House

Rep. Robert Matsui (D-CA) last week introduced an energy tax bill as a companion to the comprehensive energy legislation that was unveiled by Senate Democrats earlier this year. The Energy Security and Tax Incentive Policy Act proposes a number of tax incentives and credits to spur the construction of new interstate electric and natural gas transmission facilities — notably an Alaska pipeline — and more gas distribution lines, as well as additional gathering to promote development in remote areas.

The White House energy task force plans to forwardrecommendations for a national energy policy to Capitol Hill inearly April, according to a top staff official for the task force.

While THE vote count continues and with little change dictatedby the elections in the energy leadership in the House and Senate,energy industry pundits were at leisure to explore energy policyscenarios under Democratic or Republican regimes and potentialcandidates to fill the top slots in either eventuality.

As part of its house cleaning following its merger withConsolidated Natural Gas, Dominion Resources announced Friday thatit has agreed to sell to GE Capital Commercial Finance $948 millionin commercial loans held by First Source Financial, a unit of itsDominion Capital subsidiary.

Nymex Chairman Daniel Rappaport last week sent a letter to Rep.Larry Combest, Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture,raising concern over a subsection of H.R. 4541, the “CommodityFutures Modernization Act of 2000,” which would exempt electronicenergy derivatives trading from regulatory oversight.

Political repercussions from California’s high-priced heat wavereached all the way to the White House last week as Gov. Gray Davisappealed to President Clinton to pressure the Federal EnergyRegulatory Commission to “accelerate its investigation of wholesaleenergy prices in California.”

The U.S. Senate amended the Department of the Interior’sappropriations bill to include a provision for a two million barrelheating oil reserve in the Northeast. The House already hasauthorized creation of a permanent reserve but has not appropriatedfunds. A conference committee now will merge the two measures. Lastweek, the president ordered the Department of Energy to establish atemporary home heating oil reserve in time for use this winter.This week, DOE plans to advertise for bids to fill that stockpile.It intends to sell oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve inLouisiana in exchange for heating oil and storage capacity in theNortheast.

Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the HouseCommerce Committee, has called on Transportation Secretary RodneyE. Slater to undertake a “thorough review and restructuring” of thedepartment’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) in the wake of a newreport that contends OPS officials have become too cozy with thepipelines that they are supposed to bee regulating.

Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the HouseCommerce Committee, has called on Transportation Secretary RodneyE. Slater to undertake a “thorough review and restructuring” of thedepartment’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) in the wake of a newreport that contends the agency has become too cozy with thepipelines it is supposed to be regulating.