Friday, April 28, 2006
The Washington Summary
This week, Congress was completely fixated on gasoline prices. Both sides proposed supposed solutions that
clearheaded observers acknowledge would have little immediate effect on gasoline prices. Although it appears for
the moment as if fixation on oil and gasoline will leave Congress blessedly too occupied to cause trouble on
electricity, there is some danger that all this talk of price manipulation could lead to additional energy market
regulations which could have a chilling effect on trading.
The EPSA-PAC is hosting a breakfast fundraiser for Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) on May 17. Rep. Boucher is the
ranking member on the Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee, and both he and his staff are intelligent and
extremely knowledgeable on energy issues. We hope that you will all be able to participate. For a copy of the
invitation, please e-mail David Sigmon at dsigmon@epsa.org.
The House – Although the House still plans to make
the week of June 25 “Energy Week,” Speaker Denny
Hastert (R-IL) announced plans for an accelerated
consideration of a variety of energy bills starting
immediately. The Speaker has tasked Republican
Policy Chair Adam Putnam (R-FL) with coordinating a
series of bills to: open up ANWR to production; create
a federal price gouging statute; limit boutique fuels;
curtail deposits into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve;
and encourage the expansion of hydrogen technology.
The Agriculture Committee held a Thursday hearing
on the role of futures markets in determining gasoline
prices. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Commissioner and New York Mercantile Exchange
both testified that they had seen no evidence of
market manipulation which would affect prices.
On Thursday, the Resources Committee’s
Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health held a
hearing focusing on a Government Accountability
Office (GAO) report titled “Woody Biomass Users’
Experiences Offer Insights for Government Efforts
Aimed at Promoting Its Use.” The report detailed
some of the difficulties companies encountered using
woody biomass and the committee discussed ways to
remedy these.
The Senate – Energy and Natural Resources
Committee chair announced Gas Price Relief and
Rebate amendment which would give people $100 to
offset gas price increases, allow the Administration to
increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ)
standards, and encourage the President’s Advanced
Energy Initiative. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN)
has not yet announced whether it will be allowed as an
amendment to the current supplemental
appropriations bill, but Energy Secretary Samuel
Bodman already has expressed his support for the
much of the proposal.
The Energy and Natural Resources Committee held
an uneventful Monday afternoon hearing on coal
liquefaction. Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) chaired the
hearing and expressed his support for additional
incentives for coal liquefaction beyond those included
in EPAct 2005. Sen. Craig Thomas (R-WY) also
attended, and said that Wyoming is concerned that
they can’t market all of the coal they produce because
of rail bottlenecks.
The Energy and Natural Resources Committee will
hold a coal gasification hearing on Monday – another
in their series of EPAct 2005 implementation hearings.
The first panel will feature DOE Under Secretary of
Energy for Energy, Science and the Environment
David Garman. The second panel will consist of Brian
Ferguson, Eastman Chemical Company; William
Bruce, BRI Energy; Bill Douglas, Econo-Power
International; Bill Boycott, Agrium USA; and Antonia
Herzog, Natural Resources Defense Council.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has introduced her
amendment to increase reporting in the energy
markets as a stand-alone bill, S. 2642. Sens. Maria
Cantwell (D-WA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Barbara
Boxer (D-CA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Barbara Mikulski
(D-MD) and Carl Levin (D-MI) cosponsored the bill. If
you would like a copy of the bill, please e-mail David
Sigmon at dsigmon@epsa.org.
KEY DATES
May 1 – Senate ENR Hearing on Coal Gasification at 2:30 PM EDT in 366 Dirksen.
May 3 – Legislative Affairs Committee Conference Call/Meeting at 3:00 PM EDT.
May 17 – EPSA-PAC fundraiser for Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) at 8:30 AM EDT at Hotel George.
To access the Legislative Affairs Committee conference calls, dial (719) 884-8856 and enter the following
participant passcode: 243974.