EEI Congratulates President, Congress For Completion Of Energy Policy Act of 2005

Albuquerque, NM () - As President Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 into law today, Edison Electric Institute President Tom Kuhn congratulated the President and members of Congress for their resolve and hard work in completing the first new comprehensive energy national policy in nearly 13 years.

America’s energy customers will be the ultimate beneficiaries of the new law, Kuhn said, pointing to its many provisions that will help ensure a reliable, affordable and environmentally sustainable supply of energy for years to come.

“The new law modernizes U.S. electricity regulation, strengthens America’s fuel diversity and energy infrastructure, and also improves energy efficiency and conservation,” Kuhn said. “It also reinforces the reliability of the power grid by encouraging more investment in transmission facilities and creating mandatory electric reliability rules binding on all market participants.”

Kuhn also singled out for praise the energy law’s four principal congressional architects: Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, and the panel’s ranking Democrat, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), along with Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and that committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. John Dingell (D-MI).

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The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is the association of U.S. shareholder-owned electric companies. Our members serve 95 percent of the ultimate customers in the shareholder-owned segment of the industry, and represent approximately 70 percent of the U.S. electric power industry. We also have more than 65 International electric companies as Affiliate members, and more than 170 industry suppliers and related organizations as Associate members.