MINUTES
ELECTRIC UTILITY RESTRUCTURING LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
Tuesday, July 11, 2000
9:00 a.m.
Dallas City Council Chambers
Dallas City Hall
Dallas, Texas
*****
Pursuant to a notice posted in accordance with Senate Rule
11.18, a public hearing of the Electric Utility Restructuring
Legislative Oversight Committee was held on Tuesday, July 11,
2000, in the Dallas City Council Chambers, Dallas City Hall,
Dallas, Texas.
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MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT:
Senator David Sibley, Co-Chairman Senator Jane Nelson
Representative Steven Wolens, Co-Chairman Representative
David Counts
Senator David Cain Representative Sylvester
Turner
Senator Frank Madla
Senator John Whitmire
Representative Kim Brimer
Representative Debra Danburg
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Co-Chairman Wolens called the meeting to order at 9:14 a.m.
There being a quorum present, the following business was
transacted. Representative Tommy Merritt, a member of the House
State Affairs Committee, was also present and participated in
the meeting.
Co-ChairmanWolens welcomed everyone to the meeting and advised
that this was the second meeting of the oversight committee to
determine the progress of electric utility restructuring.
During the interim, several issues had surfaced, one of which
was reliability, particularly during the summertime. The
Committee also would address how the EPA and TNRCC will be
affecting supplies of energy in relation to reliability.
Senator Cain welcomed everyone to Dallas on behalf of the Senate
and the Dallas area members, and stated that the issues to be
addressed were timely and extremely important.
Co-Chairman Sibley thanked Mayor Ron Kirk, City Manager Ted
Benavides and First Assistant
City Manager Mary Suhn for their hospitality and for making it
possible for the Committee to
meet in the Dallas City Council Chambers.
Co-Chairman Sibley then called Panel One to discuss issues
regarding emissions and reliability. The panelists were:
Pat Wood III, Chairman, Texas Public Utility Commission
Jeffrey Saitas, Executive Director, Texas Natural Resource
Conservation Commission
Rebecca Weber, Associate Director of Air, Environmental
Protection Agency.
During Pat Wood's testimony concerning renewable energy, at the
request of the members, Tom Baker, representing TXU, responded
to a question.
Co-Chairman Wolens asked that the record reflect Debra Danburg's
arrival after the commencement of Pat Woods' testimony, thereby
creating a de facto quorum, and Senator Whitmire's subsequent
arrival.
During Rebecca Weber's testimony, Guy Donaldson, Air Engineer
with the US Environmental Protection Agency, provided additional
information on MTBEs and certain aspects of the State
Implementation Plan (SIP).
At 11:40 a.m. upon completion of the first panelists' testimony
and response to members' questions, the members of Panel Two
were called to present their testimony. The panelists were:
Tom Baker, President, TXU, Dallas
Tommy Ford, Tommy Ford Construction Company, Dallas
Bill Dollar, Assistant City Manager, City of Garland,
Garland
Rick Levy, Texas AFL-CIO, Austin
Jim Marston, Director, Environmental Defense, Austin
Jimmy Glotfelty, Calpine, Houston.
Following the above panelists' testimony and response to members'
questions, Co-Chairman
Wolens announced that the oversight committee will hold a
hearing in Houston on August 22 and a hearing in Austin on
September 26.
There being no further business, at 1:48 p.m. Co-Chairman Wolens
moved that the Committee
stand recessed subject to the call of the chair. Without
objection, it was so ordered.
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_____________________________
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Senator David Sibley, Co-Chairman Representative
Steven Wolens,
Co-Chairman
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Barbara Henderson, Clerk