STATEMENT BY U.S. SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN
On the Action today by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission
December 15, 2000

“The action today by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is unacceptable. Rome is burning, our utilities are close to bankruptcy, Californians are facing major blackouts, and the commission is fiddling.

It is clear to me that FERC is either too timid, too weak or too uninspired to do what is necessary in this crisis, which is to regulate the prices until a stable market can be developed. If the regulatory authority is unwilling to do this, with the evidence of price gouging that exists, there is no hope for a deregulated system, in my view.

At this point, the last remaining hope of solving this crisis in the short-term is through a forum scheduled Tuesday between energy generators and utilities. This meeting will hopefully help establish more bilateral contracts between the generators and the utilities and could provide rate stability and electricity supply certainty. In the meantime, we have an emergency order by the Department of Energy until December 21.

It seems to me that if these prices don’t settle down, my strong recommendation to Governor Davis and the State Legislature is that they begin to reregulate. The transfer of billions of dollars from California to the energy generators, which has been taking place over the last eight months, is unconscionable.”