[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