A Senate subcommittee is scheduled to hear testimony Wednesday on two proposed bills that would require the administrator of the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to develop a plan to collect information on the ownership of all commercially held oil and natural gas inventories in the country, and would give FERC cease-and-desist authority in natural gas and electricity markets.

The bills, which were drafted by the staff of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, will be part of broader energy legislation that the committee expects to begin marking up next week. The measures are expected to be formally introduced after the Subcommittee on Energy hearing Wednesday.

One of the draft bills calls on the EIA to develop a plan to collect the data on inventory ownership within 90 days of enactment of the bill, and to implement the plan 30 days later. It would require the EIA administrator to gather company-specific data on the volumes of product under ownership, and storage and transportation capacity (including owned and leased capacity).

The draft legislation also would require the collection of information from persons who hold or control energy futures contracts or energy swaps for commodities to be delivered in the United States, including the quantity of physical stocks owned; the amount of fixed-price purchase commitments open; the quantity of fixed-priced sales commitments open; physical storage capacity owned or leased; and other information deemed necessary.

The bill also would create a Financial Market Analysis Office within the EIA to analyze the financial aspects of energy markets. The director would report to the head of the EIA, which would use the new information when conducting market analyses and forecasting energy prices. It is noteworthy that the legislation would give the primary role in analyzing financial energy markets to EIA, which has never before had a role in financial oversight, rather than the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which has more Wall Street connections.

In addition, it would create a seven-member Working Group on Energy Markets, which would investigate the effect of increased financial investment in energy commodities on energy prices and the nation’s energy security; and recommend to President Obama and Congress laws that may be needed to prevent excessive speculation in energy commodity markets.

Members of the working group would be the secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE), secretary of the Department of Treasury, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, chairman of the CFTC and EIA administrator.

The working group also would be charged with conducting a study to identify the factors that affect the pricing of crude oil and refined petroleum products; review the roles, missions and structures of “relevant” federal agencies; and assess the gaps that need to be filled for the federal government to effectively oversee and regulate energy markets, according to the draft bill.

It requires the DOE secretary to submit quarterly reports to the Senate energy panel and House Energy and Commerce Committee during the course of the study, and to file a final report within a year after enactment of the bill.

In an effort to protect natural gas and electricity customers from “significant harm,” the second bill would give FERC the authority to issue a temporary order requiring a company to cease and desist from violations or threatened violations of the Natural Gas Act, Natural Gas Policy Act or the Federal Power Act. Cease-and desist orders are generally to be issued only after a hearing, but the proposal does allow FERC to serve a temporary order without a hearing.

And “in the case of an emergency to ensure continued reliability of service to electric consumers or to protect electric consumers from potential abuse of market power or market manipulation in wholesale markets regulated by the Commission,” the proposed bill would give FERC emergency authority to change or suspend temporarily the rates, terms or conditions of service of a company on file with the Commission.

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