[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 36 (Friday, February 22, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8240-8241]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-4252]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission


Notice of Technical Conference Organization

February 14, 2002.

In the matter of Docket Nos. RM01-12-000, RT01-2-001, RT-2-002, RT01-2-
003, RT01-10-000, RT01-15-000, RT01-34-000, RT01-35-000, RT01-67-000, 
RT01-74-000, RT01-75-000, RT01-77-000, RT01-85-000, RT01-86-000, RT01-
86-001, RT01-86-002, RT01-87-000, RT01-88-000, RT01-94-000, RT01-95-
000, RT01-95-001, RT01-95-002, RT01-98-000, RT01-99-000, RT01-99-001, 
RT01-99-002, RT01-99-003, RT01-100-000, RT01-101-000, EC01-146-000, 
ER01-3000-000, RT02-1-000, EL02-9-000, EC01-156-000, ER01-3154-000, and 
EL01-80-000

Electricity Market Design and Structure, PJM Interconnection, 
L.L.C.,

    Allegheny Electric Cooperative, Inc., Atlantic City Electric 
Company, Baltimore Gas & Electric Company, Delmarva Power & Light 
Company, Jersey Central Power & Light Company, Metropolitan Edison 
Company, PECO Energy Company, Pennsylvania Electric Company, PPL 
Electric Utilities Corporation, Potomac Electric Power Company, Public 
Service Electric & Gas Company, UGI Utilities Inc., Allegheny Power, 
Avista Corporation, Montana Power Company, Nevada Power Company, 
Portland General Electric Company, Puget Sound Energy, Inc., Sierra 
Pacific Power Company, Southwest Power Pool, Inc., Avista Corporation, 
Bonneville Power Administration, Idaho Power Company, Montana Power 
Company, Nevada Power Company, PacifiCorp, Portland General Electric 
Company, Puget Sound Energy, Inc., Sierra Pacific Power Company, 
GridFlorida LLC, Florida Power & Light Company, Florida Power 
Corporation, Tampa Electric Company, Carolina Power & Light Company, 
Duke Energy Corporation, South Carolina Electric & Gas Company, 
GridSouth Transco, LLC, Entergy Services, Inc., Southern Company 
Services, Inc., California Independent System Operator Corporation, 
Bangor Hydro-Electric Company, Central Maine Power Company, National 
Grid USA, Northeast Utilities Service Company, The United Illuminating 
Company, Vermont

[[Page 8241]]

Electric Power Company, ISO New England Inc., Midwest Independent 
System Operator, Alliance Companies, NSTAR Services Company, New York 
Independent System Operator, Inc., Central Hudson Gas & Electric 
Corporation, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., Niagara 
Mohawk Power Corporation, New York State Electric & Gas Corporation, 
Orange & Rockland Utilities, Inc., Rochester Gas & Electric 
Corporation, PJM Interconnection, L.L.C., Regional Transmission 
Organizations, Regional Transmission Organizations, International 
Transmission Company, DTE Energy Company, Arizona Public Service 
Company, El Paso Electric Company, Public Service Company of New 
Mexico, Tucson Electric Power Company, WestConnect RTO, LLC, Alliant 
Energy Corporate Services, Inc., MidAmerican Energy Company, Xcel 
Energy Services, Inc., TRANSLink Transmission Company, LLC, National 
Grid USA

Notice of Technical Conference Organization

    As announced in the Notice of Technical Conference issued on 
February 5, 2002, Commission staff will hold a technical conference on 
February 19, 2002, to discuss the allocation of regional transmission 
organization (RTO) characteristics and functions between separate 
organizations within an RTO region.\1\ Participants also may address 
the allocation of responsibility for performing other wholesale market 
functions. This notice provides further organizational details and the 
conference agenda.
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    \1\ The RTO characteristics are: (1) Independence; (2) scope and 
regional configuration; (3) operational authority; and (4) short-
term reliability. RTO functions include: (1) Tariff administration 
and design; (2) congestion management; (3) parallel path flow; (4) 
ancillary services; (5) OASIS, total transmission capacity and 
available transmission capacity; (6) market monitoring; (7) planning 
and expansion; and (8) interregional coordination. See Regional 
Transmission Organizations, Order No. 2000, FERC Stats. and Regs. 
31,089 (1999), order on reh'g, Order No. 2000-A, FERC Stats. And 
Regs. 31,092 (2000), aff'd, Public Utility District No. 1 of 
Snohomish County, Washington v. FERC, 272 F.3d 607 (D.C. Cir. 2001). 
See also Order Providing Guidance on Continued Processing of RTO 
Filings, 97 FERC para. 61,146 at 61,633 (2001).
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    The conference will start at approximately 9 a.m. and will adjourn 
at about 4:45 p.m. It is scheduled to take place at the Commission's 
offices, 888 First Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20426, in the 
Commission Meeting Room on the second floor. The agenda is appended to 
this notice as Attachment A.
    The conference is open for the public to attend, and registration 
is not required. Members of the Commission may attend the conference 
and participate in the discussions. We ask participants to focus on the 
following four questions:
    (1) If the functions and characteristics specified in Order No. 
2000 are shared or coordinated among separate organizations within an 
RTO, how would you suggest that these functions be apportioned? Please 
use the matrix appended to this notice as Attachment B as a guide.
    (2) From the perspective of either engineering or economic 
efficiency, is it more appropriate to have certain functions 
administered over as large a region as possible? Conversely, are there 
certain functions which can be effectively administered at a sub-
regional level?
    (3) As we try to evaluate how functions might be apportioned, is it 
useful to distinguish between functions that relate solely to operating 
and administrating the transmission grid and functions that relate more 
to operation and oversight of markets for trading wholesale power and 
energy?
    (4) Is the business model or incentive structure proposed for an 
organization relevant to the question of which functions it should 
undertake?
    Any interested party may file comments in Docket No. RM01-12-000 
that address the issues above or follow up on the conference 
discussions. It is not necessary to re-file comments or file summaries 
of comments already filed with the Commission. Commenters are asked to 
specifically identify the region or regions, if any, that their 
comments address, and to cross-file their comments in any appropriate 
RT dockets. Comments must be filed no later than March 12, 2002.
    The Capitol Connection offers all open and special Commission 
meetings held at the Commission's headquarters live over the Internet, 
as well as via telephone and satellite. For a fee, you can receive 
these meetings in your office, at home, or anywhere in the world. To 
find out more about the Capitol Connection's live Internet, phone 
bridge, or satellite coverage, contact David Reininger or Julia Morelli 
at (703) 993-3100, or visit www.capitolconnection.gmu.edu. The Capitol 
Connection also offers FERC open meetings through its Washington, 
D.C.--area television service.
    Additionally, live and archived audio of FERC public meetings are 
available for a fee via National Narrowcast Network's Hearings.com (sm) 
and Hearing-On-The-Line (r) services. Interested parties may listen to 
the conference live by phone or web. Hearings.com audio will be 
archived immediately for listening on demand after the event is 
completed. Call (202) 966-2211 for further details.
    Those interested in obtaining transcripts of the conference need to 
contact Ace Federal Reporters at (202) 347-3700 or (800) 336-6646. 
Anyone interested in purchasing videotapes of the meeting should call 
VISCOM at (703) 715-7999.
    Other questions about the conference program should be directed to: 
Diane Bernier, Office of Markets, Tariffs and Rates, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426, 
(202) 219-2886, [email protected].

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 02-4252 Filed 2-21-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P