Electric Industry Splits Over National Choice Bill

Fortnightly Magazine - September 1 1996
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Schaefer measure wins praise from UtiliCorp, Enron, and others, but EEI wants relief on stranded costs."The Electricity Consumers Power to Choose Act," introduced by Rep. Dan Schaefer (R-CO), while designed to bring competition to the electric industry, has definitely attracted controversy. The bill has evoked strong reactions from industry players as well as intense lobbying efforts on the part of promoters and detractors. Everyone, it seems, wants to put in their two cents as the bill makes its way across Capitol Hill. (Lack of time and election-year politics are expected to delay the bill's passage until next year.)

And in case industry debate over the merits of customer choice should prove dull, Schaefer added a twist (em a scheme to promote the use of renewable energy in electric generation. Borrowing from the Environmental Protection Agency's Acid Rain Control Program, the Schaefer bill would require power producers (regulated or not) to obtain "renewable energy credits" that could be traded much as emissions allowances. Power producers would submit these credits to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), based on the quantity of power they generate.

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