[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 153 (Thursday, August 9, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44842-44843]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-15527]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. AD07-12-000]


Reliability Standard Compliance and Enforcement in Regions With 
Independent System Operators and Regional Transmission Organizations; 
Second Notice of Technical Conference

August 2, 2007.
    As announced on June 15, 2007, the staff of the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission will hold a technical conference in the above-
referenced proceeding on September 18, 2007, at the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington DC. It will be 
held in the Commission Meeting Room (Room 2C) from 9:30 a.m. until 1 
p.m. (EDT).
    All interested parties are invited.
    The conference will explore issues associated with the cost 
recovery of penalties for Reliability Standard violations assessed 
against independent system operators (ISOs) and regional transmission 
organizations (RTOs) in the United States, as set forth in Midwest 
Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc., 119 FERC ] 61,222 (May 
31, 2007) in Docket Nos. ER07-701-000 and AD07-12-000. In that Order, 
the following topics were identified for discussion:
    1. How each ISO's or RTO's regional tariffs and other operational 
agreements and protocols allocate reliability responsibilities among 
the parties;
    2. What provisions exist in those tariffs, agreements, and 
protocols to establish responsibility for penalty costs associated with 
Reliability Standard violations, and do those provisions result in 
uniform responsibility for such penalty costs;
    3. What provisions exist that may prevent an entity from being 
registered for compliance with relevant Reliability Standards if, 
notwithstanding its registration status, such entity's failure to 
perform under tariffs, agreements, and protocols could lead to a 
violation of Reliability Standards; and
    4. What policies for any pass-through of penalty costs associated 
with Reliability Standard violations by ISOs

[[Page 44843]]

and RTOs would both best provide due process for entities that may 
ultimately be required to pay these penalty costs and also avoid 
redundant investigations and litigation of Reliability Standard 
violations.
    There will be three panels. The first panel will consist of RTOs 
and ISOs. The second panel will consist of representative entities 
potentially subject to paying penalties incurred by the RTOs or ISOs, 
either through the general allocation of an RTO or ISO penalty or 
through the direct assignment of a penalty by an RTO or ISO on the 
grounds such entity did not perform reliability functions that led to 
the penalty. The third panel will consist of the North American 
Electric Reliability Corporation and the Regional Entities.
    Topics for discussion in each panel are as follows:

Panel One

    Panelists should be prepared to address Commission Topics 1, 2, 3 
and 4. In addition, panelists are requested to consider the following:
    A. Should penalties associated with Reliability Standard violations 
by RTOs or ISOs be allocated to all of its members, customers, owners 
or participants (collectively, members)? If so, should this allocation 
be handled by tariff or by contract? What allocation method would 
fairly apportion the cost burden amongst an RTO's or ISO's members?
    B. If an RTO or ISO is permitted to pass on to its members the 
reliability penalties assessed against it, how should the Commission 
ensure that the RTO/ISO has adequate incentives to comply with the 
Reliability Standards?
    C. Should an RTO or ISO be permitted to directly assign to one or 
more or a group of specific members, reliability penalties assessed 
against it but that were caused by the members? If so, who should 
investigate these entities to determine the degree of culpability, how 
will these entities be given due process and how can duplicative 
proceedings that overlap the ERO or Regional Entity penalty proceedings 
be avoided?
    D. Should only non-monetary penalties be applied to RTOs and ISOs 
(and other non-profit organizations)?

Panel Two

    Panelists should be prepared to address Commission Topics 1, 2, 3 
and 4. In addition, panelists are requested to consider the following:
    A. Should an RTO or ISO be permitted to allocate to its members 
reliability penalties assessed against it pursuant to section 215 of 
the FPA? If so, should this be handled by tariff or by contract? What 
allocation method would fairly apportion the cost burden?
    B. If an RTO or ISO is not permitted to pass on reliability penalty 
costs assessed against it, what source of funds is suggested for 
payment?
    C. Should an RTO or ISO be permitted to directly assign to specific 
members reliability penalties assessed against it, and if so, how 
should duplicative proceedings be avoided and due process ensured?

Panel Three

    Panelists should be prepared to address Commission Topics 3 and 4. 
In addition, panelists are requested to consider the following:
    A. Would the ERO or Regional Entity investigation of an alleged 
Reliability Standard violation by an RTO or ISO incorporate an 
investigation of any RTO or ISO members that have been alleged to 
contribute to the violation both in the instance where these members 
are registered in the ERO's compliance registry and in the instance 
where these members are not registered? If these members are 
investigated, would there be an assessment of the extent each of the 
members and the RTO or ISO contributed to the violation?
    B. How would Regional Entities and the ERO address in enforcement 
proceedings assessment of penalties for matters in which an RTO or ISO 
and one or more members violated the same Reliability Standard, 
different Reliability Standards or multiple Reliability standards?
    C. Should the Regional Entity identify not just the entity that 
violated a Reliability Standard, but also any entities which may have 
contributed to the RTO's or ISO's Reliability Standard violation? 
Should the Regional Entity also quantify the degree to which each 
entity contributed to the violation?
    D. If an RTO or ISO asserts that an entity that is not listed in 
NERC's compliance registry is responsible for the RTO's or ISO's 
violation of a Reliability Standard, in an enforcement hearing pursuant 
to section 215 of the FPA, will Regional Entities or NERC inquire if 
the root cause of the violation lies with that entity and provide the 
entity an opportunity to participate in the proceeding?
    Participants on the panels will be announced in a subsequent 
notice. There is no registration fee to attend. A free webcast of this 
event will be 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 webcasts and offers 
access to the meeting via a phone bridge for a fee. If you have any 
questions, visit http://www.CapitolConnection.org or contact Danelle 
Perkowski or David Reininger at 703-993-3100.
    Transcripts of the meeting will be available immediately for a fee 
from Ace Reporting Company (202-347-3700 or 1-800-336-6646). They will 
be available for free on the Commission's eLibrary system and on the 
events calendar approximately one week after the meeting.
    FERC conferences and meetings 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 (866) 208-
3372 (voice) or 202-502-8659 (TTY), or send a fax to 202-208-2106 with 
the required accommodations.
    Questions about the conference should be directed to Don LeKang by 
e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 202-502-8127.

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7-15527 Filed 8-8-07; 8:45 am]
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