Morgan Meguire News

The House and Senate adjourned sine die over the weekend and will convene for the 110th Congress on January 4, 2007. On Saturday, Dec.9, three separate "issue" bills  - involving tax, trade and energy policy, were wrapped together in a single legislative package and cleared by the Senate by a vote of  79-9. ...

About a dozen Hill staffers attended a congressional briefing hosted by the American Public Power Association (APPA) on Thursday, December 7, to hear NEPPA members give their views on how electricity markets in New England are functioning.  Sharon Staz, NEPPA's Legislative Committee Chair and Kennebunk Light and Power General Manager, ...

NEPPA members are starting to hear from the U.S. Treasury regarding the status of applications for Clean Renewable Energy Bond (CREB) authority.  The Hull Municipal Lighting Plant was awarded a $1.5 million CREB allocation for a wind turbine it is in the process of building and expects to have operational by May 2006.  Hull was also ...

On December 4, the Electricity Consumers Resource Council (ELCON) advanced a new position paper that states that the U.S. electricity markets need "significant refinement" or Congress should examine a "return to traditional regulation."  ELCON representing large energy intensive industrial customers that felt it would be ...

Some policymakers in the Northeast have begun to reexamine nuclear power and the public's concern with it, in light of a need to reduce CO2 emissions and increase energy output in the region.  In New York, some officials are now favoring both existing nuclear power and the creation of new plants.  Other states in the region are ...

On December 4, outgoing House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) said he intends to block Democrats from passing a mandatory federal cap on greenhouse gas emissions.  Barton expressed doubt that the Democrat-controlled Senate could move such a bill. The House is less likely to move a bill because of skepticism among ...