by Stephanie I. Coehn
A handful of energy industry representatives on Wednesday renewed their call for a comprehensive energy bill, pinning their hopes on a strengthened Republican majority in Congress to pass the thwarted legislation over the past four years.
At the same time, however, they expressed reservations about their ability to garner enough support for the bill to move it successfully through Congress.
"We still get no consideration, no attention from Congress," said Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum Industry. Still, he added: "We're going to try again."
Energy policy was one of the first issues hammered out by the administration early in its first term, but numerous contentious provisions set off partisan and regional disputes among lawmakers.
The energy industry, often charged with having substantial sway in policy circles, said it will be difficult to revive a bill that lawmakers seem to have grown weary of pushing.
"We sincerely and genuinely hope there is an urgency [to pass energy legislation]" next year, said Tom Kuhn, president of the Edison Electric Institute. Kuhn's name has circulated as a possible replacement for the top energy post in the administration in the wake of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham's decision to step down.
The decision by Republican leadership to spin off popular parts of the bill, including tax provisions and funding for an Alaskan natural-gas pipeline, are certain to weaken efforts to find support for a broad bill when the next Congress convenes, according to Bill Richardson, president of the American Public Power Association.
"The energy bill is no closer today than it has been at any point in the last four years," he said. "It will be no less controversial than it has been in the past."
Richardson pointed out that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has less incentive to make the controversial bill a priority since provisions addressing the Tennessee Valley Authority, which were a top concern for the senator, were included in an omnibus spending bill.
While the strategy of breaking off individual pieces of the bill as stand-alone legislation has been largely opposed by industry, moving the bill as a whole "may not be in the cards," Richardson acknowledged.
All agreed that there are parts of the bill that are greater priorities — notably the electricity title and natural-gas pipeline investments, as well as oil and gas drilling on federal lands.
"Getting an electricity title that facilitates movement of power … without restrictions on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to deal with market power" is vital, said Lynne Church, president of the Electric Power Supply Association.
Environmental groups are opposed to the bill, charging that the bulk of the provisions would benefit fossil-fuel segments of the energy industry rather than renewable, clean forms of energy.
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