January 6, 2022 3:15 a.m.

On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden joined colleagues from both the House and the Senate in sending a letter to Federal Regulatory Commission Chair Richard Glick, urging the agency to protect consumers from skyrocketing energy costs.

Lawmakers said they are concerned in regard to the effect that anticipated increases in heating and energy costs will have on constituents this winter.

The group said, “As the entity tasked with the regulatory mission of ensuring consumers can access reliable energy at a reasonable cost, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has a significant role to play in promoting energy justice and protecting United States residents from unfairly high energy costs”.

The release said under its statutory authority, FERC has the power to influence retail rates for natural gas and electricity, including by preventing market manipulation in wholesale natural gas and electricity markets and enforcing gas spot market transparency.

The lawmakers said they want the Commission to use its existing authority to ensure that household’s energy bills are not driven up by manipulation or other malfeasance from regulated entities, and to work collaboratively with other agencies to address energy debt.

Along with being signed by a large group of lawmakers, numerous national and local organizations endorsed the letter, including the Center for Biological Diversity, National Consumer Law Center and Public Citizen.

A copy of the full letter is linked: https://www.markey.senate.gov/download/ferc-energy-prices-letter