Consumer Groups Say FERC Has No Market Authority

There is no law giving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authority to allow market-based rates, allege seven state and nonprofit consumer organizations in a petition filed July 16 at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The groups seek a hearing on the commission?s imposition of market rates, including interpretation of the filed rate doctrine and the agency?s claim of sovereign jurisdiction. ?What they?re doing is just policy?they?re making it up as they go,? said Lynn Hargis, attorney for Public Citizen. ?That might be okay, except for what happened to the people in the state of California and maybe elsewhere.? ?It?s a collateral attack on the entire concept of framing markets to work in the public interest,? Bryan Lee, FERC spokesperson, responded. ?This would require putting the genie back in the bottle.? Hargis, formerly FERC attorney for electric rates, said the agency is leaving consumers with the ?worst of all worlds.? She said the commission claims that only it has jurisdiction over rates?yet those rates are permitted so long as the commission believes an electric company is not exercising market power. The arguments are similar to the state attorney general?s claims before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ( Circuit , June 25, 2004). Hargis added that if Congress reconsiders changing the Federal Power Act to include authority for FERC, the move would lead to public discussion and perhaps law granting clear authority for market monitoring and enforcement. Recently, the D.C. appeals court handed FERC a defeat on the issue of the California Independent System Operator governance board ( Circuit , June 25, 2004), but this didn?t faze Lee. ?Overall, our record in appeals court is above the historical norm,? he said. (04-1238)

Over 11K Stories!

| Independently Powered Energy News

Consumer Groups Say FERC Has No Market Authority

vdharadmin

Related Posts

FERC Okays Utility Cybersecurity Incentives, Applauds CAISO for Avoiding Blackouts

Energy Officials to Justify Diablo Nuclear Power Plant Extension, Opposition Mounts

DWR Given Lead on Managing Summer Energy Landscape

LADWP Proposes Solar Cuts While Embracing Renewables