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Enron Mail |
Unless the Easter weekend brings about the resurrection of this bill, de reg
is dead in Iowa for the 2000 session. The House and Senate leadership announced today that they would not bring the bill up for a vote this year. The session is going to recess tonight for the holiday, they will reconvene on Monday, and most likely now adjourn on Wednesday. I am certainly disappointed that our efforts were not successful--especially in light of our being part of a very diverse coalition in support of the bill that included the coops, munis, Mid American, Alliant, industrial customers, school boards, low income providers,retailers, grocers, etc. ---------------------- Forwarded by Susan M Landwehr/HOU/EES on 04/16/2000 09:33 PM --------------------------- Susan M Landwehr 04/14/2000 06:15 PM To: Richard Shapiro/HOU/EES@EES, Harry Kingerski/HOU/EES@EES, Janine Migden/DUB/EES@EES, Becky L Merola/DUB/EES@EES, Mark Harada/HOU/EES@EES, Scott Stoness/HOU/EES@EES, Buranit Suttabustya/HOU/EES@EES, Richard D Rathvon/HOU/EES@EES, Barton Clark/HOU/ECT@ECT, John Moore/Corp/Enron@Enron, Ben Jacoby/HOU/ECT@ECT, Stephen Plauche/Corp/Enron@Enron, Fred Mitro/HOU/ECT@ECT, Janel Guerrero/Corp/Enron@Enron, Daniel Reck/HOU/ECT@ECT, Christi L Nicolay/HOU/ECT@ECT, Lon Stanton/ET&S/Enron, Barbara A Hueter/DUB/EES@EES, Roy Boston/HOU/EES@EES, Kerry Stroup/DUB/EES@EES, Dave Mangskau/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Thomas S Reichelderfer/DUB/EES@EES, Steven J Kean/HOU/EES@EES, Elizabeth Linnell/HOU/EES@EES cc: Subject: Iowa de reg update A wild week in Iowa. By the end of the day Tuesday, it became clear to all parties that the bill would not be called for a vote. The customers were unwilling to give anymore on the enviroment issues and the democrats would similarly not back off their positions. Mid American then switched gears to pull out all the stops on getting labor support in order to trump the enviro supporters. Mid American put forward a proposal to the unions/legislators that they would commit to build 2 power plants in the state of Iowa (as opposed to developing in Illinois) over the next 5 years that would employ union labor. Mid American also had it's top management making many visits this week---Greg Abel and I believe also David Sokol. (No Warren Buffet sightings yet!!!!)This offer created a flurry of activity on both sides, but at the end of the day Thursday, the state IBEW group let it be known that they would still not support the bill even with the Mid Am proposal. Mid American believes that the Republicans now have a hook to force the democrats into voting for the de reg bill, by saying that if they don't vote affirmative, they are not for economic development in the rural/struggling areas of the state where the power plants would be built. WHile I may not share Mid American's positive assessment, the proponent's group continues it's advocacy and will meet with legilsators in their districts over the weekend. The senate leadership agreed to hold off reconvening the committee until Monday afternoon in an effort to allow any last minute maneuvering over the week end. ---------------------- Forwarded by Susan M Landwehr/HOU/EES on 04/14/2000 05:43 PM --------------------------- Susan M Landwehr 04/10/2000 11:15 PM To: Richard Shapiro/HOU/EES@EES, Harry Kingerski/HOU/EES@EES, Janine Migden/DUB/EES@EES, Becky L Merola/DUB/EES@EES, Mark Harada/HOU/EES@EES, Scott Stoness/HOU/EES@EES, Ajit Gill/HOU/EES@EES, Richard D Rathvon/HOU/EES@EES, Barton Clark/HOU/ECT@ECT, John Moore/Corp/Enron@Enron, Ben Jacoby/HOU/ECT@ECT, Stephen Plauche/Corp/Enron@Enron, Fred Mitro/HOU/ECT@ECT, Janel Guerrero/Corp/Enron@Enron, Daniel Reck/HOU/ECT@ECT, Christi L Nicolay/HOU/ECT@ECT, Lon Stanton/ET&S/Enron@Enron, Barbara A Hueter/DUB/EES@EES, Roy Boston/HOU/EES@EES, Kerry Stroup/DUB/EES@EES, dmangsk@enron.com, Thomas S Reichelderfer/DUB/EES@EES, Steven J Kean/HOU/EES@EES, Elizabeth Linnell/HOU/EES@EES cc: Subject: Iowa de reg update The latest from Des Moines. The chair(republican) of the Senate committee had a hearing this morning to consider all of the enviromental amendments put forward by the Democrats and it was clear that no Dems would vote for the eventual bill without their amendments, so the chair recessed the committee without a vote. The committee can be recalled at any time, but the general sense is that it will not be brought back up without at least 2 democrat votes guaranteed. As is often the case in these debates, the proponents continue to try many strategies, but all of us agree that without direct intervention from Governor Vilsack, the democrats will not come around. As stated in my earlier message, I am not optimistic about passage. Tempers are running very high and it is very possible that the utilities will try to cut a deal at the last minute that will negatively impact the customers (likely by rate impacts on envriomental/efficiency programs). Please give me a call #612-339-4599 if you want any added insight. ---------------------- Forwarded by Susan M Landwehr/HOU/EES on 04/10/2000 10:47 PM --------------------------- Susan M Landwehr 04/05/2000 12:24 PM To: Richard Shapiro/HOU/EES@EES, Harry Kingerski/HOU/EES@EES, Janine Migden/DUB/EES@EES, Becky L Merola/DUB/EES@EES, Mark Harada/HOU/EES@EES, Scott Stoness/HOU/EES@EES, Ajit Gill/HOU/EES@EES cc: Richard D Rathvon/HOU/EES@EES, Barton Clark/HOU/ECT@ECT, John Moore/Corp/Enron@Enron, Ben Jacoby/HOU/ECT@ECT, Stephen Plauche/Corp/Enron@Enron, Fred Mitro/HOU/ECT@ECT, Janel Guerrero/HOU/EES@EES, Daniel Reck/HOU/ECT@ECT, Christi L Nicolay/HOU/ECT@ECT, Lon Stanton/ET&S/Enron@Enron, Barbara A Hueter/DUB/EES@EES, Roy Boston/HOU/EES@EES, Kerry Stroup/DUB/EES@EES, dmangsk@enron.com, Thomas S Reichelderfer/DUB/EES@EES Subject: Iowa de reg update The Iowa customer choice bill has run into some significant roadblacks the last few days due to the political maneuvering of the Democrats. As you will recall, the House Republicans have always stated that they needed Democrat votes in order to bring the matter to the floor for a vote. Despite Governor Vilsack's stated support for the measure last week as well as last weekend, the House Democrat leadership is unwilling to push their members, as they want to use this bill against the Republicans in the House races this fall. (The tactic they will take is that residential rates will rise in the Southeastern part of the state due to the Republicans passing the bill). The primary issue that the Dems are using as a reason not to vote for the bill is that the enviromental protections/funds are not high enough. The Republicans are unhappy about the exhorbitant amount of funds and the RPS that are already in the bill, and are not willing to vote for an amended bill that the Dems are pushing for. The enviros and the unions are, as they have been for the last 6 months, the dividing force in this debate. Therefore, the proponents coalition moved their efforts to the Senate, with the hope of getting a vote out this week and then move it back over to the HOuse. While we had a good commitment from Senate leadership (both Dems and Republicans) on Monday, that support has eroded as of this morning. We are trying a number of tactics, and hope that there will be some positive movement today and tomorrow. Without the Governor stepping up to the plate and "encouraging" the democrats to gather the number of democrat votes neccessary this week, I am not optimistic about passage. There are still two-three weeks of session left, so this debate could rage until then, but my sense is that if we don't get something out of the Senate by the end of this week or early next week, we'll be dead. Call if you have any questions. #612-339-4599
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