WASHINGTON, D.C. - Was the recent electricity blackout the result of too much or too little regulation? Can federal policy reduce the likelihood of similar episodes? What, if any, are the lessons of this episode for energy legislation currently under consideration in Congress? Those and related questions are the focus of a Progress & Freedom Foundation Congressional Seminar on Friday, September 12, featuring a key House committee counsel and industry and academic electricity policy experts.

Entitled “Energy Deregulation After the Blackout,” Friday’s discussion will be held in the Longworth House Office Building, Room 1539, from 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. Panelists include: Leonard Hyman, senior industry advisor, RJ Rudden Associates, Inc.; Thomas Lenard, VP and senior fellow for research, The Progress & Freedom Foundation (moderator); Brian Mannix, senior research fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason University; Mark Menezes, chief counsel, House Energy and Commerce Committee; and Anthony Schuster, director, Wissota Vision, LLC. A buffet lunch will be served.

Those interested in attending should contact Andrea Knutsen of the Foundation at 202-289-8928 or aknutsen@pff.org.

Lenard, an economist who has written widely on electricity-related topics, filed official comments with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the agency’s so-called electricity white paper. Foundation President Raymond Gifford testified before the Senate Energy Committee during the panel’s deliberation on the energy bill. Gifford is the immediate past chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.

The Progress & Freedom Foundation is a market-oriented think tank that studies the impact of the digital revolution and its implications for public policy. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1993.