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Witnesses Praise Gosar Consumer Cost Transparency Bill During House Resources Hearing Apr 21, 2016 Issues: Government Oversight and Regulatory Reform, E

Press Release

Date: April 20, 2016
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Animals and Wildlife Government Budget and Spending

Today, Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after participating in a House Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans legislative hearing which included legislation he introduced, H.R. 1869, the Environmental Compliance Cost Transparency Act, which requires federal Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) active in the wholesale power business to disclose the direct and indirect costs of environmental compliance to their customers in monthly billing statements:

"The millions of retail consumers served by federal PMA's eat the costs of the Endangered Species Act, the Central Valley Project Improvement Act and other federal environmental laws. These costs are real: In the Pacific Northwest, 30% of the rates are related to environmental costs and the Glen Canyon Dam flows in Arizona can cost its customers up to $50 million annually due to foregone power. My bipartisan bill doesn't repeal a single environmental law and simply requires transparency, helping customers paying these bills better understand where their money is going."

Patrick Ledger, Senior Vice-President and Chief Executive Officer of Arizona G&T Cooperatives, testified, "Unlike investor-owned utilities, every cost impact on rural cooperatives or public power utilities is passed-on directly to our customers--residents of rural areas who are already struggling…While many of the dedicated personnel at Western [Area Power Administration] are willing to share anecdotal information on how environmental compliance affects hydropower generation, the precise cost break down is missing from the public domain. H.R. 1869 would help address this informational gap by requiring the disclosure of compliance costs with Federal environmental laws impacting the conservation of fish and wildlife. In this context we believe it is important to gather and disclose both direct and indirect costs."


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