House

Testifying before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit on behalf of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), William J. Haener, executive vice president of natural gas for CMS Energy Corp., said that the interstate natural gas pipeline industry supports the development of a gas pipeline integrity rule but recommends longer time frames for inspection intervals. The congressional subcommittee is currently considering gas pipeline safety re-authorization legislation.

Testifying before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit on behalf of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), William J. Haener, executive vice president of natural gas for CMS Energy Corp., said that the interstate natural gas pipeline industry supports the development of a gas pipeline integrity rule but recommends longer time frames for inspection intervals. The congressional subcommittee is currently considering gas pipeline safety re-authorization legislation.

As part of its ongoing investigation into the collapse of Enron, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-LA), along with Ranking Member John Dingell (D-MI), Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman James Greenwood (R-PA) and Subcommittee Ranking Member Peter Deutsch (D-FL), called on former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay to explain in detail the personal loans he obtained from the company. The Congressmen told Lay they want to determine what impact his unreported financial activity may have had on company shareholders and employees.

Michigan Rep. John Dingell (D), ranking member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, has called for an investigation of Enron Corp.’s accounting firm Arthur Andersen LLP, regarding the audits it performed at Enron as well as Waste Management Inc. Dingell sent a letter on Monday to the Public Oversight Board.

With the focus of the White House and Congress on terrorism, Comptroller General David M. Walker said the General Accounting Office (GAO) temporarily has put the brakes on its pursuit of information and records from Vice President Dick Cheney related to the Cabinet-level energy task force.

With the focus of the White House and Congress on terrorism, Comptroller General David M. Walker said the General Accounting Office (GAO) temporarily has put the brakes on its pursuit of information and records from Vice President Dick Cheney related to the Cabinet-level energy task force.

As midnight was closing in Thursday, the lower house Assembly in California’s legislature passed on a 41-32 vote a revised rescue package to restore Southern California Edison Co.’s financial viability and to inject a healthy dose of re-regulation into the market for small residential and commercial electricity consumers. The measure goes back to the state senate where it faces an uncertain fate.

FERC cleaned house last week at its final regular meeting before its August hiatus, voting out a number of certificates, preliminary determinations and a Section 3 authorization for pipeline projects of Florida Gas Transmission (FGT), PG&E Transmission Northwest Corp., Colorado Interstate Gas Co. (CIG), Algonquin Gas Transmission/Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco) and Otay Mesa Generating Co. LLC.

California’s lower house in the state legislature, the Assembly, went on recess last week like its state senate counterparts and failed to come back to vote on a utility bailout bill, although some discussion among the legislative leaders and various stakeholders did take place. As a result, the state lawmakers are unlikely to act on anything before the Aug. 15 deadline set in the deal between the state and Southern California Edison Co.