David Thomas: “I cannot think, frankly, of anyone in the whole country who has had more experience in this than the people on the west…”

“I cannot think, frankly, of anyone in the whole country who has had more experience in this than the people on the west coast connected to the California project. This bill has come to the Senate without the committee being involved. This very bill was passed by the committee last year with no objection from the Senator from New Mexico. That is a procedural question we have discussed quite a bit. Now I will discuss some of the objections. There are two points of view, very clearly. The Senator from Oregon said it very well: To whom are you going to look? I have been involved in this business in the past. The people in the business, the people who are responsible in your State, the people who have joined together in a region, have a much better view than bringing it back to the beltway for these decisions. However, in the current underlying bill, practically anyone can go to FERC. The bill we are discussing gives FERC responsibility to defer to other organizations. FERC need not defer to anyone on anything if they choose not to.”