"Coal Generator That Trump Tried to Save Files for Bankruptcy"

"A power generator that pleaded for the Trump administration’s help in bailing out struggling coal and nuclear plants has filed for bankruptcy.

FirstEnergy Solutions Corp., its subsidiaries and FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. listed $550 million in cash to continue operations and meet obligations to employees in a Chapter 11 filing in Federal Court in Akron, Ohio, according to a March 31 statement distributed by PR Newswire. Parent FirstEnergy Corp. is not part of the filing, the company said in a separate statement.

The move comes after the FirstEnergy unit on March 29 called on Energy Secretary Rick Perry to declare a grid emergency and guarantee profit for ailing coal and nuclear generators, including its own. Perry had drafted an earlier plan to compensate reactors and coal units more for their power, but federal regulators shot that down in January."

Jim Polson reports for Bloomberg April 1, 2018.