-Caveat Lector- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12662-2001Jun17.html Bush to Back FERC Energy Price Limits Proposed Restraints Would Affect 11 States _____ Update _____ Bush: FERC Western Plan Not Price Controls >From Reuters at 10:20 AM President Bush said Monday he did not consider an electricity price-relief plan for the Western region that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was expected to approve to be a form of price controls. Bush said he remained opposed to electricity price controls. But he said the plan that FERC was expected to approve Monday for limited wholesale price curbs in the West was different. "I'm interested to see what FERC comes up with. They're not talking about firm price controls, they're talking about a mechanism to mitigate any severe price spike that may occur, which is completely different from price controls," Bush told reporters. _____Industry Watch_____ � Energy _____California Crisis_____ � California Energy Commission � FERC Report on California Power Issues � California Electricity Profile � California Independent System Operator: Updates on Power Crisis � Graphic: How the California ISO Distributes Power � Map: California ISO's Control Area � Map: Power Plants in California _____Background_____ � FERC _____Web Specials_____ � The Power Crisis � Energy Deregulation What's Your Opinion? E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Version Subscribe to The Post By Mike Allen Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, June 18, 2001; Page A02 President Bush, who has argued against price caps on California electricity, plans to support less stringent price limits by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, administration officials said yesterday. The commission will meet today to consider new restraints on the wholesale price of electricity in California. An aide to California Gov. Gray Davis (D) said the governor considers the commission's leading proposal to be "too little, too late." Administration officials said they will argue that Bush can support new FERC limits that are based on market factors, and will contend that the president has not changed his position. Nevertheless, the willingness to embrace new limits could temper the anxiety of some congressional Republicans, who fear Bush has handled the matter callously. Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) said Vice President Cheney rankled some members of the California delegation during a Capitol Hill meeting last week. "He lectured us about markets," Eshoo said yesterday on a conference call with reporters organized by Davis's office. "When I reminded him that our market was dysfunctional and that in a healthy market there's competition, he looked at his watch." FERC, an independent agency with commissioners appointed by the president, has limits on wholesale electricity prices in California that are in effect only during emergency power shortages. FERC sets a target price based on the costs of the least efficient producer, and companies have to explain in writing if they exceed that target. At a special meeting today to deal with California energy issues, the commissioners will consider a proposal supported by congressional Republicans that would extend those restraints around the clock during the next year, and to 10 other Western states, federal officials said. Davis plans to use a Capitol Hill appearance this week to reiterate his request for the federal government to order electricity generators to refund billions of dollars to his state, an aide said. Power producers are planning television ads in California that Democratic officials consider to be anti-Davis, and the governor plans to point to those campaigns as evidence that generators have made excessive profits during the state's power crunch, the aide said. One of California's leading electricity generators, Reliant Energy Inc. of Houston, said it is considering television ads in California but has not made them yet. Richard N. Wheatley, the firm's director of corporate communications, said the ads would be "educational, talking about the supply-demand imbalance in California." Asked about Davis's planned comments about the ad spending, Wheatley said, "There's been a tremendous amount of misinformation coming out of Sacramento, so I'm not surprised by the tenor of the remarks." Time magazine reported that Republican consultants hope to raise $25 million to run an anti-Davis ad in California beginning today under the name of the American Taxpayers Alliance. Davis will make his request for refunds at a hearing Wednesday called by Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.), the new chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee. Lieberman held his first hearing on energy regulation last week and said the commission had done too little to carry out its mandate to ensure "just and reasonable" wholesale energy rates following deregulation in California. Lieberman's hearings are an example of the benefits to Democrats of controlling the Senate. But Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) doused some Democratic officials' desires for investiga- tions of financial dealings of Bush administration officials. "Democrats want to legislate, not investigate," Daschle said on "Fox News Sunday." "We're not going to engage in payback. There's plenty of temptation to do that, but we're not going to do that." Staff writer Peter Behr contributed to this report. � 2001 The Washington Post Company <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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