Panel

Defying the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, California authorities Wednesday challenged the federal panel’s order from last month, which stated that by next year the state must replace its five-member, governor-appointed oversight board at the California Independent System Operator (Cal-ISO) with a larger, “more independent” board of governors. In effect, California officials are telling FERC it has no legal authority to force the state to do so.

With a more hospitable subcommittee chair, four witnesses to a House energy subcommittee Monday told a less-than-sensational story about Perot Systems Corp.’s role in the development of California’s wholesale electricity markets, leaving the congressional chair to question what all the fuss has been in Sacramento, which happens to be part of his district.

Coal is out; natural gas and windmills are in, according to recommendations by the Ontario government’s Select Committee on Alternative Fuel Sources, which called for a new provincial Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) that will be among the most aggressive in North America.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s initiative to regulate trading of over-the-counter (OTC) energy derivatives, which was defeated during the debate over the Senate energy bill last month, has sprung to life again. The California Democrat has persuaded Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), who supports her effort and is chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, to hold a hearing on the measure.

At the urging of Congressman Paul Gillmor (R-OH), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-LA) last Thursday said that he is sending investigators next week to FirstEnergy Corp.’s Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in Ohio, which is already under scrutiny from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) after the plant’s operator discovered major corrosion on the plant’s reactor head.

The special California state Senate investigative committee last Thursday announced it will subpoena Enron Corp.’s former CEO Jeff Skilling and two other former executives from the company this week to appear at a hearing in Sacramento April 3. Following approval by the year-old Select Committee to Investigate Price Manipulation in the Wholesale Energy Market this week, the subpoenas are expected to be served Monday, according to a committee staff member.

The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) has adopted emergency rules that would require the state’s licensed marketers to meet more stringent financial qualifications. The rules, approved this week by the Commission and submitted to the Illinois secretary of state, take effect March 1, when the systemwide customer choice program by Nicor Gas is scheduled to begin.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee expects the financial failure of Enron Corp. to figure into the debate over energy legislation, which could get underway in the Senate next month, if Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) keeps his earlier promise to make energy a priority in the new congressional session (See Daily GPI, Dec. 6, 2001). As a result, it has scheduled an oversight hearing for next Tuesday to delve into the Enron affair.

As Enron Corp.’s bankruptcy continues to take its toll, two subcommittees of the House Financial Services panel have scheduled a joint hearing for next Wednesday to assess the effects of the company’s financial breakdown on commodity markets, as well as the reasons behind Enron’s overstated earnings, its potential mishandling of employee 401(k) pension plans, possible securities fraud and accounting irregularities.