“Today, the Institute for Energy Research released a new study titled Assessing Emerging Policy Threats to the U.S. Power Grid as a continuation of the Story of Electricity initiative. The report finds that the greatest threats to our power grid are not physical or cyber attacks, but rather existing and upcoming Federal and State policies including subsidies, mandates, and regulations. IER found that Federal Government policies alone threaten the reliable functioning of 130 gigawatts (GW) of power from natural gas, coal, and nuclear power plants. This is enough power to meet the residential electricity needs of more than 105 million Americans, or one-third of the U.S. population. Other findings include:

• COAL: The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) estimates that 103 GW of coal-fired capacity will shut down as a result of EPA rules. That amount of power could supply the residential electricity needs of more than 80 million Americans.
• NUCLEAR: Actions taken by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), state policies threatening existing nuclear plants, and subsidies for renewable energy sources that work at cross-purposes with nuclear power will force 8.6 GW of nuclear power to retire.
• NATURAL GAS: NERC estimated the impact of natural gas supply constraints during the polar vortex—for several regions—and found that nearly 19 GW of gas-fired capacity was lost.”