Legislators

Speaking to a group of conservative state legislators Wednesday, President Bush called the $14.5 billion comprehensive energy bill passed by Congress last week “a good piece of legislation.”

Alaska state legislators have tacked an amendment to a tax incentives bill to force oil and natural gas lease operators to develop reserves.

American legislators stand warned again that they will do no favors for the proposed Alaskan natural gas pipeline if they persist in trying to nail down a route chosen by what it does for political constituencies.

End-of-the-year assessments of California’s roller-coaster ride along energy restructuring point to a lack of consensus among the state’s leaders and industry stakeholders about what the state’s future framework for electricity in particular should look like. A report over the holiday week in the Los Angeles Times reported a split between the state’s top regulator and state legislator over who should take the next steps in shaping the state’s energy markets.

As state legislators frantically try to come up with a legislative alternative to the governor’s deal with Southern California Edison Co., the consumer watchdog part of the California Public Utilities Commission last week blasted a more recent agreement, or memorandum of understanding (MOU), crafted with Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas and Electric Co.

California legislators and regulators returned to work after the Easter holiday with a full plate of actions pending in the state’s electricity crisis, including the implementation of last week’s agreement between the governor and Southern California Edison Co. Meanwhile, the negative fallout from the utilities’ credit-worthiness problems continues to add pressure for faster state action.

Calling natural gas “a key part of the equation,” the Californialegislature’s Assembly speaker formed a special subcommittee onMonday to examine natural gas issues as part of the lawmakers’special session on energy, which so far has concentrated on thestate’s stubborn electricity crisis. The focus will be on cost andavailability as has been the similar electricity subcommittee’scharge.

Legislation that could give Texas electric customers substantialrefunds because of “unintended windfall” profits made through thecoming deregulation of the state’s utilities is making its waythrough the Texas House. Under the current law, large utilities maykeep earnings made through 2004 to offset the costs of investing innuclear power plants.

Legislation that could give Texas electric customers substantialrefunds because of “unintended windfall” profits made through thecoming deregulation of the state’s utilities is making its waythrough the Texas House. Under the current law, large utilities maykeep earnings made through 2004 to offset the costs of investing innuclear power plants.