Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Monday expressed concern that the panel’s work on a broad energy bill could be “hijacked” by the Senate leadership.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) wants an energy bill to “move quickly,” she told reporters during Platts’ Energy Podium in Washington, DC. She said she and committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) were committed to working through the committee process. Murkowski doesn’t believe the “best way” is to have the Senate leadership “draft a bill and say ‘this is the vehicle'” for an energy measure.

She also expressed concern that a comprehensive energy bill, which may be marked up by the committee as early as next week, could be “married” with a cap-and-trade bill if the committee loses control over the measure (see Daily GPI, March 10).

Despite these concerns, Murkowski said she remains “optimistic” that the committee will advance bipartisan energy legislation. She noted that Bingaman would like to mark up the bill next Tuesday (March 24), but “I don’t think we’re ready for it.”

The energy bill is expected to address a number of contentious issues, including the siting authority for electric transmission lines, a renewable energy standard and drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf. While Bingaman and Reid support significantly expanding the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) jurisdiction over power transmission lines, Murkowski said she supports combined federal-state authority.

“I’m very cognizant of the tension between the states wanting to make the decisions…and the federal perspective,” where the federal government could step in when it’s a matter of national interest. But she said she was “very hesitant” and “not comfortable” about ceding state authority over transmission siting to federal regulators.

“We are working on that [a possible alternative to preempting state authority] right now,” Murkowski said. “[We’re] seeing if we can work something out before we move to markup” next week.

The energy bill drafted by Bingaman would give FERC primary siting authority over new high-voltage transmission lines, while Reid’s bill would award the Commission expanded authority to site transmission lines that are dedicated primarily to renewable energy resources. “I can’t see how Sen. Reid’s proposal can work in practice…I haven’t heard anyone suggest that [that’s] a great idea. So I don’t see it moving forward,” Murkowski said.

She further signaled her distaste for some of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s actions against the oil and gas industry. When he came before the Senate energy panel for his confirmation hearing, “he said [all] the right things…and shortly after that we see some of the pullback from the Bush [administration policies],” which backed producers.

“There was a series of things [by Salazar]…boom, boom, boom,” she noted.

Murkowski further said her support for directional drilling of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife (ANWR) isn’t finding much support in the Obama administration. “Some in the administration are looking at me and saying ‘You must be crazy.'”She believes that ANWR has the “potential to be the next reservoir of oil” in the United States.

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