The National Energy Marketers Association (NEM) is urging statepublic utility commissions (PUCs) and Congress to help fightagainst the recent price volatility in wholesale energy marketsacross the nation. NEM will hold an Industry Leadership RoundtableOct. 30-31, to identify and discuss possible solutions that wouldbring competitively priced power to consumers.

“At our April meeting, [Energy] Secretary Richardson warned thecountry about price spikes and possible shortages. Now that it hascome to pass, many politicians are surprised and are calling foractions that could make matters worse,” said Craig Goodman,President of NEM.

NEM says that Congress is responsible for the “stripping down”of restructuring legislation in the electricity industry to thepoint where there is no meaningful or constructive overhaul insight.In response to widespread price volatility, statelegislatures, along with PUCs, have established a series ofregulations including price freezes, roll-backs and discounts.Demand is increased due to lower prices, but new plants are notbeing built to meet that demand. NEM believes these actions have”exacerbated a shortfall in new power supply.”

“You can’t legislate or regulate lower prices, block new powerplants from coming on line, and then expect prices to remainstable,” said Goodman. “Retail customers suffer when regulatorsfail to provide for truly liquid wholesale markets. Either thefederal government needs to mandate price decontrol and grant FERCthe powers necessary to get the job done, or the states will haveto fully unbundle utility rate bases quickly and fairly soconsumers can start shopping for competitively priced energy withshopping credits that reflect the full costs of serving retailload. Under partial decontrol, consumers are forced to pay twicefor these services, whether they want them, or not,” explainedGoodman.

The Roundtable will be held in The Woodlands, TX. NEM willextend invitations to leaders in the energy information, services,technology and telecom-bandwith industries to join NEM’s PolicyDevelopment Team in discussing these issues. More information canbe obtained at NEM’s web site, www.energymarketers.com.

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