[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 181 (Wednesday, September 19, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53557-53558]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-18429]



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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; 
Final Notice and Agenda for the Technical Conference

September 13, 2007.
    As announced on June 15, 2007 and August 2, 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 persons are invited, and there is no registration 
fee to attend.
    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), 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;
    3. What provisions exist that may prevent an entity from being 
registered for compliance with relevant Reliability Standards if its 
failure to perform under such tariffs, agreements, and protocols leads 
to a violation of Reliability Standards; and
    4. What policies for any pass-through of penalty costs associated 
with Reliability Standard violations by ISOs and RTOs would both best 
provide due process for entities that would ultimately be required to 
pay these penalty costs and also avoid redundant investigations and 
litigation of Reliability Standard violations.
    The agenda, panelists and topics for the conference will be as 
follows:

Welcome and Introduction to the conference: 9:30-9:45 a.m.
Panel One: 9:45-10:45 a.m.
    New York ISO: Mark Lynch, Chief Executive Officer.
    PJM Interconnection, LLC. (PJM): Steven Pincus, Senior Counsel for 
PJM.
    ERCOT: Mike Grable, Assistant General Counsel.
    California ISO: Anthony Ivancovich, Assistant General Council--
Regulatory.
    Southwest Power Pool (SPP): Les Dillahunty, Vice President, 
Regulatory Policy.
    Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. (MISO): 
Stephen G. Kozey, Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary.
    Panelists should be prepared to address Commission Topics 1, 2, 3 
and 4 above. In addition, panelists are requested to consider the 
following topics:
    A. Should an RTO or ISO be permitted to allocate to its customers 
or 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 permitted to pass on to its customers or 
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 specific 
customers, market participants or members reliability penalties 
assessed against it, and if so, how should duplicative proceedings be 
avoided and due process ensured?

Break: 10:45-11a.m.
Panel Two: 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
    Dale Landgren, Vice President and Chief Strategic Officer, American 
Transmission Company.
    Brian F. Thumm, P.E., Manager, ERO/Regional Affairs, ITC Holdings.
    Maureen Borkowski, Vice President of Transmission, Ameren Services.
    Tamara Linde, Vice President--Regulatory, PSEG Services 
Corporation.
    Bary K. Warren, Director of Transmission Policy and Compliance, 
Empire District Electric Company.
    John A. Anderson, President and CEO, Electricity Consumers Resource 
Council (ELCON).

    Panelists should be prepared to address Commission Topics 1, 2, 3 
and 4 above. In addition, panelists are requested to consider the 
following topics:
    A. Should an RTO or ISO be permitted to allocate to its customers 
or 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 
customers, market participants or members reliability penalties 
assessed against it, and if so, how should duplicative proceedings be 
avoided and due process ensured?

Panel Three: 12-1 p.m.
    NERC: David Whiteley, Executive Vice President.
    ReliabilityFirst Corporation (RFC): Raymond Palmieri, Vice 
President and Director of Compliance.
    Texas Regional Entity (TRE): Larry Grimm, Director of Compliance.
    Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC): Edward Schwerdt, 
President and CEO.
    Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO): Dan Skaar, President.

    Panelists should be prepared to address Commission Topics 3 and 4 
above. In addition, panelists are requested to consider the following 
topics:
    A. How would Regional Entities and NERC address in enforcement 
proceedings assessment of penalties for matters in which an RTO or ISO 
and one or more customers or members violated the same Reliability 
Standard or different Reliability Standards?
    B. 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?

Closing Remarks: 1 p.m.

    A free Web cast of this event will be available through 
www.ferc.gov. Anyone with Internet access who desires to view this 
event can do so by navigating to www.ferc.gov's Calendar of Events and 
locating this event in the Calendar. The event will contain a link to 
its Web cast. The Capitol Connection provides technical support for the 
Web casts and offers access to the meeting via a phone bridge for a 
fee. If you have any questions, visit

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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 conference.
    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. E7-18429 Filed 9-18-07; 8:45 am]
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