Dems

Fresh off of their latest Congressional recess, Democrats in the House of Representatives last week continued to round up support for a discharge petition that would force consideration of energy price-cap legislation on to the House floor. The Democrats now need less than 60 signatures from lawmakers in order to move the price-cap bill sponsored by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) directly to the House floor.

A group of several dozen moderate and conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives this week unveiled a package of energy proposals that, among other things, calls for the immediate construction of a pipeline to bring Alaskan North Slope gas to markets in the United States and the creation of an energy reliability organization to help facilitate the possible role of regional transmission organizations (RTOs) in dealing with regional electricity transmission issues.

Democrats in the House of Representatives last Wednesday hit the ground running in their efforts to force consideration of energy price-cap legislation on to the House floor. Democrats, who need signatures from 218 members in order to move the price-cap bill sponsored by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) directly to the House floor, had already collected more than half the required number of signatures as of last week.

Democrats in the House of Representatives yesterday hit the ground running in their efforts to force consideration of energy price-cap legislation on to the House floor. Democrats, who need signatures from 218 members in order to move the price-cap bill sponsored by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) directly to the House floor, had already collected more than half the required number of signatures as of late Wednesday.

Democrats in the House of Representatives are gearing up to wage a fight this week that, if successful, would force consideration of energy price-cap legislation on to the House floor. The move by House Democrats stands in marked contrast to a recent decision by their counterparts in the Senate to hold off on similar legislation in the wake of a move by FERC last week to extend price controls on bulk electricity transactions to the entire western region.

Western senators, who have been the sternest critics of FERC for its refusal to install power price caps in the state and elsewhere in the western region, extended an uncharacteristically warm welcome to commissioners when they appeared before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee yesterday.

On the same day that he was handed the reins of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) said that bipartisan legislation directing FERC to set cost-based rates to ensure just and reasonable wholesale energy prices in California could get consideration from the panel within the next couple of weeks. Separately, newly-minted Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) made it clear earlier this week that he stands ready to support such legislation if FERC falls short of meeting its just and reasonable obligations.

The month of May is almost gone and support in the California legislature for the governor’s deal with Southern California Edison was still missing last week, so Republican members crafted an alternative that would not involve sale of the utility’s transmission assets to the state. In the meantime, Democratic state legislative leaders took aim at FERC as did most of the rest of the state government’s elected and appointed officials.

House Democrats made clear last week that they favor some of the same actions as the Republicans to resolve the current energy crisis — improving the energy transmission/transportation infrastructure, increased drilling on public lands, expedited permitting for pipelines and production tax credits — but they insist these can be accomplished without compromising the environment.