(Reuters circulated the following on January 7.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congress is expected to reconsider legislation that would strip big railroad companies of their antitrust exemption, spurred on by power companies who accuse them of price gouging.
Sen. Herb Kohl and Rep. Tammy Baldwin, both Wisconsin Democrats, introduced bills on Wednesday that would place rail freight shippers under the same antitrust laws that apply to other industries.
The industry was deregulated in 1980 because it was fast losing market share to truckers. But there have been widespread complaints about railroads’ pricing power, particularly from power companies which depend on railroads to ship coal.
‘Freight railroads have the luxury of being protected from the competition other industries face,’ said Kohl, chairman of the Senate’s subcommittee on antitrust, in a statement.
‘We have seen the result of this outdated policy in Wisconsin, where our utilities were forced to absorb staggering cost increases for shipping coal,’ he added.
Similar bills failed in the House and Senate last year but are expected to have a better chance of passing this year because Democrats hold more seats in each chamber.
The biggest rail companies include CSX, Union Pacific, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp, and Norfolk Southern Corp.