US energy secretary seeks incentives for coal, nuclear plants

Washington

US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has asked federal regulators to attempt to keep the nation's struggling coal and nuclear power plants open by rewarding them for contributing to the resilience of the electric grid, the Department of Energy said on Friday.

The move drew praise from the coal and nuclear power industries. But it raised alarm bells among renewable energy groups and environmentalists concerned that such incentives were unfair and could lead to an increase in emissions from coal plants linked to global warming and more toxic waste from nuclear plants before a permanent repository is built for the country.