IEP NEWS UPDATE:



US Lawmaker: Revoke 6 Pwr Cos Mkt-Based Selling To Calif  ????


 ???????Updated: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 08:16 AM?ET ???


Calif Gov Forms Team To Speed Power Plant Construction  ????


 ???????Updated: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 03:34 PM?ET ???


US Sens Unveil Bipartisan Bill To Cap Western Pwr Prices  ????


 ???????Updated: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 12:17 PM?ET ????? 
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US Lawmaker: Revoke 6 Pwr Cos Mkt-Based Selling To Calif  ????
Updated: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 08:16 AM?ET ????? 
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(This article was originally published Monday) 

LOS ANGELES (Dow Jones)--A U.S. Congressman from California asked federal 
regulators Monday to revoke the authority of six generators to sell power at 
market-based rates in the state because they abused that authority in the 
past, according to a letter seen by Dow Jones Newswires. 

Congressman Bob Filner of San Diego accused the following companies of 
controlling power prices in California: AES Corp (AES, news, msgs), Duke 
Energy Corp (DUK, news, msgs), Dynegy Inc (DYN, news, msgs), Mirant Corp (MIR
, news, msgs), Reliant Energy, Inc (REI, news, msgs), and The Williams 
Companies, Inc (WMB, news, msgs). 

"Each of the companies was required, as a condition for the authority to sell 
at market-based rates, to demonstrate that they did not possess market power 
in the California generation market," Filner said in a letter to Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Curt Hebert. "It is clear that these 
firms, do, in fact, have market power and therefore do not satisfy the 
prerequisite for authority to sell at market-based rates under FERC rules." 

FERC granted the generators market-based rate authority in 1998 for three 
years, and is in the process of determining whether to renew that authority. 

Filner's letter comes on the heels of a meeting Thursday between California 
Gov. Gray Davis and 22 federal lawmakers from the state, where all agreed 
that FERC needs to take more action to curb skyrocketing wholesale power 
prices in California. 

The lawmakers have not, however, reached a consensus on how the FERC should 
keep prices in check. At least one other Congressperson, Democrat Jane 
Harman, said Thursday that she favored revoking generators' market-based rate 
authority. 

The state's grid operator filed a letter to FERC in March claiming generators 
overcharged the state $6.2 billion for electricity they sold in the state's 
power market between May 2000 and February 2001. FERC has ordered refunds for 
overcharges totalling $124.5 million for January through March, 2001. 

-By Jessica Berthold; Dow Jones Newswires; 323-658-3872; 
jessica.berthold@dowjones.com 


Calif Gov Forms Team To Speed Power Plant Construction  ????
Updated: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 03:34 PM?ET ????? 
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LOS ANGELES (Dow Jones)--California Gov. Gray Davis said Tuesday he has 
formed a task force to help speed the construction of new power plants in the 
state, according to a press release. 

The team will examine construction schedules and shorten the startup time for 
power plants to be built and develop methods to overcome potential delays 
during construction, the release said. 

The task force will comprise members of engineering and construction firms, 
and will be led by Ambassador Richard Sklar, who recently completed service 
as the U.S. President's Special Representative for Economic Reform and 
Reconstruction in Southeast Europe. 

Sklar is the former owner of a construction machinery manufacturing firm and 
former president of a project management firm as well as former general 
manager of San Francisco's Public Utilities Commission, the release said. 

Other members of the task force include project management executives from 
Bechtel Group Inc, URS Corp. ????????(URS, news, msgs), and Fluor Corp. (FLR, 
news, msgs) unit Fluor Daniel. 

"To keep up the momentum and ensure we have 15% more supply online than 
demand by 2004, this project management team will work to expedite all phases 
of the power plant construction process," Davis said. 

Davis also said Tuesday his energy advisor and staff director, John Stevens, 
is leaving the administration, but will continue to work with the governor on 
energy-related issues. 

-By Jessica Berthold; Dow Jones Newswires; 323-658-3872; 
jessica.berthold@dowjones.com 

US Sens Unveil Bipartisan Bill To Cap Western Pwr Prices  ????
Updated: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 12:17 PM?ET ????? 
?
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--U.S. senators Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif, and Gordon 
Smith, R-Ore., Tuesday unveiled bipartisan legislation to require federal 
regulators to impose cost-based electicity price controls throughout the 
western U.S.. 

The bill was unveiled at a press conference designed to ratchet up pressure 
on the Bush administration to relent in its opposition to price controls in 
response to a pending electricity supply crisis in the region this summer. 

The measure would require the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to 
limit the prices power suppliers can obtain to their cost of production plus 
a reasonable rate of return. The bill would allow FERC to determine what rate 
of return power providers could obtain. The cost-based price controls would 
remain in effect until March 1, 2003. 

The bill also targets a FERC decision deemed to be exacerbating California's 
electricity crisis by driving up natural gas costs in the state. It would 
require FERC to end a temporary suspension of a natural gas transportation 
rate cap for sales into California. The bill would mandate that natural gas 
providers disclose to FERC commodity and transportation prices for sales into 
California.