Wednesday, June 23, 1999
1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m., 124 Senate Dirksen Office Building

You are invited to a briefing discussing the economic effects of deregulating retail electricity markets, focusing primarily on the Administration's proposed Comprehensive Electricity Competition Act (CECA), introduced in Congress last month. The briefing will include discussion of the U.S. Department of Energy's recently released supporting economic analysis for CECA. This briefing is the first of a series of Environmental and Energy Study Institute briefings this year on topics related to electricity industry restructuring.

CECA is one of several comprehensive federal proposals intended to promote competition in the electricity industry. In addition to these proposals, more limited federal proposals also have been put forward to address only certain elements of electricity industry restructuring. Although no Congressional action on restructuring has been taken at this point, more than twenty states have adopted various measures to encourage greater retail electricity market competition, and other states are considering utility restructuring proposals.

According to the Department of Energy, CECA would (1) encourage states to implement retail competition; (2) protect consumers by promoting competitive markets, enhancing the flow of information and outlawing customer abuses, such as "slamming" and "cramming"; (3) assure access to and reliability of the electric power transmission system; (4) promote and preserve public benefits, including support for renewable energy and energy efficiency; (5) remove impediments to competition in areas served by Federal Power Marketing Administrations and the Tennessee Valley Authority; (6) protect the interests of rural and remote communities and Indian tribes; and (7) amend existing federal statutes to clarify federal and state authority.

CECA, or any of the other comprehensive federal restructuring proposals, if enacted, would have significant economic as well as environmental impacts. The Department of Energy's analysis supporting CECA assessed the impacts of full national retail competition relative to a continuation of cost-of-service regulation that includes wholesale competition. That analysis estimates for the year 2010 a $32 billion reduction in the delivered cost of electricity to all consumers and a 14 percent lower average national price of electricity. The analysis provides regional and state-level projections in addition to national estimates.

Perspectives on the likely impacts of CECA and other federal restructuring proposals vary widely, as would be expected given the variety and complexity of issues involved and the diverse interests of the parties that would be affected by such proposals. In this greater than $200 billion per year industry, the environmental, consumer, and economic stakes are huge. Speakers at the briefing will discuss the Administration's CECA proposal, as well as other legislative options, from several of these varied perspectives.

The panel of expert speakers will include:

• Howard Gruenspecht, Director, Office of Economic, Electricity and Natural Gas Analysis, U.S. Department of Energy;

• Mark Cooper, Research Director, Consumer Federation of America;

• Alan Nogee, Energy Program Director, Union of Concerned Scientists.

The briefing is open to the public, and no reservations are required. For more information, please call Beth Bleil at (202) 662-1886.