On the recordMay 23, 2001
the gentleman is right to bring up the natural gas prices. As I indicated, the price of moving natural gas went up by 1,200 percent. That happened right after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the same culprit as in the other situation, deregulated the pipelines and allowed them to charge, through a loophole, to charge as much as they wanted to charge. Imagine your home is burning down. You might have one neighbor who, for some reason, does not help you. But only the most malevolent of neighbors would seize your hose, watch your home burn down, hold on to your hose and lecture you about how it is your fault, you should not let the fire break out to begin with. California is burning. The Federal Government is holding our hose, and we are being hosed by Washington, which will not give us the rate regulation that virtually all Californians want, and will not let us do it ourselves.
Source
govinfo.gov
