[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 26, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H3525]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            PRICE CONTROLS, THE EVIDENCE IS THEY DO NOT WORK

  (Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, wholesale electric price 
controls do not work. What better example of this than California? 
Leading energy experts have been saying for months that one major 
reason California is in its current energy mess is because of price 
controls. Now we have further evidence that the price controls are not 
the answer.
  Last week the Department of Energy released a report indicating that 
if Governor Davis gets his way and a cost-plus-$25 price cap is 
implemented, Californians will be literally in the dark.
  The Department of Energy report concludes that Governor Davis' price 
caps would result in the delay or abandonment of about 1,300 megawatts 
of capacity scheduled to be constructed in the State. What does this 
mean to Californians? It means that 90,000 additional households could 
be affected.
  As Pennsylvania learned, deregulation can be implemented with 
success, but price caps and unnecessary government regulations result 
in shortages and higher prices. We in Pennsylvania know that. The 
Department of Energy concurs.

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