§6408 Market Survey and Consumer Protection

Summary

Starting two years after the Council is formed, the Secretary of Commerce must publish a yearly report that compares how consumer-grade propane prices change versus a mix of residential electricity, residential natural gas, and refiner prices for No. 2 fuel oil. The report must use refiner-to-end-user prices from the Energy Information Administration and other public sources and compare changes as indexed, using a 5-year rolling average that begins with the year four years before the Council was set up. If the 5-year propane price index is more than 10.1 percent higher than the composite index in any year, the Council’s work is limited to research and development, training, and safety. The Council must tell the Secretary of Energy and Congress when this happens. After 180 days of any such limit, the Secretary of Commerce must run the price report again. The limits stay in place until the excess is 10.1 percent or less.