WASHINGTON -- - Republicans want FERC to oversee energy price data

WASHINGTON -- A Republican-written draft energy bill would require U.S. energy regulators to collect and disseminate information on electricity and natural gas market prices, Texas Rep. Joe Barton said recently.

"You have to have a central government agency that collects and disseminates it," Barton said.

"In our bill, that's the FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission)." Barton declined to elaborate on the bill's language and whether it would require energy traders to report price information to FERC on a daily basis. FERC is trying to stem dwindling confidence in price reporting the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) found that several large traders fed bogus data to index publishers. These indexes are used to price billions of dollars worth of supply contracts. A FERC staff report in March found an "epidemic" of false prices reported to publishers as well as evidence of market manipulation by some of the industry's largest players.

Last week, FERC sent surveys to 266 natural gas and electricity traders to determine if they are following the voluntary guidelines the agency issued in July. Recently, the CFTC said it sued giant Midwest utility American Electric Power Co. Inc. for allegedly falsifying 2,800 trades to publishers over a two-year period. The CFTC has collected $96 million from six other companies to settle false reporting charges, including El Paso Corp. , Dynegy Inc. and Duke Energy Corp. . Some consumer groups and even a few companies have called for FERC to make traders report price data and the names of counterparties to ensure the market has accurate information.

Both the FERC and CFTC have signaled their preference to leave price-reporting functions in the hands of private publishers like Platt's, a unit of McGraw-Hill Cos.

"I think that we'd rather not" oversee price reporting, FERC Chairman Pat Wood told reporters recently. "We work for Congress and they tell us what to do."

Barton made it clear FERC will march to lawmakers' drum. "If Congress tells FERC to do something they'll do it," Barton said when asked about Wood's objections, likening the situation to a child being made to clean his room by his parents. If finalized, the FERC requirements would be a marked departure from reporting provisions of previous House and Senate energy bills, which have barred false reporting practices but avoided mandatory FERC oversight.