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Gas Drillers, Coal Miners -- and Etsy? All Weigh in on Grid Rule

Gas Drillers, Coal Miners -- and Etsy? All Weigh in on Grid Rule

(Bloomberg) -- What does Etsy Inc. have in common with oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp.? Answer: They’ve both come out against Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s proposed grid shakeup.

The online marketplace for hand-made goods from Brooklyn joined some of the nation’s biggest energy companies in opposing his plan to help struggling coal and nuclear plants by creating special payments to reward them for their reliability.

The overhaul “will not contribute to meaningful grid resilience, and, as a result, we oppose its finalization,” Etsy said in a filing to the nation’s top energy regulator.

The company -- made famous for its marketplace selling unique and handcrafted goods -- said the estimated $3.8 billion annual impact of Perry’s proposal represented a “significant” cost that would be passed onto households and businesses including its sellers.

It also expressed concern that the proposal would jeopardize alternative approaches to grid reliability including renewable energy.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Cunningham in New York at scunningha10@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Stephen Cunningham, Will Wade

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