effort will create a bloated power sector deploying outmoded technologies. We urge policymakers to again block this ill-advised effort to keep plants running that most electric utilities have already decided to abandon, and for good reason.”
Amy Farrell, American Wind Energy Association Senior Vice President for Government and Public Affairs (AWEA)
“Independent energy regulators, grid operators and other experts have gone on the record to declare that orderly power plant retirements do NOT constitute an emergency for our electric grid. Infrastructure and processes are already in place to ensure that remains the case. The reported proposal would be a misapplication of emergency powers, there’s certainly no credible justification to force American taxpayers to bailout uneconomic power plants.”
Mary Anne Hitt, Director of Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign
“This is an outrageous ploy to force American taxpayers to bail out coal and nuclear executives who have made bad decisions by investing in dirty and dangerous energy resources, and it will be soundly defeated both in the courts and in the court of public opinion. Trump will clearly try anything to help millionaire coal and nuclear executives, even demanding American families fork over big bucks to prop up their uneconomic, failing power plants. Just like all his other ploys and ham-handed tactics, this one will fail because it is out of touch with reality and out of step with the law.”
Tyson Slocum, Director, Public Citizen’s Energy Program
“President Donald Trump’s actions are a breathtaking abuse of authority and another indication that the president — whose daily knee-jerk actions show neither thought nor policy knowledge — is heavily influenced by extremist corporations and industries. Trump is imagining a crisis that doesn’t exist. This is a power grab, literally… America’s coal and nuclear power plants have been rendered uneconomic because of the combination of cheaper renewables and gas, and flat power demand. There is no national security or reliability crisis stemming from the retirement of such facilities.”
Beyond Nuclear
“If enacted, this bailout of some 80 coal and nuclear power plants in a 13-state region could cost the public $8 billion per year in dirty, dangerous, and expensive energy surcharges on their electric bills and/or income taxes.”
Green Tea Coalition
就連燃氣、石油業者和保守派智庫也都反對這次的救援草案。
Todd Snitchler, American Petroleum Institute Market Development Group Director (API)
“The administration’s draft plan to provide government assistance to those coal and nuclear power plants that are struggling to be profitable under the guise of national security would be unprecedented and misguided …unprecedented government intervention in the energy markets to support high cost generation will put achieving that vision in jeopardy and hurt customers by taking more money out of their pockets rather than letting people keep more of what they earn…”
Heritage Foundation
“The motives couldn’t be more obvious — the same politically-tied companies that drove the last proposal are back at it again because they can’t compete in the marketplace…”
綠能燃氣其實是同床異夢
沒想到風能、太陽能業者跟環境團體竟然也有這麼一天，在一個特定議題上跟燃氣、石油業者站在一起。
能源轉型唱衰論者或許可繼續罔顧事實地將此做為再生能源業者其實和化石燃料業者沆瀣一氣的證明（然後忽略核煤業者常常一起要求補貼的現況）。
不能否認，在過去幾年以氣換煤為美國、英國、新加坡等地的電力系統換來不少減碳效益。這讓燃氣業者興起一些希望，感覺能源轉型的未來會持續有利於燃氣產業。
但隨著再生能源和儲能發展，燃氣作為階段性橋接能源的時間並不會太長。
像最近 Rocky Mountain Institute便發表一份報告，指出分散式能源系統搭配再生能源，在全美大部分地區到2030年時已經比新建或營運中的燃氣電廠更便宜。
另外，有些地區能源轉型初期階段中，在燃氣沒有顯著成長的情況下，也做到用再生能源取代燃煤的成就。其中最重要的例子就是澳洲近幾年的變化。
南澳州繼續是全澳能源轉型的火車頭。甚至在所有境內燃煤電廠都關廠以後，他們對於進口電力的依賴仍持續下降，在2018年第二季首次成為電力淨出口區域！
以上種種跡象都顯示，以氣換煤的政策不僅僅是能源轉型初期一個很有效率的政策（正如台灣正在推行的），所謂燃氣鎖定（gas lock-in），也是有很多方案和機會在中長期的轉型過程中避免的。
