Lawmakers from three Great Plains states and the Illinois Commerce Commission are urging federal regulators to reject a utility–backed proposal to suspend competitive bidding for billions of dollars of new power lines planned across the nation’s midsection.
The critics’ central message was that such a move would harm consumers by smothering competition.
“During a time of rising electric rates and a time that the President has declared a national energy emergency, it is hardly the time to promote monopolistic policies that will prevent competition,” wrote two top Kansas lawmakers.
The pleas submitted last week to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are the first formal responses to a filing last month by a coalition of nine utilities from the Midwest and Plains states.
