[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 40 (Monday, March 14, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H1304-H1305]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FAIR RATEPAYER ACCOUNTABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, AND EFFICIENCY STANDARDS
ACT
Mr. WHITFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 2984) to amend the Federal Power Act to provide that any
inaction by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that allows a rate
change to go into effect shall be treated as an order by the Commission
for purposes of rehearing and court review.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 2984
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 ``Fair Ratepayer
Accountability, Transparency, and Efficiency Standards Act''
or the ``Fair RATES Act''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE FEDERAL POWER ACT.
Subsection (d) of section 205 of the Federal Power Act (16
U.S.C. 824d(d)) is amended by adding at the end the
following: ``Any absence of action by the Commission that
allows a change to take effect under this section, including
the Commission allowing the sixty days' notice herein
provided to expire without Commission action, shall be
treated as an order issued by the Commission accepting such
change for purposes of section 313.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Kentucky (Mr. Whitfield) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr.
Kennedy) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky.
General Leave
Mr. WHITFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and to insert extraneous materials in the Record on the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Kentucky?
There was no objection.
Mr. WHITFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
As we begin consideration of this legislation, I thank the gentleman
from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy) for bringing this matter to the
attention of our committee.
The Federal Power Act sets forth processes to set rates for
electricity, including opportunities for the public to protest a rate
change filed with FERC. New rates take effect if FERC approves them or
if FERC fails to issue an order approving or denying the filed rate
within 60 days. The failure to approve or deny a rate may result from
agency delay or, in some limited cases, from a vote that results in a
deadlocked Commission, for example, a 2-2 vote. In such cases, the
rates become effective by operation of law even when these rates were
not approved by a majority of Commissioners.
The Federal Power Act provides administrative redress for members of
the public to protest Commission rate decisions. However, if these
rates become effective by operation of law--for example, a deadlock, 2-
2--the administrative processes are not available to the public because
FERC did not actually issue an order for the public to protest. The
public literally gets shut out.
I don't want to speak for the gentleman from Massachusetts, but I
think some of his constituents recently experienced this firsthand. As
a result of that and of the hard work of Mr. Kennedy's, of his staff's,
and of the committee staffs' on both sides of the aisle, this
legislation was drafted, and we considered it in committee. We have it
on the floor today, and I would urge all of the Members to support this
important legislation.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I thank the House for allowing me to discuss the Fair RATES Act, H.R.
2984, and for bringing it to the floor for a vote.
I also thank Chairman Whitfield, Chairman Upton, Ranking Members
[[Page H1305]]
Rush and Pallone, as well as the committee staffs on both sides, for
their work with our office to help this bill move forward. In
particular, to echo Chairman Whitfield's comments, he has been an
incredible partner with us as we have tried to move this bill forward,
and I am truly grateful for his assistance in doing so.
Mr. Speaker, every year regulators in New England hold energy
capacity auctions to ensure that we have sufficient energy that is
generated to meet consumer demand. Two years ago, during an auction,
there was a shortfall that triggered administrative pricing at triple
the current capacity payments, skyrocketing from about $1 billion to $3
billion.
That rate increase hasn't even reached our constituents yet, and our
region already pays the highest energy rates in the continental United
States. Next June, a significant portion of their bills will triple due
to that auction.
When the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reviewed the rate
increase, it was down to four commissioners and it deadlocked 2-2. One
Democratic Commissioner and one Republican Commissioner raised concerns
about whether those rates were just and reasonable for consumers.
However, the rates took effect by operation of law without any action
from FERC; and because there was no official decision by FERC, there
was no decision to appeal, holding our constituents voiceless.
Another annual auction just took place last month with rates, again,
that were three times higher than they are today. Those rates are,
again, being reviewed by a shorthanded FERC, which sets up the
potential for the exact same outcome of consumers, once again, being
shut out of the process.
With bipartisan support and endorsements from the American Public
Power Association, the New England Public Power Association, the
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, my bill, the Fair
RATES Act, would simply ensure that avenues of good governance remain
open. It provides that if at any time rate changes take effect by
operation of law without Commission action, deadlocked or otherwise,
aggrieved parties retain the right to protest those rates through the
process that is outlined by the Federal Power Act.
I am the first to admit that this is a complex issue, but my bill is
a simple fix to a complex problem. When we as lawmakers identify a flaw
in one of our laws, especially one that unduly harms our constituents,
it is our obligation to act to amend the law.
The unpredictability of my region's energy rates means families can't
save for the future and local businesses can't grow. The least we can
do is to ensure that they will never be held voiceless when their
electric bills arrive at the end of each month; so I urge my colleagues
to support this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I also want to give particular thanks to the committee
staffs on both the majority and minority sides, including Patrick
Currier, Allison Trexler, Rick Kessler, Caitlin Haberman, and Alexander
Ratner.
Finally, I have to acknowledge somebody on my own team, Eric Fins,
who knows more about energy rates and capacity markets than he ever
thought he would, and I am grateful for that. He is now writing a law
school essay on the topic.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. WHITFIELD. Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I do want to thank the
gentleman from Massachusetts, once again, for bringing this important
issue before us.
We must allow the public to have administrative process relief, and
this legislation will do that in those cases when FERC does not
actually issue an order; so I would urge the passage of this
legislation.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Whitfield) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2984.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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