Context of today's data request (2 articles):


US FERC To Compile Data On Calif DWR Power Contracts

04/13/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service 
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) 

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued 
an order late Thursday requiring 49 electricity providers to file information 
regarding contracts they have entered into with the California Department of 
Water Resources. 
The information, due by the close of business Monday, is being compiled on 
behalf of the House Government Reform Committee, which held hearings in 
California this week as part of its oversight investigation into the state's 
electricity-supply crisis.
Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., the committee's chairman, requested the information 
from FERC to determine whether the commission's order Dec. 15 designed to 
move the state away from reliance on volatile spot markets for power supplies 
and into lower-cost long-term contracts has been effective. 
The state water department has been purchasing power for months on behalf of 
the state's two financially troubled utilities, spending more than $4 billion 
at a rate of $50 million daily. 
Edison International unit Southern California Edison (EIX) and PG&E Corp. 
unit Pacific Gas & Electric Co. have amassed more than $13 billion in 
liabilities, because state-regulated retail rates don't allow them to pass 
through high-cost wholesale power purchases. 
PG&E filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on behalf of its utility unit 
a week ago. Monday, Edison entered into an agreement to sell the state its 
transmission lines in a bid to restore financial solvency. 
FERC's order Thursday requests information from 49 power suppliers on both 
short- and long-term contracts they may have entered into with the department 
since Dec. 15. FERC said it will treat the information as confidential, 
unless the supplier states otherwise. 
One Democratic official in Washington suggested the House panel is engaged in 
a partisan "bashing" effort targeting California Gov. Gray Davis, who has 
widely been touted as a presidential prospect for the 2004 election. 
Davis spokesman Steven Maviglio supported the official's assessment. 
"What a shock! Dan Burton is at it again," Maviglio said facetiously of 
Burton, who derived a reputation as a partisan foe of former U.S. President 
Bill Clinton with his many investigations into Clinton and his 
administration. 
"The bottom line is they're aiding and abetting the generators," Maviglio 
said of Burton's committee. 
The governor's spokesman also questioned whether the information FERC amasses 
under seal of confidentiality will remain private once turned over to the 
committee. 
The committee's offices were closed Friday, so no response was immediately 
available. 
-By Bryan Lee, Dow Jones Newswires, 202-862-6647, bryan.lee@dowjones.com


..............................................................................
....................................................... 
?

Congressional Committee Members Question California Utility Officials
Michelle Guido

04/12/2001
KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: San Jose Mercury News - California 
Copyright (C) 2001 KRTBN Knight Ridder Tribune Business News; Source: World 
Reporter (TM) 

Officials from California's two major utilities and two of its smaller power 
generators were in the hot seat in San Jose on Wednesday, fielding questions 
from federal lawmakers about their role in the state's power crisis. 
On Day 2 of a three-day swing through California, three Republican members of 
a U.S. House subcommittee on energy policy and three local Democratic 
representatives heard testimony from utility officials and from the chairman 
of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The energy crisis is expected to bring rolling blackouts to California 
through the summer months and energy officials warned on Wednesday that the 
high prices consumers face here undoubtedly will spill over into neighboring 
states if FERC doesn't cap prices now. 
But FERC Chairman Curt L. Hebert Jr. reiterated what he said Tuesday at a 
western energy summit in Boise: He does not support price caps on electricity 
-- in California or any of the western states. 
"The energy is going to go where the caps are not, and nine out of 11 western 
state governors have said they don't want price caps in their states," Hebert 
said. "A cap sends us in the wrong direction." 
Instead, he said, by May 1, FERC will unveil a plan to monitor energy prices 
and in some cases, might mitigate the price of energy sold on California's 
more expensive spot markets. He wouldn't elaborate, but made it clear those 
adjustments would not include price caps. 
Government Reform Committee Chairman Dan Burton of Indiana opened the hearing 
by saying the committee's mission was not to "point fingers." 
"We wanted to see if there were ways the federal government and the state 
government could work together to get past this crisis." 
At one point early in the hearing, demonstrators attempted to address the 
lawmakers. They were ushered out of the room by security personnel. 
Burton was joined by Republican representatives Doug Ose of Woodland and 
Steve Horn of Lakewood. Also participating in the hearings were Democratic 
representatives Zoe Lofgren and Michael Honda of San Jose and Barbara Lee of 
Oakland. 
The Democrats pushed strongly for FERC to consider price caps. 
"We need to gain control of this out-of-control market and gain control of 
the price gouging," Lofgren said. 
Honda concurred: "We believe that FERC has a responsibility and they've even 
said that rates are unjust and unreasonable. We need short-term caps." 
It was clear that Burton doesn't believe that price caps are the answer. In 
fact, on several occasions, he suggested that capping energy prices might 
result in even more blackouts as summer approaches. 
Lee suggested that some people believe the only way out of the crisis is some 
form of re-regulation. But Dede Hapner, vice president of regulatory 
relations for PG&E, said she wasn't sure that was the answer. 
"We still think a correctly structured market could work. It's certainly 
working in other states," Hapner said. "In retrospect, the way the 
deregulation market was structured was designed to fail." 
Today the hearings move to San Diego, where members will hear from 
representatives of generators that have been accused of overcharging 
California, including Reliant Energy, Sempra Energy and Williams Energy 
Services.


..............................................................................
....................................................... 


Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.