Bill to ease California energy crisis killed in House

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Congressional Republicans killed a bill Wednesday that was designed to ease the electricity crisis in California, after failing to reach an agreement with Democrats, who insisted that the measure include price caps, sources said.

GOP efforts to reach a compromise with Democrats twice delayed consideration of the bill by the House Energy and Commerce Committee after it was voted out of subcommittee last month along party lines.

The bill, written by Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, the subcommittee chairman, was designed to provide relief to California by increasing conservation, reducing regulations and boosting electricity transmission in the state. Democrats offered several amendments that would have required some sort of cap on wholesale electricity prices.

Republicans, including President Bush, oppose government-mandated caps, arguing they would artificially restrict supply of electricity from non-California suppliers.

Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin, R-Louisiana, however, was open to moving "pricing mitigation" language, but couldn't get Democrats to move away from hard caps, a GOP aide said.

Instead, an aide said, the committee will turn its attention to President Bush's recently announced energy proposals.

"What's more beneficial, move forward on the larger agenda or trudge around through the mud on this? Why beat our heads against the wall on price caps when we'll never be any closer on it?" the frustrated GOP aide said.

"At the end of the day there was a genuine philosophical difference on price caps. If we moved forward, it would look like a partisan bloodbath," the aide said.