James

An advocate of stiff pipeline safety laws, Rep. James L.Oberstar (D-MN) last week said he was “generally supportive” of therecent move by the Department of Transportation’s Office ofPipeline Safety’s (OPS) to toughen the requirements for safetyinspections of large hazardous liquid pipelines. But he believesPresident Clinton’s decree to the agency to beef up the safetystandards for small liquid and natural gas pipelines came up short.

An advocate of stiff pipeline safety laws, Rep. James L.Oberstar (D-MN) said he was “generally supportive” of the recentmove by the Department of Transportation’s Office of PipelineSafety’s (OPS) to toughen the requirements for safety inspectionsof large hazardous liquid pipelines. But he believes PresidentClinton’s decree to the agency to beef up the safety standards forsmall liquid and natural gas pipelines came up short.

With the Senate in semi-recess, a recess appointment by theWhite House to extend Chairman James J. Hoecker’s tour-of-duty atFERC by another year has been put on hold until after nextTuesday’s presidential and congressional elections.

Reps. James L. Oberstar (D-MN), John D. Dingell (D-MI) and DavidR. Obey (D-WI) sent letters to President Clinton and HouseDemocratic Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt last week urgingrejection of an effort to include the Senate’s pipeline safety bill(S. 2438) as a rider to an appropriations bill or other “must-pass”legislation.

Reps. James L. Oberstar (D-MN), John D. Dingell (D-MI) and David R. Obey (D-WI) sent letters to President Clinton and House Democratic Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt last week urging rejection of an effort to include the Senate’s pipeline safety bill (S. 2438) as a rider to an appropriations bill or other “must-pass” legislation.

To “ameliorate” the effects of natural gas price volatility thiswinter, FERC Chairman James J. Hoecker yesterday called on LDCs toaccent hedging techniques and long-term contracts, state regulatorsto make greater use of rate design and stabilization tools andclosely oversee LDC purchasing practices, and both federal andstate governments to support energy assistance and weatherizationprograms to aid low-income customers.

While Chairman James Hoecker last week expressed doubt FERC could provide any real “immediate” relief to California electric customers, the state’s two largest investor-owned utilities called on the Commission to move quickly to rescue the malfunctioning wholesale power market, saying it could not stand on the sidelines as the nation’s first retail electric experiment teeters on the brink of disaster. (See related report, this issue).

FERC Chairman James Hoecker extended an olive branch to theboard of trustees of the North American Electric ReliabilityCouncil (NERC) during a recent visit to Canada, urging the counciland the Commission to work more cooperatively toward a common goal— ensuring the reliability of the bulk electric market.

FERC Chairman James Hoecker extended an olive branch to theboard of trustees of the North American Electric ReliabilityCouncil (NERC) last week, urging it and the Commission to work morecooperatively toward a common goal – ensuring the reliability ofthe bulk electric market.