State Democrats call for re-regulation of natural gas industry

<p>Democratic leaders in the state Legislature called on Georgia's Public Service Commission to declare an emergency and re-regulate the natural gas industry in an attempt to drive home heating bills down.</p><p>Lawmakers complained that the state's natural gas bills have climbed from the third lowest in the nation prior to deregulation in 1999 to the third highest in the nation today.</p><p>"The elderly and senior citizens cannot pay these bills. They're on a fixed income," state Rep. David Lucas, D-Macon, said.</p><p>Lucas is sponsoring a bill that would force the PSC to step in and re-regulate the industry beginning in July. In the state Senate, Regina Thomas, D-Savannah, is sponsoring a bill that would add more regulated gas providers in the hopes of increasing competition in the market and pushing prices down.</p><p>Republicans control both chambers of the state Legislature and have shown little interest in re-regulating the natural gas industry.</p><p>Bill Edge, a spokesman for the state Public Service Commission, said there are no plans for the PSC to take any action on natural gas prices. He said the commission could act to re-regulate the industry if it found evidence of collusion or price fixing.</p><p>___</p><p>On The Net:</p><p>HASH(0x1cd9f54)</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/2/130746