LaMalfa, Costa Introduce Bill to Give Permanent Regulatory Relief to Public Utilities

Press Release

Reps. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) and Jim Costa (D-CA) today announced the introduction of H.R. 2041, the Public Power Risk Management Act. The bill codifies into law a recent rule change by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) providing regulatory relief inadvertently imposed on public power entities by the Dodd-Frank financial reform in 2010. A companion bill was also introduced in the Senate by Senators James Inhofe (R-OK) and Joe Donnelly (D-IN).

"Americans deserve access to affordable, reliable energy and public utilities should have the ability to provide these services without facing unnecessary red tape," said Rep. LaMalfa. "Millions of ratepayers in California, and across the country, rely on public power, and H.R. 2041 ensures that this problem is fixed permanently.

"Our local utilities work diligently to provide their customers with a reliable source of energy at a stable price and should have maximum flexibility to do so in a fiscally responsible manner," said Rep. Costa. "This bipartisan legislation will ensure that one tool used by local utilities to ensure that Valley families have stable energy prices will continue to remain available on a permanent basis."

Last Congress, Rep. LaMalfa introduced legislation requiring public and private power utilities be treated the same by repealing costly reporting and regulatory requirements that were imposed only on public utilities. Following its passage on the House floor, the CFTC issued a final ruling in September of 2014 providing regulatory relief consistent with this legislation. H.R. 2041 would make this relief permanent, eliminating uncertainty and protecting public utility ratepayers.

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