Where it falls on that continuum depends on more details than what we've seen so far, but my suspicion is that it's going to be inadequate. But Hebert, a Republican from Mississippi who's close to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, and top Bush administration officials have insisted that more aggressive price caps improperly interfere with the free market. The fact that any price mitigation was agreed to, and on more aggressive terms than originally planned, suggested the kind of political heat the administration has been feeling. We're acting to ensure that problems in the summer of 2001 do not become problems in the summer of 2002. The commission's majority contends the price constraints need be only temporary, on the expectation that California will gain up to 6,000 additional megawatts of generation capacity by next summer.
Tomorrow is too late.
Approved while a short-handed FERC awaits Senate confirmation of two additional commissioners, the plan is limited to California and does not directly reach other potentially troubled states. However, the commission also ordered an investigation of wholesale electricity prices throughout the West. Commissioners suggested this investigation combined with establishment of a new Western regional transmission organization could ease prospects for regional crises. The commission's plan, moreover, is not the final word. On Tuesday, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein and other West Coast senators had introduced legislation that would force energy regulators to impose price controls within 60 days.