[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 900 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 900

    To establish a Consumer Energy Commission to assess and provide 
     recommendations regarding recent energy price spikes from the 
                       perspective of consumers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                 May 16 (legislative day, May 15), 2001

 Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Schumer, Mrs. Boxer, and Ms. 
   Stabenow) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To establish a Consumer Energy Commission to assess and provide 
     recommendations regarding recent energy price spikes from the 
                       perspective of consumers.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Consumer Energy Commission Act of 
2001''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) there has been a sharp increase in the price of 
        gasoline, home heating oil, natural gas, and propane in the 
        United States;
            (2) electricity prices are expected to continue to rise as 
        a result of high natural gas prices, and certain regions have 
        experienced price spikes in wholesale electricity costs;
            (3) price spikes undermine the ability of low-income 
        families, the elderly, and small businesses (including 
        agricultural producers) to afford essential energy services;
            (4) the Department of Energy has determined that the 
        economy would be likely to perform better with stable or 
        predictable energy prices;
            (5) price spikes can be caused by many factors, including 
        insufficient inventories, supply disruptions, refinery capacity 
        limits, insufficient infrastructure, possible over-regulation 
        or under-regulation, flawed deregulation, excessive 
        consumption, over-reliance on foreign supplies, insufficient 
        research and development of alternative energy sources, 
        opportunistic behavior by energy companies, and abuse of market 
        power;
            (6) consumers and small businesses have few options other 
        than to pay higher energy costs when prices spike; and
            (7) the impact of price spikes, and possible responses to 
        price spikes, on consumers and small businesses should be 
        examined.

SEC. 3. CONSUMER ENERGY COMMISSION.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established a commission to be known 
as the ``Consumer Energy Commission''.
    (b) Membership.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission shall be comprised of 11 
        members.
            (2) Appointments by the senate and house.--The majority 
        leader and minority leader of the Senate and the majority 
        leader and minority leader of the House of Representatives 
        shall each appoint 2 members--
                    (A) 1 of whom shall represent consumer groups 
                focusing on energy issues; and
                    (B) 1 of whom shall represent the energy industry.
            (3) Appointments by the president.--The President shall 
        appoint 1 member from each of--
                    (A) the Energy Information Administration of the 
                Department of Energy;
                    (B) the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; and
                    (C) the Federal Trade Commission.
            (4) Date of appointments.--The appointment of a member of 
        the Commission shall be made not later than 30 days after the 
        date of enactment of this Act.
    (c) Term.--A member shall be appointed for the life of the 
Commission.
    (d) Initial Meeting.--Not later than 20 days after the date on 
which all members of the Commission have been appointed, the Commission 
shall hold the initial meeting of the Commission.
    (e) Chairperson and Vice Chairperson.--The Commission shall select 
a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from among the members of the 
Commission.
    (f) Information and Administrative Expenses.--The Federal agencies 
specified in subsection (b)(3) shall provide the Commission such 
information and such administrative expenses as the Commission requires 
to carry out this section.
    (g) Duties.--
            (1) Study.--
                    (A) In general.--The Commission shall conduct a 
                nationwide study of significant price spikes in major 
                United States consumer energy products during the 10 
                years preceding the date of enactment of this Act.
                    (B) Energy products.--The Commission shall study 
                the prices of--
                            (i) electricity;
                            (ii) gasoline;
                            (iii) home heating oil;
                            (iv) natural gas; and
                            (v) propane.
                    (C) Matters to be studied.--The study shall--
                            (i) focus on the causes of the price 
                        spikes, including insufficient inventories, 
                        supply disruptions, refinery capacity limits, 
                        insufficient infrastructure, possible over-
                        regulation or under-regulation, flawed 
                        deregulation, excessive consumption, over-
                        reliance on foreign supplies, insufficient 
                        research and development of alternative energy 
                        sources, opportunistic behavior by energy 
                        companies, and abuse of market power; and
                            (ii) investigate market concentration, 
                        potential misuse of market power, and any other 
                        relevant market failures.
            (2) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to Congress 
        a report that contains--
                    (A) a detailed statement of the findings and 
                conclusions of the Commission; and
                    (B) recommendations for legislation and 
                administrative actions to protect consumers from future 
                price spikes in consumer energy products.
                                 <all>