House energy bill coming in May, could align with Senate approach

Washington (Platts)--18Apr2007

The US House Energy and Commerce Committee will draft by Memorial Day an
energy legislation package that would address efficiency, conservation and
alternative fuels, and may possibly fix problems with the Department of
Energy's loan guarantee program, committee members said Wednesday.

Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, a Virginia
Democrat, told reporters following a hearing on alternative fuels that he
would be drafting a broad bipartisan bill to address energy independence that
should see floor action by July 4.

The House effort to tackle energy legislation in the near term and draft
a climate change bill in the fall is similar to the approach the Senate is
taking. Boucher said, however, that there would be no near-term coordination
between the two bodies and the bills could be dramatically different.

"We are working diligently to structure our own legislation in this
committee that will have a strong bipartisan base, that would have strong
industry support, that would not dislocate any economic sector and that we
could pass in the House with a broad bipartisan majority," Boucher said.

"I don't think any of the bills that have been introduced to date quite
meet that test," he added.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman,
a New Mexico Democrat, has introduced bills to encourage biofuels, improve
energy efficiency and promote carbon sequestration.

Boucher did not say specifically what his bills would do, but said he
would hold hearings in the coming weeks on loan guarantees and on efficiency
and conservation.

Separately, Boucher and John Shimkus, an Illinois Republican, will
introduce within days a bill that will set a petroleum price floor under which
investors in coal-to-liquids facilities would get federal support so they can
remain competitive as oil prices fluctuate.

The bill also would set a cap over which CTL investors would have to
contribute to a federal fund to cover costs of the program. The benefit would
only be available to CTL plants that also sequester their carbon dioxide,
Boucher said.

--Daniel Whitten, daniel_whitten@platts.com