Maria Cantwell: “their voice is loud and clear. After last year's energy crisis, it is unacceptable to launch a new round of deregulation…”

“their voice is loud and clear. After last year's energy crisis, it is unacceptable to launch a new round of deregulation without first putting in place adequate consumer protections. I would like to read from a letter signed by the Consumers Union, Sierra Club, NRDC, Consumer Federation of America, and others. It reads: This amendment would add important and much-needed protections to legislation that actually repeals already weak consumer protections in current law. S. 517 repeals most of the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA), including provisions that have been in place for over six decades, and does almost nothing to ensure that consumer protections will be maintained. Now, with the exposure of Enron's questionable trading deals, we need these protections more than ever to prevent energy companies from manipulating prices and supply. We need to strengthen consumer protections, not weaken them. Consumers for Fair Competition wrote: In the wake of the West Coast electricity crisis and Enron collapse, Congress should only pass electricity legislation if it takes needed steps to protect consumers and prevent a repetition of these crises.”