DAVIS SAYS STATE DUE $9 BILLION SENATE ENERGY HEARING HELD.Byline: Bill Hillburg Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - Gov. Gray Davis on Wednesday demanded $9 billion in refunds for gouged power customers and California's depleted de·plete tr.v. de·plet·ed, de·plet·ing, de·pletes To decrease the fullness of; use up or empty out. [Latin d treasury at a Senate hearing that also featured a defense of his response to the energy crisis. ``We had a good day,'' said Davis, who spent the morning testifying before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee and then met with a bipartisan group of California House members. ``We made our case that California is doing all it can to ease the energy crisis and that Californians deserve a full refund of $9 billion in overcharges for power,'' added Davis, who ended a day of lobbying by meeting with officials of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the United States federal agency with jurisdiction over electricity sales, wholesale electric rates, hydroelectric licensing, natural gas pricing, and oil pipeline rates. . The governor also defended Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's surprise decision Tuesday to temporarily shelve shelve v. shelved, shelv·ing, shelves v.tr. 1. To place or arrange on a shelf. 2. her bill demanding price caps based on the cost of energy production plus a reasonable profit margin, estimated at 15 percent. ``I view this as a pause,'' said Davis, who has accused FERC FERC Federal Energy Regulatory Commission FERC FEMA Emergency Response Capability of shirking Shirking The tendency to do less work when the return is smaller. Owners may have more incentive to shirk if they issue equity as opposed to debt, because they retain less ownership interest in the company and therefore may receive a smaller return. its duty to prevent price gouging Noun 1. price gouging - pricing above the market price when no alternative retailer is available pricing - the evaluation of something in terms of its price . He credited demands for price caps by Feinstein, Reps. Brad Sherman Bradley J. "Brad" Sherman (born October 24 1954) is an American politician. He has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1997, representing California's At-large congressional district. , D-Woodland Hills, and Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, and other California lawmakers for forcing FERC on Monday to approve limited controls on electricity rates. ``But we need to keep pressure on to get those refunds,'' he said. But, also on Monday, FERC's five commissioners refused to set a fair market price for electricity to determine refunds and instead directed state and energy company officials to work out their own plan. Hearings on the refunds - overseen by an administrative law judge administrative law judge n. a professional hearing officer who works for the government to preside over hearings and appeals involving governmental agencies. They are generally experienced in the particular subject matter of the agency involved or of several agencies. and involving FERC, state and energy company officials - will begin Monday at FERC headquarters in Washington. FERC commissioners set a 15-day limit on the talks and vowed to impose a refund plan should no agreement be reached. Davis said the $9 billion refund total was compiled by the California Independent System Operator, which runs the state's power market and grid. A portion of the refund would go to the state, which has been using taxpayer money since January to buy electricity in an effort to prevent blackouts. Refunds to individual or business customers have not been determined. Prospective refund recipients would include customers of Southern California Edison Southern California Edison (or SCE Corp), the largest subsidiary of Edison International (NYSE: EIX), is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California. It provides 11 million people with electricity. Co. The refund outlook is unclear for Northern California customers of bankrupt Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which may be required to use the funds to pay creditors. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate committee, backed Davis' argument for refunds as well as his assertion that FERC had acted too late and done too little to ease California's energy woes. He also praised Davis, a potential rival for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, ``for your outstanding work in dealing with this crisis.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Gray Davis Demands refunds |
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