Energy

BOISE, Idaho -- The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and Western energy regulators meeting April 10 struggled to find a near-term solution to skyrocketing energy prices in the West, with observers saying they sense a move toward some form of short-term price restrictions for electricity and natural gas.

Concerns over environmental requirements has led California lawmakers to stall one of the most substantive bills proposed during the state's emergency energy legislative session. The lawmakers are concerned that the environmental provisions will restrict power when the state needs it most, and that out-of-state power generators will gain considerable advantage in the market because of the environmental protection requirements.

Lawyers for the city of Huntington Beach are dropping most of their objections to a proposed power plant expansion on the coast, based on environmental mitigation measures added to the energy commission's proposed project certification, according to sources. But city officials and environmentalists remain concerned that no provisions have been added to the certification requiring the power generated at the facility be used only in California, despite the applicants benefiting from streamlined and fast-tracked environmental reviews.

Democrats are vowing to kill any emergency California energy legislation authored by House Energy & Air Quality Subcommittee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) that would create a waiver for Clean Air Act permitting requirements for new power plants, congressional sources say.

In fact, partisan sparring over the issue of energy legislation has intensified sharply in recent weeks, and sources say the increasingly ugly tenor of political discourse on Capitol Hill could doom any serious efforts for a congressional fix to California's energy problems.