Washington (Platts)--14Dec2007
The US Senate Friday passed a massive farm bill that would, among other
things, close the so-called "Enron loophole" that exempts some electronic
energy exchanges from government regulation, extend a variety of renewable and
alternative fuel production tax credits, and create several new programs to
promote and develop the nascent advanced biofuels industry.
The measure passed in bipartisan 79-14 vote.
The bill would end a broad regulatory exemption from US Commodity Futures
Trading Commission oversight for electronic energy platforms such as the
IntercontinentalExchange based in Atlanta. The Senate adopted the amendment
late Thursday as part of a reauthorization of the Commodity Futures
Modernization Act included in the farm bill.
The farm bill also would authorize $122 million to help farmers grow
biomass for cellulosic ethanol, and $422 million in grants to encourage the
development of refineries to turn their crops into biofuels. It would spend
$345 million on a program to help biorefineries buy cellulosic ethanol.
The bill does not include a renewable fuel standard, because a proposed
amendment by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Ranking Republican Pete
Domenici of New Mexico was dropped at the last minute. A spokesman for
Domenici said that because an RFS was included in a comprehensive energy
bill the Senate passed on Thurdsay, it was not considered by Senate leadership
to be a priority.
--Jean Chemnick, jean_chemnick@platts.com
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