Mike Honda: “one feature industry loves about the energy bill this body passed again Tuesday is a provision that would repeal the…”

“one feature industry loves about the energy bill this body passed again Tuesday is a provision that would repeal the Public Utility Holding Company Act, which helps States regulate large multi-state electricity companies. Some people say that we do not need PUHCA anymore, that its time has passed. But exemptions from PUHCA are what enabled the actions we heard from Enron and other energy traders in recently released tapes. Here is how they described what they were doing when allowed to operate without PUHCA: ``So the rumor's true?'' one trader asked another. ``They're [expletive] taking all the money back from you guys? All the money you guys stole from those poor grandmothers in California?'' The Enron trader responded, ``Yeah, Grandma Millie, man. But she's the one who couldn't figure out how to [expletive] vote on the butterfly ballot.'' The first trader responded, ``Yeah, now she wants her [expletive] money back for all the power you've charged right up, jammed [expletive] for [expletive] $250 a megawatt hour,'' the first trader says. One of the traders, referring to efforts to stop the gouging, said, ``It's just crap. It's completely crap. It just goes against everything our country's about.'' Well, I do not know about you, but in my mind, stealing from your customers goes against everything our country is about; and this is outrageous. The American people deserve better. In fact, they deserve an apology.”