Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) plans to release to the public today his emergency legislation that seeks to provide relief to the troubled California wholesale energy markets in the short term.

But the bill isn’t expected to be formally introduced on the House floor until probably sometime later this week. The House Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee, of which Barton is chairman, has scheduled its first hearing on the measure for next Tuesday.

There have been some changes made to the legislation, but “it’s not monumentally different” from the draft, said Barton spokeswoman Samantha Jordan. It was not immediately known whether a key provision that would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to undertake an investigation into wholesale power rates in the western markets remained in the bill.

©Copyright 2001 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.