Issa Repeats Warning of Soaring Nationwide Electricity Bills this Summer
June 26, 2008

Washington, DC - Today, at an Oversight and Government Reform Committee Hearing focusing on alleged malfeasance at a Texas Rural Electric Co-op, Rep. Darrell Issa warned the Committee that rising natural gas prices and other energy supply factors would likely lead to much higher electric bills for consumers this summer.

"Consumers should expect significant hikes in their electricity bills this summer over what they paid a year ago due to the rising cost of natural gas on the global market and other cost factors," said Issa citing a May report by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

"While bad actors in the energy industry need to be held legally accountable for malfeasance, I remain deeply concerned that this Committee, and the Congress, aren't acting to address the nationwide rising cost of energy - why nuclear power plants aren't being built, why 'NIMBYism' has stopped wind power projects and most importantly, why we are not drilling in American waters and Alaska and utilizing our rich domestic fuel resources to lower energy costs."

In May, the FERC warned that "wholesale electric prices are likely to be considerably higher than they were a year ago," and pointed to forward market electricity price increases of 75% above last year's level in Southern California as an example of rising costs.  These are prices that large electricity buyers have already been paying sellers for prearranged deliveries this summer.  The FERC also noted, "Natural gas is the most influential factor affecting electric power prices, because in the summer natural gas is on the margin more often and in more places than any other fuel."

A copy of the FERC report is attached.

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