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--> --> FERC looking into NW power prices WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal regulators are still looking into high power prices in the Pacific Northwest as they determine what, if any, relief to offer the region's consumers. At a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing Tuesday, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., asked the top official at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission whether power prices in the Northwest are fair. She pointed out that the region's consumers have already seen a 50 percent increase in electricity prices. "Prices are high," FERC Chairman Curt Hebert told her. But "there has been no judgment on the reasonableness and the justness of prices for the Northwest." Earlier in the hearing, Hebert said the commission doesn't entirely understand the Northwest market and is learning more about it. But the region will soon see some short-term relief, as part of a broad effort to help the West. The FERC announced Monday that it would establish price ceilings on wholesale electricity sales on spot markets in 11 Western states, including Washington, Oregon and California. The five FERC commissioners outlined details of their plan at the Senate hearing. They said the price ceilings, which will be in effect through September 2002, should protect consumers against price-gouging until California increases its electricity supply. Senate Democrats who called for power price caps said Tuesday that they wouldn't continue to push for stringent price controls on Western electricity sales, and instead would allow the FERC's plan time to work. Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith agreed. He is the only Senate Republican to support price caps and is the author of a bill to impose them. "This order goes a long way," Smith told the commissioners. "What you have done addresses the short-term problem of price-gougers, but long-term the problem is supply and demand." Smith and other Northwest lawmakers were also displeased that the order didn't offer a refund for overcharges paid by the region's consumers, as offered to California ratepayers for charges before July 2. The entire West is struggling under a power crunch, brought on in part by a botched effort to deregulate the energy market in California. If the market is working properly, the Northwest sends power to California during the summer heat and California, in turn, ships power to the Northwest during the winter. The Northwest relies heavily on hydropower and is experiencing an abnormally dry year. Smith said he was concerned that the FERC's 15-month order would cover California for two summers, but the Northwest for just one winter. "I hope you'll be willing to look at this again if Mother Nature doesn't turn the rain on and we are in a situation where we just simply do not have the power," Smith said. On the Net: FERC: http://www.ferc.fed.us/ Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing