[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 161 (Monday, August 19, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42878-42879]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-20998]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[Docket No. ER96-1663-000; EC96-19-000; EL96-48-000]


Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Diego Gas & Electric 
Company and Southern California Edison Company; Notice of Technical 
Conference and Potential Broadcast of Technical Conference

August 13, 1996.
    Take notice that the Commission Staff will convene a two-day 
technical conference in the captioned proceedings to be held on 
Thursday, September 12 and Friday, September 13, 1996, at the offices 
of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, N.E., 
Washington, D.C. 20426. The technical conference will commence at 10:00 
a.m. each day and will be open to all interested persons. The technical 
conference will address a number of issues related to the applications 
in the captioned proceedings. A tentative agenda is contained in the 
Attachment.
    Persons wishing to speak at the technical conference must submit a 
request to make a statement in Docket Nos. ER96-1663-000, EC96-19-000, 
and EL96-48-000. The request should clearly specify that it concerns 
the WEPEX technical conference and must specify the name of the person 
desiring to speak and the party or parties the speaker represents. The 
request must also include a brief synopsis of the issue or issues the 
speaker wishes to address as well as the speaker's position on the 
issue or issues. All requests must be filed with the Office of the 
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, 
N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426 on or before Friday, August 23, 1996.
    The Commission anticipates that the number of persons desiring to 
speak at the conference may exceed the time allotted. Therefore, based 
on the requests to participate, the Commission Staff will put together 
panels of speakers representing a broad spectrum of interests and views 
for each panel. The Commission will issue a further notice listing the 
speakers and panels for the technical conference.
    In addition, all interested persons are invited to submit written 
comments addressing topics discussed at the technical conference. 
(There is no need to reiterate comments that already have been made in 
pleadings filed in these dockets.) Comments must be received on or 
before Monday, September 23, 1996. The comments should be no longer 
than 25 pages in length, double spaced, on 8\1/2\'' x 11'' paper, with 
standard margins. Parties submitting comments must submit fourteen (14) 
written copies of their comments and also must submit two copies of the 
file on a computer diskette, one in Wordperfect 5.1 format, and one in 
a DOS file in the ASCII format (with 1'' margins and 10 characters per 
inch.). The two computer files should be labeled (--.WP and --.ASC) to 
avoid confusion. Comments must include a one page executive summary and 
must be filed with the Office of the Secretary, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426 
and reference Docket Nos. ER96-1663-000, EC96-19-000, and EL96-48-000. 
All written comments will be placed in the Commission's Public files 
and will be available for inspection or copying in the Commission's 
Public Reference Room during normal business hours. The Commission also 
will make all comments publicly available on its EBB.

Broadcast of Technical Conference

    If there is sufficient interest, the Capitol Connection will 
broadcast the technical conference on September 12 and 13, 1996, to 
interested persons. Persons interested in receiving the broadcast for a 
fee should contact Julia Morelli at the Capitol Connection (703-933-
3100) no later than September 3, 1996.
    In addition, National Narrowcast Network's Hearings-On-the-Line 
service covers all FERC meetings live by telephone so that anyone can 
listen at their desk, from their homes, or from any phone without 
special equipment. Call (202) 966-2211 for details. Billing is based on 
time on-line.

CPUC Comments

    At the Commission's August 1, 1996, technical conference, the 
California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) indicated that it would 
be filing its comments on a number of issues in these proceedings by 
August 15, 1996. The Commission intends to allow interested parties to 
file comments regarding the CPUC submission within two weeks of that 
filing. The Commission will issue a further notice when the CPUC makes 
such filing.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Stephen T. Greenleaf, Office of Electric Power Regulation, Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, N.E., Washington, DC 
20426, (202) 208-0430.
David E. Mead, Office of Economic Policy, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208-
0538.
Hollis J. Alpert, Office of the General Counsel, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20426, 
(202) 208-0783.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.

Attachment

Thursday, September 12, 1996

Tentative Agenda

Panel 1--Market Power

    The panel will consider the market power analyses presented by 
the Applicants, including related topics, such as the role of 
demand-side bidding; the effect of any performance-based ratemaking; 
the role of the Power Exchange; the appropriate monitoring program; 
any mitigation measures that may be needed; and the effect of zones 
on market power; as well as other issues concerning market power 
that participants wish to address.

Panel 2--Transmission Pricing

    The panel will consider transmission pricing issues, including 
cost recovery and access charges; market efficiency; cost shifting; 
congestion management issues, the appropriate use of zones; and 
treatment of losses; as well as other issues concerning transmission 
pricing that participants wish to address. The Commission Staff is 
interested in comments addressing the extent to which the 
Commission's capacity reservation tariff (CRT) proposal would 
interact with WEPEX transmission pricing.

Panel 3--Transmission Expansion

    The panel will consider transmission expansion issues, including 
who builds such facilities, who decides whether such facilities are 
to be built, who pays for the facilities, the proper incentives to 
ensure that necessary transmission expansion facilities are built; 
as well as other issues concerning transmission expansion that 
participants wish to address.

Panel 4--Transmission Rights/TCCs

    The panel will consider transmission rights and Transmission 
Congestion Contracts (TCCs) in the context of pools and bilateral 
arrangements; the role of financial versus physical rights, i.e, 
arrangements that confer the option to perform as opposed to the 
obligation to perform; as well as other issues concerning 
transmission rights and TCCs that participants which to address. The 
Commission Staff is interested in comments addressing the 
interaction of the WEPEX transmission rights and TCCs with the 
Commission's pending CRT proposal.

Friday, September 13, 1996

Tentative Agenda

Panel 5--ISO Facilities and Operations

    The panel will consider the transmission-distribution split; the 
ISO integration of national, regional, and individual transmission 
owner reliability criteria; which criteria will take precedence if 
there are conflicts; what control of transmission will be 
transferred from utilities to the ISO; and the incentives the ISO 
will have to achieve

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efficiency in its operations; as well as other issues concerning ISO 
facilities that participants wish to address.

Panel 6--Bidding and Settlements

    The panel will consider the integration of PX bidding and 
bilateral schedules; the types of information that should flow among 
the PX, ISO, and market participants; the advantages and 
disadvantages of an ISO/PX separation; the costs of operations; how, 
when, and by whom unit commitments should be determined; pricing of 
ancillary services; and the role of economic criteria in determining 
curtailments of must-run and must take units in overgeneration 
situations; as well as other issues concerning bidding and 
settlements that participants wish to address.

Panel 7--Role of Scheduling Coordinators

    The panel will consider the functions, responsibilities, and 
qualifications of Scheduling Coordinators, including, for example, 
whether the Scheduling Coordinators are the sole communication link 
between the ISO and its customers, both during normal system 
conditions and during emergencies; as well as other issues 
concerning Scheduling Coordinators that are of concern to the 
participants.

[FR Doc. 96-20998 Filed 8-16-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M