Organizations and Agencies Applaud the Energy Policy Act

The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) has expressed its approval for The Energy Policy Act of 2005 .

NERC officials indicated that they applauded the Act because it includes language that would create an electric reliability organization (ERO) with the ability to develop and enforce mandatory reliability standards in North America.

The House of Representatives passed the comprehensive energy bill by a vote of 275—156 on July 28, the Senate approved the bill by a 74—26 vote and President Bush signed the legislation.

“By including the NERC-supported reliability language in this energy bill, Congress has made a clear statement that we must now get on with the job of establishing an industry-led, self-regulatory reliability organization that will have the ability to set and enforce mandatory reliability standards throughout North America,” said Michel R. Gent, NERC President and CEO. “We thank Congress for finishing the job that was started so many years ago. NERC is prepared to move quickly to transition to the ERO envisioned in the bill once it is signed by the President and becomes law.”

NERC and a broad coalition of industry, regulatory and consumer groups have long supported the passage of a comprehensive energy bill that includes reliability provisions. Those provisions ensure that the new electric reliability organization will operate fairly and effectively to maintain the reliability of the bulk electric system throughout North America.A number of other organizations and agencies praised the bill for such items as allotting research and development money for high-temperature superconductors; enacting or extending production tax credits for wind energy and the manufacture of fuel cells; and providing a 10% tax incentive for businesses to buy and conserve energy with microturbine generators.

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