Prometheus 6

Quote of note:

Marnie Funk, a spokeswoman for Senate Energy Committee Chairman Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), said her boss put the language into the bill "to bring clarity to a situation in California that has been fraught with uncertainty and conflict." Domenici aides drafted the language for a bill overhauling national energy policy, she said, and when that bill stalled, Domenici added it to the spending measure.

Carl W. Wood, a member of the California Public Utilities Commission, said the language "shows a complete contempt for the people of California and their representatives."

Congress Fuels Fire Between FERC, States
By Richard Simon
Times Staff Writer

December 3, 2004

WASHINGTON — State officials from California to Rhode Island are fuming over a provision, slipped into the massive year-end spending bill expected to clear Congress next week, that says federal regulators should decide where liquefied natural gas terminals are built.

Many lawmakers say they didn't know about the provision when they voted for the voluminous bill last month. [P6: emphasis added]

But state regulators know about it — and they don't like it. They said it could make it harder for them to block facilities that could harm the environment or pose safety and security risks.

The provision seems to leave the Republican-controlled Congress leaning against its natural tendency to support states' rights. But the language reflects the determination of President Bush and his congressional allies to increase energy supplies, especially in the face of predicted increases in natural gas prices.

California appears to be the target of the provision. The state has gone to court challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's claim that it has sole authority to decide whether an LNG facility will be built in Long Beach. The facility would receive imported natural gas that had been cooled to a liquid so that it could be transported by ship rather than pipeline.