[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 168 (Thursday, August 29, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55395-55396]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-22026]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket Nos. PL02-8-000, ER96-2495-016, ER97-4143-004, ER97-1238-011, 
ER98-2075-010, ER98-542-006 (Not consolidated), ER91-569-018 and ER97-
4166-010]


Conference on Supply Margin Assessment, AEP Power Marketing, 
Inc., AEP Service Corporation, CSW Power Marketing, Inc., CSW Energy 
Services, Inc., and Central and South West Services, Inc., Entergy 
Services, Inc., Southern Company Energy Marketing L.P., Notice of 
Request for Written Comments on Supply Margin Assessment Screen

August 23, 2002.
    On November 20, 2001,\1\ the Commission announced a new market 
power screen for generation, the Supply Margin Assessment (SMA), to be 
applied to market-based rate applications on an interim basis pending a 
generic review of new methods for analyzing market power and 
established mitigation measures applicable to entities that fail the 
SMA screen. In addition, in a Notice Delaying Effective Date of 
Mitigation and Announcing Technical Conference, issued on December 20, 
2001 (December 20 Notice), the Commission deferred the date by which 
the companies in the above-captioned proceedings or any other public 
utilities must implement the mitigation for spot market energy sales 
set forth in the November 20 Order, and announced its intention to hold 
a technical conference open to all interested persons, not only parties 
in the above-captioned dockets.
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    \1\ AEP Power Marketing, Inc., et al., 97 FERC [para] 61,219 at 
61,969 (2001), reh'g pending (November 20 Order).
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    Following issuance of the November 20 Order, the parties to the 
above-captioned proceedings as well as a number of other entities filed 
comments and/or requests for rehearing. Some commenters generally 
supported the SMA as an interim screen. Several filed in opposition to 
the SMA screen as a measure of market power. Some commenters argue that 
the Commission committed procedural error by replacing the hub-and-
spoke analysis with the interim SMA through case-by-case adjudication, 
rather than through formal notice-and-comment rulemaking. On the 
merits, commenters protest, among other things, that the SMA is ill-
suited for load-serving entities with capacity committed to serve 
native load, and that the test should look at uncommitted capacity and 
should serve only as a screen rather than a definitive analysis for 
granting market-based rate authority. Commenters also raise substantive 
and procedural arguments against the mitigation measures established in 
the November 20 Order, arguing that the mitigation measures are vague, 
unworkable and poorly tailored. Commenters also address the exemption 
from the SMA for sales into an RTO/ISO with Commission-approved market 
monitoring and mitigation. Some commenters oppose the exemption while 
others suggest the exemption should be expanded to include non-
California portions of the WSCC and any market in which participants 
agree to be bound by an appropriate Commission-approved market 
monitoring and mitigation plan.
    Consistent with our announcement that we would hold a technical 
conference open to all interested persons, not only parties in the 
above-captioned dockets, we are hereby establishing a proceeding, 
Docket No. PL02-8-000, Conference on Supply Margin Assessment Screen, 
to provide an opportunity for all interested persons to submit 
comments. In preparation for the technical conference (the date and 
time of which will be announced in a subsequent notice), the Commission 
invites all interested persons to submit written comments regarding the 
SMA screen and related mitigation measures. All comments should include 
an executive summary; the summary shall not exceed five pages. To 
conserve time and avoid unnecessary expense, persons with common 
interests or views are encouraged to submit joint comments. All written 
comments should be submitted within 60 days from the date of this order 
and will be placed in the Commission's public files. Comments will be 
available for inspection at the Commission's Public Reference Room, 888 
First Street, NE., Washington DC, 20426, during regular business hours.
    Such written comments should be submitted in Docket No. PL02-8-000. 
A technical conference to discuss the SMA and related mitigation 
measures will be scheduled on a date to be determined. All future 
actions with respect to the technical conference will also be taken 
under Docket No. PL02-8-000.

[[Page 55396]]

Filing Requirements for Paper and Electronic Filings

    Comments, papers, or other documents related to this proceeding may 
be filed in paper format or electronically. However, the Commission 
strongly encourages electronic filings. Those filing electronically do 
not need to make a paper filing.
    For paper filings, the original and 14 copies of the comments 
should be submitted to the Office of the Secretary, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426 and 
should refer to Docket No. PL02-8-000
    Documents filed electronically via the Internet must be prepared in 
WordPerfect, MS Word, Portable Document Format, or ASCII format. To 
file the document, access the Commission's website at www.ferc.gov, 
click on ``E-Filing'' and then follow the instructions for each screen. 
First time users will have to establish a user name and password. The 
Commission will send an automatic acknowledgment to the sender's E-mail 
address upon receipt of comments. User assistance for electronic filing 
is available at 202-502-8258 or by E-mail to[email protected]. 
Comments should not be submitted to the E-mail address.
    All comments will be placed in the Commission's public files and 
will be available for inspection in the Commission's Public Reference 
Room at 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, during regular 
business hours. These comments will be available for review at the 
Commission in the Public Reference Room or may be viewed on the 
Commission's website at http://www.ferc.gov using the ``FERRIS'' link. 
Enter the docket number excluding the last three digits in the docket 
number field to access the document. For Assistance, call (202)502-8222 
or for TTY, (202) 208-1659.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 02-22026 Filed 8-27-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P