By Tom Doggett
WASHINGTON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Preventing another major power blackout will be a top priority when Congress returns to work on an energy bill next week, but interest groups are also lobbying to keep Alaskan oil drilling, tighter gasoline mileage standards and other parts of the legislation in play.
U.S. President George W. Bush has urged Congress, when it ends its summer recess on Tuesday, to finalize legislation for the first significant overhaul of U.S. energy policy in a decade.
"I have been calling for an energy bill for a long time. And now is the time for the Congress to move and get something done," Bush said last week.
The massive blackout that left over 50 million people in the United States and Canada in the dark earlier this month has given "fresh momentum" to passing an energy bill, said Bill Wicker, Democratic spokesman for the Senate Energy Committee.
Next week, Senate and House leaders may appoint lawmakers to a conference committee to hammer out differences in each chamber's energy bill, Wicker said.
Rep. Billy Tauzin, a Louisiana Republican and chairman of the House Energy Committee, has vowed to have an energy bill ready for the president to sign by the end of September.
Although Republicans will control the negotiating committee, the talks are likely to be contentious in reconciling the vastly different energy bills passed by the House and the Senate.
WILDLIFE REFUGE DRILLING STILL UNRESOLVED
A long-running fight over opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling will be decided by bill negotiators. The House wants it, the Senate doesn't.
Democrats, environmental groups, and even some Republicans are saying the ANWR drilling provision should be dropped to win enough support to pass an energy bill, especially since fixing the electric grid has become a rising priority. However, the White House has insisted, at least at this point, that drilling in the refuge be part of a final bill.
Several House leaders insist that drilling in the Alaskan refuge is crucial to U.S. oil supplies and national security. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Joseph Lieberman has promised to filibuster any final energy bill that allows drilling in the Alaskan refuge, which is home to polar bears and other wildlife.
Other high-profile issues include tightening gasoline mileage standards for vehicles, more money for clean coal research, and providing government loan guarantees to build nuclear power plants.
While those issues are likely to create a lot of debate, there are other parts of the bill that many interest groups believe are just as important to allow the United States to have a sound energy policy.
For example, the American Wind Energy Association is pushing for a three-year extension of a wind power tax credit. The credit goes to wind farm owners, who would get 1.8 cents for every kilowatt hour of electricity they produce.
Kathy Belyeu, the trade group's spokeswoman, said wind power would not prevent another power blackout, but it will help diversify America's energy supplies. "The biggest national priority is spreading out our energy portfolio," she said.
Wind power could generate about 6 percent of the nation's electricity by 2020, which may seem small, but is close to what hydroelectric dams are producing now, according to Belyeu.
ENERGY-SAVING STEPS
Instead of drilling for more oil and gas, or building more power plants, the Alliance to Save Energy is backing language in the bill to reduce the amount of energy used in certain everyday items, such as lighted emergency exit signs, traffic lights, and computers and VCRs when they are not in use.
"By reducing the demand for energy, you in essence create additional available supplies," said Mark Hopkins, the group's acting co-chairman.
The Alliance is also pushing for a boost in the mileage requirements for cars and gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles or SUVs, but the auto industry so far has been able to convince a majority of Congress that such a move would hurt workers' jobs and, therefore, their political careers.
"If we had more fuel-efficient cars we could conceivably reduce our demand for imported oil," Hopkins said.
Hopkins' group does support language in the bill that would give tax credits to consumers who buy hybrid vehicles that run on both gasoline and electricity.
Even AARP, formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, wants a say in the energy bill.
The group wants money included in the legislation to fund federal programs that help low-income families pay their utility bills and weatherize their homes. The money would get people through summer and winter spikes in energy costs and cut demand for energy by having more weatherproof houses, said AARP lobbyist Jeff Kramer.
He said while there was certainly a humanitarian side of the programs, "down the road... it helps the system."