CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED RATE INCREASES.

SEC. 207. CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED RATE INCREASES. (a) Notice Period.—Section 205 of the Federal Power Act is amended by striking out “thirty” each place it appears and substituting “sixty”. (b) Study.—The Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in consultation with the Secretary, is directed to conduct a study of the legal requirements and administrative procedures involved in the consideration and resolution of proposed wholesale electric rate increases under the Federal Power Act for the purposes of (1) providing for expeditious handling of hearings consistent with due process, (2) preventing the imposition of successive rate increases before they have been determined by the Commission to be just and reasonable and otherwise lawful, and (3) improving procedures designed to prohibit anticompetitive or unreasonable differences in wholesale and retail rates, or both. The Chairman shall report to Congress within nine months from the date of enactment of this Act on the results of the study required under this section, on the Administrative actions taken as a result of this study, and on any recommendations for changes in existing law that will aid the purposes of this section. [16 U.S.C. 824d nt]