Rather than “blaming just about everyone and everything” for thereliability problems of the electric transmission grid, SenateEnergy Chairman Frank Murkowski (R-AK) urged Energy Secretary BillRichardson to take “immediate and meaningful action” to address thesituation in the short term, while Congress tries to work out alonger term solution.

While “it is too late to instantly reverse the cumulativeeffects of seven years of bad energy policy” by the Clintonadministration, “it is not too late to take some meaningful actionto protect consumers this summer and to begin to provide for thelong term,” Murkowski said in a letter to Richardson yesterday.

For starters, he called on Richardson to coordinate the actionsof other federal agencies — particularly the EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Interior — “toensure that they do not further damage electric reliability.”Moreover, Murkowski proposed that the Department of Energy (DOE)send a “directed rulemaking” to FERC giving the agency theauthority to immediately respond to reliability problems. Under theDOE Organization Act, “you have the statutory authority to directFERC to take action. You should use it.”

Under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978(PURPA), Murkowski reminded DOE it has the authority to orderelectric reliability councils and “any federal agency” to “examineand report” back to it on reliability issues. Also under PURPA,”you have authority…..to develop and recommend electricreliability standards to the industry ‘to adequately and reliablyserve the needs of electric consumers.’ Have you done so? If not,you should.”

Rather than pinning the reliability problems on Congress for itsfailure to pass restructuring legislation yet, “it would be morehelpful to consumers and our economy for you to lead the formationof an administration-wide task force to develop a coordinate andeffective strategy to ensure that the generation and transmissionwe need to power our growing economy will be built,” Murkowskiwrote to Richardson.

©Copyright 2000 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. Thepreceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, inwhole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press, Inc.