Contact: Linda Guthrie (405) 521-2822

04/25/03

WE CAN’T GET THERE FROM HERE, WARNS
COMMISSION CHAIRMAN

Denise Bode cautions FERC Chairman, others at symposium on deregulation

Citing the turbulent history of electric utility deregulation in America, Oklahoma Corporation Commission Chairman Denise Bode warned those attending a symposium on deregulation today that “the light at the end of the tunnel will be an oncoming train” for consumers, regulators, and utility companies if critical questions regarding deregulation remain unanswered.

Speaking to an audience that included Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Pat Wood, Bode pointed to as yet unanswered questions regarding the role of the state and federal governments in the area of electric utility regulation.

“The bottom line to all these questions is the same,” asserted Bode. “Who will be on the side of the consumer, not only when it comes to the question of affordable rates, but also in the area of whether the power will be there in the first place.”

Pointing to California’s disastrous foray into deregulation, Bode warned that an attempt to gloss over government’s mistakes will result in a failure to learn from history.

“Much has been made of the FERC report that rightly points to actions that were apparently attempts to manipulate the energy market in California,” said Bode. “But what isn’t mentioned is that the same report says that ‘significant supply shortfalls and a fatally flawed market design were the root causes of the California market meltdown.’

“To simply chalk up the failure of deregulation in California to corporate greed is to ignore issues that must be addressed if we are to have any hope of moving forward to meet the country’s demand for electricity. Those growing demands, coupled with newly competitive

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electricity markets, have expanded the use of the transmission grid to a level far beyond

what it was originally designed to handle. This increased congestion is threatening system reliability and increasing the cost to the consumer - more than 1 million dollars in the

summers of 2000 and 2001 alone.”

The symposium was sponsored by the Southern Methodist University/Cox School of Business and the Maguire Energy Institute, and was held on the SMU campus in Dallas.

-OCC-

EDITORS, PRODUCERS PLEASE NOTE: Chairman Bode is available for interviews. Arrangements can be made through Linda Guthrie – (405) 521-2822.