[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3115-3116]
[From the U.S. 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 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

[[Page 3116]]

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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