4.0 2013: S. HKG. S. HRG. 105-309 THE PUBLIC UTILITY HOLDING COMPANY ACT OF 1997-S. 621 HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS ONE HUNDRED FIFTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON S. 621 TO REPEAL THE PUBLIC UTILITY HOLDING COMPANY ACT OF 1935, TO APRIL 29, 1997 Printed for the use of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-056065-9 COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS ALFONSE M. D'AMATO, New York, Chairman PHIL GRAMM, Texas LAUCH FAIRCLOTH, North Carolina PAUL S. SARBANES, Maryland CAROL MOSELEY-BRAUN, Illinois HOWARD A. MENELL, Staff Director STEVEN B. HARRIS, Democratic Staff Director and Chief Counsel HELENA K. GRANNIS, Professional Staff Member ANDREW LOWENTHAL, Democratic Professional Staff Member (II) CONTENTS Page Frank H. Murkowski, a U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska and Chairman Consideration of Mergers and Market Power Suggested Improvements to S. 621-The Public Utility Holding Com- Robert W. Gee, Commissioner, Public Utility Commission of Texas, on behalf of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners Les E. LoBaugh, Jr., Vice President, General Counsel, and Chief Environ- mental Officer, Pacific Enterprises, Los Angeles, California Should Conditional PUHCA Repeal be a Stand-Alone Issue? Dr. Mark N. Cooper, Director of Research, Consumer Federation of America PUHCA Provides Essential Consumer Protections Premature Repeal of PUHCA Would Make Regulation of Abusive Corporate Transactions and Risky Financial Practices More Dif- Premature Repeal of PUHCA Would Make the Introduction of Com- petition into the Electric Utility Industry More Difficult The Alleged Inefficiencies Created by PUHCA Regulation Are Vastly Larry A. Frimerman, Federal Liaison, Ohio Consumers' Counsel, Columbus, Ohio, on behalf of the National Association of State Utility Consumer ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SUPPLIED FOR THE RECORD THE PUBLIC UTILITY HOLDING COMPANY ACT OF 1997—S. 621 TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 1997 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The Committee met at 9:34 a.m., in room SD-538 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato (Chairman of the Committee) presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN ALFONSE M. D'AMATO The CHAIRMAN. The Committee will come to order. I will submit my full statement for the record so that we can hear from our witnesses. The first is Senator Murkowski, Chairman of the Energy Committee. Before we hear from Senator Murkowski, I would like to note that the legislation we are considering is the Public Utility Holding Company Act; known as PUHCA-"puka" or "pooka"-depending on where you come from and not to be confused with PURPÅ. [Laughter.] Today we will be looking at S. 621, the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1997. This bill is the same bipartisan legislation this Committee reported to the last Congress. The bill would repeal PUHCA, eliminating the SEC's role as the primary regulator of the 15 registered public utility holding companies, giving that regulatory authority to the States and the FERC. Let me say, as both Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Energy Committee, Senator Murkowski and Senator Johnston, testified last year, the repeal is necessary "to streamline regulation, promote competition, and protect utility customers." I would like to thank Senator Murkowski for appearing here today and for his untiring leadership. I believe that this legislation would improve consumer protection and make the energy industry more competitive. Let me point to something else. When you get a regulator, in this case the SEC, indicating they are supportive of legislation which reduces their authority, then you know that the statute has long outlived its usefulness and the purposes for which it was initially intended. Such is the case with PUHCA, and so has been the case here. Let me again commend Senator Murkowski for his leadership, and I thank the cosponsors of this bill: Senator Dodd, Senator Sarbanes, Senator Gramm, Senator Shelby, Senator Mack, Senator Faircloth, and Senator Allard. (1) |