U.S. Rep. Billy Long (R-MO) is cosponsoring bipartisan legislation to provide America’s industrial and residential natural gas consumers with the same rate protections afforded to electricity consumers.
Rep. Long on Jan. 30 signed on as the lead original cosponsor of the Protecting Natural Gas Consumers from Overcharges Act of 2020, H.R. 5718, with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. G. K. Butterfield (D-NC) to amend the National Gas Act and give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) the authority to set a refund effective date and order a refund when an interstate pipeline is found to be overcharging for its services, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmakers.
“I believe in holding companies accountable and putting constituents first, which is why I am proud to cosponsor this legislation,” Rep. Long said. “I am proud to work with Rep. Butterfield on bipartisan, commonsense legislation to reduce energy costs for natural gas consumers.”
Currently, FERC has authorities under the Federal Power Act to order refunds from interstate electric utilities when they determine overcharges have been made, according to the summary, but not for industrial or residential natural gas consumers.
“Under current law, if FERC determines a natural gas distributor has charged an unreasonable fee for their services, natural gas consumers do not have the ability to recoup any money,” said Rep. Long, who added that H.R. 5718 would give “FERC the proper authority to order refunds for over-collections from pipeline distributors which will allow consumers to recoup any funds that were overcharged.”
Rep. Butterfield also said that all natural gas customers deserve to pay fair rates for the natural gas they use, and they should have the same federal rate protections as electricity consumers.
H.R. 5718 has garnered support from numerous organizations, including the American Public Gas Association, the American Forest and Paper Association, the American Public Power Association, Industrial Energy Consumers of America, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and the Natural Gas Supply Association, among others.
The measure is under consideration by the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee.