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CEL

COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE

1001 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 1250, Washington, D.C. 20036 Phone: 202-331-1010 Fax: (202) 331-0640 Web site: http./www.cei.org

June 4, 1998

U. S. House of Representatives
Committee on Small Business

Kyoto Protocol Hearing

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

Neither I, Marlo Lewis, Jr., nor The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) has received any federal government funding which directly supports the subject matter on which I am appearing before the Committee. No money has been received in any amount from any Federal Grant (or subgrant thereof) or contract (or subcontract thereof) by me or CEI during the current and two preceding fiscal years from the Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration relating to global change research, nor has any money been received from any other Federal agency.

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CEL

COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE

Marlo Lewis, Jr.

Marlo Lewis, Jr. is Vice President for Policy and Coalitions of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free market advocacy and research organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. CEI emphasizes the marketing and implementation of classical liberal ideals, believing limited government and competition best serve the public interest.

Before joining CEI in November 1993, Mr. Lewis served in various government and public policy organizations including: Citizens Against Government Waste (Research Director, 1990-93), the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Economic Policy and Trade (Staff Consultant, 1989), the U.S. State Department's Bureau of InterAmerican Affairs (Special Assistant, 1988) and Bureau of International Organization Affairs (Special Assistant, 1987). He has also taught political theory and American government at Claremont McKenna College, Claremont Graduate School, and California State Polytechnic Institute, Pomona.

Lewis' articles on public policy have appeared in The Washington Times, National
Review, and Investors Business Daily.

Lewis holds a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University and a B.A. in Political Science from Claremont McKenna College. He and his wife, Mary Parker Lewis, live with their son, Parker, and six parrots, in Alexandria, Virginia.

1001 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Suite 1250 Washington, D.C. 20036
Phone: (202) 331-1010 • Fax: (202) 331-0640 E-mail: info@cei.org⚫ Web site: http://www.cei.org

TESTIMONY OF TERRY F. STEINBECKER
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
ST. JOSEPH LIGHT & POWER COMPANY

AND ON BEHALF OF THE EDISON ELECTRIC INSTITUTE
BEFORE THE HOUSE SMALL BUSINESS COMMITTEE
JUNE 4, 1998

Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. Thank you for the

opportunity to appear today to discuss the Kyoto Protocol and the significant impacts the treaty would have on the electric utility industry, my company, and our small business customers that would be affected by higher electricity rates.

My name is Terry Steinbecker and I'm president and chief executive officer of St. Joseph Light & Power Company, a small, investor-owned electric and natural gas utility headquartered in St. Joseph, Missouri. The company has served in Northwest Missouri for 115 years. Today, our 350 employees proudly serve 61,000 electric and 6,300 natural gas customers in that part of the state.

In our service territory, the largest community is St. Joseph, a city of 73,000 just north of Kansas City. Many of our customers are small businesses that employ a significant number of people in northwestern Missouri.

I'm also pleased to represent today the Edison Electric Institute (EEI). EEI is the association of the U.S. investor-owned electric utilities and industry affiliates and associates worldwide, with 200 member companies in the U.S. and 43 affiliate members in 18 countries. Our U.S.

members serve more than 90 percent of all the customers served by the investor-owned segment of the industry. They generate approximately three-quarters of all electricity

produced by electric utilities in the country and serve about 70 percent of all ultimate customers in the nation.

We at St. Joseph Light & Power Company, like many other EEI member companies, have been successful in the past by giving our customers two things – excellent service and reasonable, competitive prices. Today, our prices - the lowest in the state - are reasonable and affordable. They certainly won't remain that way if the Kyoto Protocol is ratified by the Senate or if it is implemented through regulatory means prior to Senate approval.

We in the electric utility industry take seriously our responsibility to protect the environment and have made significant strides in meeting that responsibility. Between 1994 and 1997, my own company has invested more than $10 million in fulfilling the Phase II requirements of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. We are on target to meet those requirements and will invest an additional $7.6 million in our units before those requirements go into effect in 2000.

Our industry also is active in voluntary efforts to enhance and protect the environment. In 1993, Edison Electric Institute initiated, with the Department of Energy, a voluntary, collaborative effort involving more than 600 electric utilities to address greenhouse gas emissions. That program, the Climate Challenge, is the world's largest and most successful

voluntary environmental initiative. In fact, the Department of Energy projects that in the year 2000, Climate Challenge participants will reduce, avoid or sequester 172 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent greenhouse gases.

The Climate Challenge program consists of numerous activities by 643 individual utilities and 9 industry-wide initiatives to achieve the reduction, avoidance, or sequestration of greenhouse gas emissions. My own company participates in the Utility Forest Carbon Management Program, which manages carbon through domestic and international forestry projects. We also participate in the National Earth Comfort Program, which aims to increase the installation of geothermal heat pumps to 400,000 annually by the year 2000. Another Climate Challenge program is the EnviroTech Investment Funds. Under this initiative, two venture capital funds have more than $52 million in investments designed to commercialize emerging electrotechnologies and renewables. Another program, the International Utility Efficiency Partnerships, focuses on international power and renewable projects.

In addition to our Climate Challenge participation, St. Joseph Light & Power Company has undertaken its own programs to enhance the environment. For instance, we've adopted a method of line clearance for trees that promotes and protects the health of the trees. Our line clearance program recently received an award from the National Arbor Foundation which recognized our company as a Tree Line USA Utility, one of only 27 nationally. In addition, we promote the planting of trees through our Friendly Foliage program by awarding

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