US Sen Gorton Offers Electricity Grid Reliability Bill

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., a leading congressional advocate of comprehensive legislation to restructure the U.S. $215 billion electric industry, has introduced electric grid-reliability legislation.

His sponsorship last last week of a stand-alone reliability measure represented an acknowledgement that Congress won't act on comprehensive restructuring legislation this year.

"I believe it is time to separate the issue of electricity reliability from the larger issue of restructuring," Gorton said in introducing the "Electric Reliability 2000 Act."

Competitive changes in the U.S. electricity industry have placed "stresses" on the North American interconnected grid, Gorton said, citing recent power outages that have "lent urgency to this issue."

He cited the findings of a U.S. Energy Department task force that investigated grid outages last year in the U.S. Midwest and Northeast, which concluded that "the infrastructure for reliability assurance has been considerably eroded."

The task force warned that historical levels of power-grid reliability may not be adequate, particularly as society becomes ever more dependent on electricity.

"Our continued economic growth is fueled by electricity, and we need to assure the public that the power will be there for their homes and their jobs when they count on it," Gorton said.

The bill sponsored by Gorton reflects an industry-negotiated compromise proposal using as a model the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's regulation of self-governing oversight bodies for the securities industry.

The bill would replace the voluntary reliability scheme overseen by the North American Electric Reliability Council with a mandatory set of rules established by a successor reliability organization overseen by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Gorton called for the Senate Energy Committee to hold hearings on grid reliability and his proposal as "the starting point for resolving this issue."

In addition to the consensus reliability bill, Gorton said grid reliability will require Congress ensuring full and open access to electricity transmission services, power conservation programs to damp periods of "peak" demand for power, and the ability to site nascent distributed power technologies.

"Until we can gain a greater consensus on the need to address these issues, this bill provides the opportunity to begin these discussions," Gorton said.

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Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), February 14, 2000

Answers

Gorton called for the Senate Energy Committee to hold hearings on grid reliability.......

When in doubt, hold hearings. That should delay things for several years.

Then, when the government gets their oars in the water the grid is in trouble.

-- rocky (rknolls@no.spam), February 14, 2000.

Jacquin's Postulate on Democratic Government:

"No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session."

-- DeeEmBee (macbeth1@pacbell.net), February 14, 2000.

hehehe....:o)...

Goodluck from OZ

-- Pieter (zaadz@icisp.net.au), February 14, 2000.

Gorton is a lying, sleazy, scumbag and everyone in Washington State outta vote him outta office!!

-- Porky (Porky@in.cellblockD), February 14, 2000.

Unfortunately, you can't legistlate "engineering" or "good design" - it has to come from the people doing th ejob.

You can punish/regulate their bosses.....but you can't legistlate electrons.

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), February 14, 2000.