Senate

As the broad energy bill (HR 6) hangs in the balance in the Senate, representatives of the struggling steel, agriculture and paper industries told a House subcommittee last week that they need fast relief from high natural gas prices. Assurances of lower prices 10 or more years down the road, when liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and Alaska gas are projected to play a bigger role in the U.S. supply mix, don’t help them now, they said.

As the broad energy bill (HR 6) hangs in the balance in the Senate, representatives of the struggling steel, agriculture and paper industries told a House subcommittee that they need fast relief from high natural gas prices. Assurances of lower prices 10 or more years down the road, when liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and Alaska gas are projected to play a bigger role in the U.S. supply mix, won’t do, they said.

In a direct plea to House-Senate negotiators on the energy bill, ConocoPhillips Chairman and CEO James Mulva on Thursday called on conferees to “reconsider” their objections to providing Alaska gas producers with subsidies to offset the risks associated with building a proposed pipeline from the North Slope to the Lower 48 states.

The House and Senate Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucuses, the Sustainable Energy Coalition, and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) will hold a Capitol Hill briefing next week to address near-term energy efficiency and renewable energy alternatives that could help to head off a potential natural gas supply crisis.

An amendment sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to regulate the trading of over-the-counter (OTC) energy derivatives was shot down last Wednesday, marking the second defeat for the controversial proposal.

A California Senate panel voted out a measure Tuesday to make the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) into an elective body with each of its five commissioners elected from a separate state district. Industrial customers opposed the measure, which would be a constitutional amendment (SCR 6), saying it would make regulatory decisions even more political. But state utilities so far have voiced no opinion on the bill.

In a markup of the comprehensive energy bill Wednesday, the Senate Energy Committee approved a large number of gas measures designed to speed up the production process and smooth the way for permitting and approvals.

A California Senate panel voted out a measure Tuesday to make the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) into an elective body with each of its five commissioners elected from a separate state district. Industrial customers opposed the measure, which would be a constitutional amendment (SCR 6), saying it would make regulatory decisions even more political. But state utilities so far have voiced no opinion on the bill.

As Senate and House negotiators met last Thursday to work on the omnibus energy bill, Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) offered for consideration a “discussion draft” proposal that would make it illegal for companies and individual parties to participate in round-trip, or “wash,” trades involving electricity. It did not address natural gas round-trip activities, but Barton spokeswoman Samantha Jordan said the draft was a “first step,” and that there was a “possibility” a ban on similar trades on the gas side would be added later.