[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 193 (Thursday, October 5, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 58767-58769]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-16442]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Parts 35 and 37

[Docket Nos. RM05-25-000 and RM05-17-000]


Preventing Undue Discrimination and Preference in Transmission 
Service

September 28, 2006.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Proposed rule: notice of agenda for technical conference.

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SUMMARY: Commission staff proposes to convene a technical conference to 
discuss issues raised in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) 
issued in this proceeding. Preventing Undue Discrimination and 
Preference in Transmission Service, 71 FR 32636 (June 6, 2006). This 
notice establishes the agenda and procedures for the technical 
conference to be held on Thursday, October 12, 2006, from 9 a.m. to 4 
p.m. (EDT) at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First 
Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, in the Commission Meeting Room. All 
interested persons are invited to attend, and registration is not 
required. This will be a staff conference, but Commissioners may 
attend.

DATES: Commission staff will hold a technical conference on October 12, 
2006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel Hedberg, Office of Energy 
Markets and Reliability, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426,

[[Page 58768]]

(202) 502-6243, [email protected] or Kathleen Barr[oacute]n, 
Office of the General Counsel--Energy Markets, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, 
(202) 502-6461, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Notice of Agenda and Procedures for Technical Conference

    This notice establishes the agenda and procedures for the technical 
conference to be held on Thursday, October 12, 2006, to discuss issues 
raised in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) issued in this 
proceeding. Preventing Undue Discrimination and Preference in 
Transmission Service, 71 FR 32636 (June 6, 2006), FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 
32603 (2006). The technical conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 
p.m. (EDT) at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First 
Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, in the Commission Meeting Room.\1\ 
All interested persons are invited to attend, and registration is not 
required. This will be a staff conference, but Commissioners may 
attend.
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    \1\ The initial notice setting the date of this technical 
conference was issued on September 7, 2006. 71 FR 54053 (2006).
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    The agenda for this conference is attached. In order to allot 
sufficient time for questions and responses, each speaker will be 
provided with five minutes for prepared remarks. Due to the limitation 
of time, slides and graphic displays (i.e, PowerPoint [supreg] 
presentations) will not be permitted during the conference. Presenters 
who want to distribute copies of their prepared remarks or handouts 
should bring 100 double-sided copies to the technical conference. 
Presenters who wish to include comments, presentations, or handouts in 
the record for this proceeding should file their comments with the 
Commission. Comments may either be filed on paper or electronically via 
the eFiling link on the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov.
    A free Webcast of this event is available through http://www.ferc.gov. Anyone with Internet access who desires to view this 
event can do so by navigating to http://www.ferc.gov's Calendar of 
Events and locating this event in the Calendar. The event will contain 
a link to its Webcast. The Capitol Connection provides technical 
support for the free Webcasts. It also offers access to this event via 
television in the DC area and via phone bridge for a fee. Visit http://www.CapitolConnection.org or contact Danelle Perkowski or David 
Reininger at the Capitol Connection at 703-993-3100 for information 
about this service.
    Commission conferences are accessible under section 508 of the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973. For accessibility accommodations please 
send an e-mail to [email protected] or call toll free 1-866-208-
3372 (voice) or 202-208-1659 (TTY), or send a fax to 202-208-2106 with 
the required accommodations.
    For more information about this conference, please contact: Daniel 
Hedberg, Office of Energy Markets and Reliability, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, 
(202) 502-6243, [email protected] or Kathleen Barr[oacute]n, 
Office of the General Counsel--Energy Markets, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, 
(202) 502-6461, [email protected].

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.

Agenda for OATT Reform Technical Conference, October 12, 2006

9 a.m.-9:15 a.m.--Opening Comments and Introductions.
9:15 a.m.-11:45 a.m.--Issues Relating to Coordinated, Open and 
Transparent Transmission Planning.

     Presentations by Panelists:
    Verne Ingersoll, Director of Regional Planning, System Planning & 
Operations Department, Progress Energy, Inc.
    Sandra Johnson, Director, Transmission Asset Management, Xcel 
Energy, Inc.
    Jay Loock, Director, Technical Services, Western Electricity 
Coordinating Council.
    Pete Wybierala, Director, Transmission Planning, NRG Energy, Inc. 
On behalf of the Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA).
    James Yancey Kerr, II, Commissioner, North Carolina Utilities 
Commission; First Vice President, National Association of Regulatory 
Utility Commissioners (NARUC); Member, NARUC Electricity Committee.
    Michael J. Kormos, Senior Vice President, Reliability Services, PJM 
Interconnection L.L.C.
    Joel deJesus, Assistant General Counsel, National Grid.
    Terry J. Wolf, Manager of Transmission Services, Missouri River 
Energy Services, on behalf of Transmission Access Policy Study Group 
(TAPS).
    Will Kaul, Vice President, Transmission, Great River Energy, on 
behalf of National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA).
     Panel discussion topics include related issues raised in 
the NOPR, as well as the following:
    1. What is the appropriate geographic scope for an effective 
planning region or subregion?
    2. Are there specific criteria that can be developed to define the 
scope and frequency of the congestion studies proposed in the NOPR?
    3. Is an independent consultant necessary to facilitate planning?
    4. What are some effective mechanisms for safeguarding 
confidentiality while permitting meaningful access to transmission 
information?
    5. How should the planning obligation be coordinated with state 
processes?
    6. If an open season requirement is added for large new 
transmission projects, what conditions or limitations should be 
associated with it?
    7. Can the proposed regional planning requirement achieve its goals 
if the participants in the regional planning process have not achieved 
agreement among themselves on appropriate cost-allocation issues? If 
not, what can be done to encourage the development of such cost 
allocation agreements among regional planning participants?
    8. What is the appropriate role for demand response in planning?

11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m.--Lunch.
12:30 p.m.-1:45 p.m.--Discussion of ATC-related Reforms.

     Presentations by Panelists:
    William (Bill) Lohrman, Managing Director, Prague Power, LLC, on 
Behalf of North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC).
    Rae McQuade, President, North American Energy Standards Board 
(NAESB).
    Steven Naumann, Vice President, Wholesale Market Development, 
Exelon Corporation, on behalf of Edison Electric Institute (EEI).
    Michael Smith, Vice President, Regulatory and Legislative Affairs, 
Constellation Energy Commodities Group.
    Edward N. (Nick) Henery, Director of Reliability, American Public 
Power Association (APPA).
    Jerry Smith, Alliance Partnership Manager, Arizona Public Service.
     Panel discussion topics include related issues raised in 
the NOPR, as well as the following:
    1. What are the challenges that NERC/NAESB and the industry face in 
the effort to enhance the consistency of certain definitions, data, 
modeling assumptions and components of the ATC calculation? Which of 
these

[[Page 58769]]

elements are most critical to make consistent? Is a focus on 
comparability of ATC calculation and transparency more important than 
consistency of ATC calculation?
    2. What is a reasonable timeline to achieve the consistency goal?
    3. Are there common standards and modeling assumptions that can be 
developed to calculate TRM and CBM?
    4. What are the most critical data to be exchanged among 
transmission providers to ensure that all are performing ATC 
calculations most accurately? How should that data be exchanged, what 
protocols should be used, and what forum should develop the protocols?
    5. What is the most important data to make transparent? Regarding 
the Commission's proposal to require a narrative explanation for 
changes in monthly or yearly ATC, are there modifications that would 
achieve the Commission's transparency goals without imposing an undue 
burden on transmission providers? What ATC information posted in 
narrative form will be most beneficial?
    6. Regarding the proposal to enhance OASIS postings, what are some 
industry tools/best practices that can be utilized to assist with this 
effort?

1:45 p.m.-2 p.m.--Break.
2 p.m.-4 p.m.--The Commission's Proposals Regarding Redispatch and 
Conditional Firm Service.

     Presentations by Panelists (* Tentative Panelist):
    Don Furman, PPM Energy, on behalf of American Wind Energy 
Association (AWEA).
    Patricia Alexander, Consultant/Energy, Dickstein Shapiro LLP, on 
Behalf of Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA).
    John Lucas, Transmission Services Director, Southern Company 
Services, Inc.
    Lauren Nichols-Kinas, Bonneville Power Administration (BPA).
    Anthony Taylor, Director of Transmission, Williams Power Company, 
Inc.
    *Natalie McIntire, Senior Policy Associate, Renewable Northwest 
Project.
     Panel discussion topics include related issues raised in 
the NOPR, as well as the following:
    1. Are there improvements to the revised redispatch provision in 
the pro forma OATT (section 13.5) that are necessary to facilitate 
redispatch?
    2. Would customers be willing to pay for the actual costs of 
redispatch in addition to the embedded costs of transmission to secure 
previously unavailable long-term transmission rights? How can the 
Commission best remove discretion in calculating these costs and create 
a method for verifying them?
    3. What tools are available to allow redispatch to occur using 
resources other than those owned by the transmission provider?
    4. Should curtailments under conditional firm service be specified 
based on a number of hours per month, when certain transmission 
constraints or elements bind, when certain load levels are present, or 
some other factor? How would these different methods be studied and 
implemented? Which method is preferable from the perspective of the 
potential conditional firm transmission customers, the network 
customers and the transmission providers?
    5. What curtailment priority should be assigned to conditional firm 
service? Would this require changes to NERC curtailment protocols? How 
should changes between firm and non-firm service be handled in real-
time systems? Would changes need to be made to e-tags or OASIS?
    6. Should conditional firm service be offered indefinitely, or only 
as a bridge product until transmission upgrades are complete?

[FR Doc. E6-16442 Filed 10-4-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P