The White House energy task force plans to forwardrecommendations for a national energy policy to Capitol Hill inearly April, according to a top staff official for the task force.

The task force favors making specific policy recommendationsrather than sending its own comprehensive energy legislation toCongress, said the staff official at the winter committee meetingsof the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners(NARUC) in Washington, DC, Tuesday. He requested that he not bequoted.

The task force’s recommendations will take three forms: proposedexecutive actions, regulatory agency actions, and recommendationsto Congress on comprehensive energy legislation, he noted. Therecommendations will be outlined in a report.

The “comprehensive document” will address a wide range ofissues, including the role of conservation and efficiency, the roleof alternative energy sources, short-term energy supply disruptionissues, an overview of U.S. energy supply and demand, the impact ofenergy production on the environment, protections for consumers(especially low-income families) and infrastructure investment.

Specifically, the task force is examining the role of thefederal government on energy matters. While in some cases thefederal government may need to get out of the way of industry andthe private sector, in other situations it may need to undertake amore pro-active role.

The task force members are eager to receive feedback from theenergy industry and the private sector on what needs to be includedin a national energy policy. That’s where the really good ideascome from, he said.

He indicated the Cabinet-level task force probably would have adifferent take on some of the energy issues than Sen. FrankMurkowski (R-AK), who introduced an omnibus energy bill in theSenate on Monday. But he declined to identify which issues. All inall, he thinks the Murkowski bill contains a lot of good ideas forthe energy industry and consumers.

The task force meets formally every couple of weeks. Sitting onthe panel are the secretaries of the departments of Interior,Treasury, Energy, Commerce and Agriculture, as well as theadministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and thedirectors of the Office of Management and Budget and the FederalEmergency Management Agency.

Each department and agency has designated a staff member to workon the development of the energy policy. They meet two or threetimes a week together, and also separately to address differentcomponents of the report.

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