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Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 14:17:19 -0500
From: "Tracey Bradley" <tbradley@bracepatt.com>
To: "Justin Long" <jlong@bracepatt.com>
Cc: "Aryeh Fishman" <afishman@bracepatt.com>, "Andrea Settanni" 
<asettanni@bracepatt.com>, "Charles Ingebretson" 
<cingebretson@bracepatt.com>, "Charles Shoneman" <cshoneman@bracepatt.com>, 
"Deanna King" <dking@bracepatt.com>, "Dan Watkiss" <dwatkiss@bracepatt.com>, 
"Gene Godley" <ggodley@bracepatt.com>, "Kimberly Curry" 
<kcurry@bracepatt.com>, "Michael Pate" <mpate@bracepatt.com>, "Paul Fox" 
<pfox@bracepatt.com>, "Ronald Carroll" <rcarroll@bracepatt.com>, "Randall 
Rich" <rrich@bracepatt.com>
Subject: US Sens Unveil Bipartisan Bill To Cap Western Pwr Prices
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FYI


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.