Trump Appointee Who Wanted to Help Coal Gets Coal for Christmas

(Bloomberg) -- Despite months of trying, Republican Neil Chatterjee never did manage to pass a rule to save struggling coal plants by the end of his stint leading the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. As consolation, a Democratic colleague gave him a bag of coal.

“A 90-day supply!” Chatterjee joked as he accepted the gift Thursday from fellow commissioner Cheryl LaFleur at the agency’s monthly meeting. Chatterjee was referring to a proposal he had pushed to pay power plants that store 90 days of fuel on-site.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry initially called on the agency in September to consider the plan, and FERC will vote on it in January. Chatterjee, who remains a commissioner for the agency, was replaced as chairman on Dec. 7 by Kevin McIntyre.

To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Traywick in Washington at ctraywick@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Marino at dmarino4@bloomberg.net, Joe Ryan, Will Wade

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