Hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
February 24, 2004 Tuesday
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING
HEADLINE: HEARING OF THE SENATE ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE
SUBJECT: THE RELIABILITY OF THE NATION'S ELECTRICITY GRID
CHAIRED BY: SENATOR PETE V. DOMENICI (R-NM)
WITNESSES:
MICHEHL R. GENT, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NORTH AMERICAN ELECTRIC RELIABILITY COUNCIL;
JIMMY GLOTFELTY, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY;
LOUISE MCCARREN, CEO, WESTERN ELECTRICITY COORDINATING COUNCIL;
JAMES P. TORGERSON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, MIDWEST INDEPENDENT TRANSMISSION SYSTEM;
PHILLIP G. HARRIS, PRESIDENT AND CEO, PJM INTERCONNECTION
BODY:
SEN. MARIA CANTWELL (D-WA): Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Gent, your testimony couldn't be more clear in that basically you say that the legislation had been passed on reliability that we would not have had the August 14th blackout and that you request that Congress enact its reliability legislation this year. Do we need to enact any other legislation or just-by that I mean, do you need to enact any other legislation, then the reliability legislation to make reliability work?
MR. GENT: Senator, there are a number of other things that would help reliability work. More transmission would help, certainly certainty would help. But from my own perspective as the CEO of NERC, we need the reliability legislation. And I understand that there's a contest for the vehicle in which that happens. I have to leave that up to Congress to decide how you're going to go about doing this. But we do need the legislation.
SEN. CANTWELL: But don't you think it's somewhat irresponsible for us not to pass the reliability standard if, in fact, that's the only legislation we can pass? And let me preface it by this. My predecessor, after a similar blackout in the Northwest, Senator Gorton, proposed this legislation and it did pass one body and not the other. That was the warning call.
What happened in the Northwest was the warning call and people drafted legislation, we passed it out of the Senate and it was held up in the House. Now we've had a worse crisis happen on the East Coast and the same thing's happening. People are holding these reliability bills hostage to get other legislation. And I think it's irresponsible for us not to pass reliability standard legislation, even if it's standalone legislation. We can all agree, can't we, that this is actually needed legislation?
MR. GENT: I agree.
SEN. CANTWELL: Thank you.