Jerry Lewis: “The assumptions being made in the Pelosi amendment relative to the price caps assumes that one way or another that such…”

“The assumptions being made in the Pelosi amendment relative to the price caps assumes that one way or another that such price caps are going to make sure that the price of energy in California does not rise. The fact is that the price of energy, our utility bills in California, are rising at this moment and it appears they are going to continue to rise because of a history in California of a considerable lack of leadership in planning in terms of our energy needs and how we might meet those needs. There is little question that the action taken by FERC this last several days and actually over the last several weeks is a very positive step in the right direction. It was not by accident after the FERC ruling that affects the entire West that my colleague in the Senate, Dianne Feinstein, made a decision to back off of the approach that she was going to be taking relative to the energy crisis at home. She felt we ought to give it some time to work. It is very apparent that there is a very real risk that if we impose energy caps, two things will occur. First, we will lay the foundation to undermine the long-range solution, the kind of investment that will allow us to develop energy sources in California that we desperately need.”