Formal Energy Bill Conference; On-Again/Off-Again On Wednesday October 10, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced that leadership would try to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the pending energy bills without formally going to conference with the Senate (i.e. negotiations would be behind "closed doors"). One of the reasons cited for the unusual move was that Senate Republicans would not agree to a formal conference. Shortly after Pelosi's announcement, the White House sent a letter to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) indicating its commitment to work with the Democratic-controlled Congress to "produce balanced energy legislation," and provided a framework of what the Administration would like to see in a final product to avoid a Presidential veto.
By the following Friday, October 19, Senate Republicans and Midwestern Democrats seemed to be rethinking their opposition to a formal conference. Midwestern Democrats, opposed to the increase in automobile standards, sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) saying they would support a conference, while continuing to pushing for less stringent corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) changes. Senate Republicans seemed poised to do the same, but ran into some snags.
On Friday afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) went to the floor to appoint conferees, but Republicans did, in fact, object. Late Tuesday (10/23), it became apparent Republican Senators where split on how to proceed. Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), the Senate Minority Whip, said he would prefer a formal conference but acknowledged that there other views within the GOP caucus. "Some people think we should not even try and go to conference, let them [Democrats] mess it up on their own, and we can probably defeat cloture or sustain a veto," he said.
Therefore, House and Senate leaders are still preceding with an informal, "non-conference conference," while the Senate Republican leadership attempts to clear Republican objection. In the meantime, staff to the House and Senate Leadership continues to work through issues and resolve differences where they can. The more controversial issues, such as CAFE and a federal Renewable Portfolio Standard, will need to wait to be decided at the Member-level.
COMPETE Coalition Touts Benefits of RTO-Markets; Adds Spokesperson
According to recent trade press (Restructuring Today 10/23), the COMPETE Coalition, an alliance of investor-owned utilities, large industrial customers and others that favor wholesale and retail electricity competition, issued a press release announcing the hired of former Mayor of Dallas, Ron Kirk to be a co-chair of the coalition. He joins former Sen. Don Nickles (R-OK) in that capacity.
COMPETE also announced that it will undertake an advertising campaign aimed at federal policymakers, touting the benefits to consumers of electric market restructuring. The ads will appear in major daily newspapers, on line and in trade publications. This is part of an on-going effort by COMPETE members to convince legislators and regulators that the so-called "organized markets" deliver real benefits and are in the best interests of consumers.
The article noted that this effort comes as governors and policymakers in several states are considering measures to end restructuring and retail competition programs. It also comes at a time when FERC is responding to complaints about the organized markets by holding conferences to determine whether competition is working. Two such conferences have been held to date.
For more information on the COMPETE Coalition, go to http://www.competecoalition.com/
EXTEND Coalition Meets with Speaker's Office on Energy Bill
On Wednesday, October 10, the EXTEND coalition met with Arshi Siddiqui, Tax Policy Advisor for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), to encourage the inclusion of significant energy efficiency tax incentives in the final "energy independence" bill. The EXTEND coalition includes a broad cross-section of industries that are encouraging increased energy efficiency tax incentives. The group at Wednesday's meeting included representatives from Morgan Meguire, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), insulation manufactures, large commercial retailers and building developers.
When asked whether a tax title would be included in a final product, since the Senate bill does not have one, she said "the Speaker is working to that end." She predicted that House and Senate tax staff, in tandem with Leadership, would start with the how to pay for the package (i.e. "offsets") and that this decision would drive the size of the tax title and, ultimately, what incentives would be included. The Senate committee-passed package was over $28 billion, while the House package was $15.3 billion. The sense was that tax negotiators would shoot for a modest energy tax title, somewhere around $10 billion, with as many non-controversial offsets as possible.
As for timing, she said the Speaker would like to produce a final energy bill conference report prior to the scheduled November 17 adjournment. She said the House could come back in early December, but only to vote on appropriations bills or conference reports - including, possibly, the energy conference report.
Lieberman/Warner Introduce Climate Change Bill
On October 18th, Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and John Warner (R-VA) introduced their long-anticipated climate change bill, "America's Climate Security Act of 2007." The Senate Subcommittee on Private Sector and Consumer Solutions to Global Warming and Wildlife Protection, which Sen. Lieberman chairs, will hold a legislative hearing on the bill on October 25th.
The bill establishes a federal program to reduce carbon dioxide emissions between 2007 and 2050. The greenhouse gas emissions cap targets electric power, transportation and manufacturing sources that account for 75% of greenhouse-gas emissions. The cap on emissions starts in 2012 (based on 2005 emission levels) and then lowers it gradually, so that it reaches 1990 emission levels in 2020 and then reduces to 65% below 1990 emissions levels by 2050.
The Act allows companies to trade, save and borrow emission allowances and allows them to generate credits when they stimulate non-covered businesses, farms and others to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions or capture and store greenhouse gases.
According to the bill's sponsors, the Act also sets aside emission credits and money raised through the auction of allowances for several reasons:
Boxer is pushing for a Subcommittee vote next week so she can claim victory at the United Nations meeting in December in Bali. It remains to be seen if there are enough votes in Subcommittee to pass the bill.
EEI Sends Letter to Chairman Boxer on Need for "Safety Value"
On October 17, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the national trade association representing investor-owned utilities, sent a letter to the Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Barbara Boxer (D-CA), regarding climate legislation. The utilities asked that any global warming bill include an economic "safety valve" in order "to address potential price shocks and volatility and protect our economy." The group wrote that it agrees with the Chairman's commitment to enacting effective legislation, but went on to say it is "critically important" for Congress to include an economic "safety valve" to reduce potential price volatility that could result from the enactment of a comprehensive cap and trade regime. This type of transition mechanism, they say, "will help provide the stable economic environment and price signals needed to support planning and investment while transitioning to a lower carbon environment."
COMPETE Coalition Adds Spokesman
The Restructuring Today trade press reported today that the COMPETE Coalition, an alliance of investor-owned utilities, large industrial customers and others that favor wholesale and retail electricity competition, have hired the former Mayor of Dallas, Ron Kirk to be a co-chair of the coalition. He joins former Sen. Don Nickles (R-OK) in that capacity.
COMPETE also announced that it will undertake an advertising campaign aimed at federal policymakers, touting the benefits to consumers of electric market restructuring. The ads will appear in major daily newspapers, on line and in trade publications.
This is part of an on-going effort by COMPETE members to convince legislators and regulators that the so-called "organized markets" deliver real benefits and are in the best interests of consumers.
As Restructuring Today noted, this effort comes as governors and policymakers in several states are considering measures to end restructuring and retail competition programs. It also comes at a time when FERC is responding to complaints about the organized markets by holding conferences to determine whether competition is working. Two such conferences have been held to date.
For more information on the COMPETE Coalition, go to http://www.competecoalition.com/
Cape Wind Project Denied
On October 19th, the Cape Cod Commission denied, by unanimous decision, a proposed wind farm in Nantucket Sound. The Commission debated the issue for about an hour before voting unanimously against the proposal. A subcommittee of the Commission was assigned the task of reviewing the project and it recommended that the project be denied on the basis that there was insufficient information and Cape Wind Associates, the project developer, refused to allow more time for review.
If built, the turbines would rise 440 feet above sea level and generate an estimated 170 megawatts of energy. An attorney for Cape Wind said that the organization has provided all the information available on its proposal and could have answered any additional questions had the decision been written in a way that would have asked for more information on a later date. A Cape Wind spokesman said that "we're certainly going to be meeting with our attorneys to determine our best route to remedy this decision."