Eleven members of California’s congressional delegation have called on the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to hold “public evidentiary hearings” to air proposals and issues related to planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and other natural gas projects.

“The electricity crisis that struck California in 2000 and 2001 clearly demonstrated the consequences of ineffective regulation and inadequate oversight of energy sources and markets. Yet, we understand that the [CPUC] plans to only take into account written comments, without evidentiary hearings, as it considers guidelines for the California natural gas utilities’ interstate pipeline contracts, access to liquefied natural gas and other supplies of natural gas transported over interstate pipelines” in its gas rulemaking proceeding, the 11 Democrats wrote in their July 8 letter to CPUC President Michael Peevey.

The CPUC “should seize this historic opportunity to fully consider the myriad proposals concerning natural gas capacity, supply and LNG facilities that are at stake in the broad rulemaking,” which the agency initiated in January, they said.

“Your consideration of these issues would benefit from a process that allows the parties to test the underlying facts, assumptions and impacts through public evidentiary hearings,” the House lawmakers noted.

“As the commission noted in its initial rulemaking, the expiration of the utilities’ interstate pipeline contracts, together with the emergence of LNG as a possible new supply option, necessitate immediate and critical choices. We strongly encourage the commission to build the best factual record possible before making these critical decisions shaping California’s energy future.”

An “open and robust” public evidentiary process, the delegation said, will ensure that California’s energy consumers receive reliable supplies of natural gas at reasonable prices.

California Democrats signing the letter were Reps. George Miller, Henry Waxman, Anna Eshoo, Lois Capps, Juanita Millender-McDonald, Sam Farr, Mike Thompson, Barbara Lee, Susan A. Davis, Hilda L. Solis and Filner.

The siting and jurisdiction of LNG facilities have become hot issues in California. Many environmentally conscious Californians are opposed to the siting of LNG facilities in their state and offshore, while the CPUC and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are ensnared in a dispute over which agency has jurisdiction over an LNG terminal proposed in the state.

FERC has claimed “exclusive jurisdiction” over Sound Energy Solutions’ (SES) planned LNG terminal for the Port of Long Beach, CA. But the CPUC contends that the facility proposed by Sound Energy, a U.S. subsidiary of Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp., falls under its jurisdiction. The CPUC said it will appeal the issue to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

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