Text: HR00005 Text: HR00007 Text: HR00000 - HR00099 Text: HR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. ____
1 2 BY RICHARDSON and SCHRADER
1 3 A House Resolution requesting the United States
1 4 Congress to enact legislation requiring the Federal
1 5 Energy Regulatory Commission to regulate the price of
1 6 the production and transmission of natural gas.
1 7 WHEREAS, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
1 8 issued Order 380 in 1984, beginning the deregulation
1 9 of pipeline price and access, and completed this
1 10 process by issuing Order 636 in 1992; and
1 11 WHEREAS, the United States Congress passed the
1 12 Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 which phased out the
1 13 regulation of natural gas wellhead prices, with total
1 14 deregulation being completed by January 1, 1993; and
1 15 WHEREAS, fifty-three percent of the 101.5 million
1 16 households in the United States currently use natural
1 17 gas for home heating; and
1 18 WHEREAS, eighty-three percent of the 21.6 million
1 19 households in the United States located in the Midwest
1 20 use natural gas for home heating, the highest
1 21 concentration in the nation; and
1 22 WHEREAS, natural gas is used in the production of
1 23 nitrogen fertilizers which Iowa and American farmers
1 24 rely on to maintain crop yields and low household food
1 25 costs; and
1 26 WHEREAS, the average wellhead price for natural gas
1 27 has increased $1.69 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) in
1 28 September 1998 to almost $4.00 per Mcf by September
1 29 2000; and
1 30 WHEREAS, Midwest homeowners will pay almost $2.00
2 1 per Mcf more for natural gas this winter as compared
2 2 to last winter; and
2 3 WHEREAS, total United States residential natural
2 4 gas expenditures are expected to reach $8 billion for
2 5 the current month of January 2001; and
2 6 WHEREAS, nitrogen fertilizer producers are shutting
2 7 down production facilities and selling natural gas
2 8 stocks in order to take advantage of current high
2 9 market prices which will lead to nitrogen fertilizer
2 10 shortages and lower crop yields; and
2 11 WHEREAS, demand for natural gas will continue to
2 12 accelerate due to the preference for natural gas
2 13 heating in new home construction and for natural gas-
2 14 fired electric generation by utility companies for new
2 15 power plants coming on line and currently being
2 16 planned; and
2 17 WHEREAS, this continuing increase in demand for
2 18 natural gas will cause prices to continue at much
2 19 higher levels than experienced in recent years; NOW
2 20 THEREFORE,
2 21 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
2 22 That the Iowa House of Representatives urges the
2 23 United States Congress to enact legislation to restore
2 24 regulation of the production and transmission of
2 25 natural gas through the Federal Energy Regulatory
2 26 Commission; and
2 27 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this
2 28 Resolution be sent to the President of the United
2 29 States, the Speaker of the United States House of
2 30 Representatives, and each member of the Iowa
3 1 congressional delegation.
3 2 LSB 1778HH 79
3 3 tm/cls/14
Text: HR00005 Text: HR00007 Text: HR00000 - HR00099 Text: HR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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