[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 202 (Friday, October 17, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61854-61856]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-24665]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. AD08-13-000]


Transmission Barriers to Entry; Supplemental Notice of Technical 
Conference

October 10, 2008.
    On October 3, 2008, the Commission issued a Supplemental Notice of 
the technical conference in the above-captioned proceeding, with an 
agenda attached. The technical conference will be held on October 14, 
2008, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. (EST), in the Commission Meeting Room at 
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20426. The conference will be open for the public to 
attend and advance registration is not required. Members of the 
Commission may attend the conference.
    An updated agenda for this conference is attached. In addition, 
this conference will be transcribed as described below.
    Transcripts of the conference 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 Calendar of Events approximately one week after the conference.
    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 the Calendar of Events at http://www.ferc.gov 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 Washington, DC area and via phone-bridge 
for a fee. If you have any questions, visit http://www.CapitolConnection.org or contact Danelle Springer or David 
Reininger at (703) 993-3100.
    All interested persons may file written comments following the 
technical conference on or before November 13, 2008.

[[Page 61855]]

    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: Katie 
Detweiler, 202-502-6424, [email protected] or Sarah McKinley, 
202-502-8368, [email protected].

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
Attachment

Transmission Barriers to Entry Technical Conference; October 14, 2008

Agenda

    The purpose of this conference is to hear from transmission 
developers, transmission owners, and others on the issues they 
encounter when trying to build transmission. In particular, the 
Commission is interested in hearing from persons involved with various 
forms of transmission including independent transmission, merchant 
transmission, joint ownership arrangements, and long-distance 
transmission projects crossing multiple corporate boundaries or that 
are regional in nature regarding the barriers to transmission entry due 
to the Commission's tariffs, policies, and regulations.
    In response to the nation's growing transmission needs, the 
Commission not only supports more ``traditional'' forms of investment, 
such as that of investor-owned utilities, but also encourages the 
formation of ``alternative'' transmission models. In the June 2005 
Policy Statement Regarding Evaluation of Independent Ownership and 
Operation of Transmission, the Commission clarified its willingness to 
accept proposals from independent transmission companies, including 
those that have market participants as passive minority equity owners, 
and stated its willingness to allow innovative rate treatments both to 
facilitate the creation of independent transmission companies and to 
stimulate investment in transmission infrastructure.\1\ Furthermore, in 
recent years new entities have emerged to build transmission, such as 
merchant transmission companies. There is increased interest in joint 
(i.e., public-private) transmission development. As more states have 
adopted renewable portfolio standards, proposals have arisen to move 
remote generation long distances to load.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Policy Statement Regarding Evaluation of Independent 
Ownership and Operation of Transmission, 111 FERC ] 61,473 (2005).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In Order No. 890, the Commission stated its belief that there are 
benefits to joint ownership of transmission facilities, particularly 
large backbone facilities, both in terms of increasing opportunities 
for investment as well as ensuring nondiscriminatory access. Order No. 
890 also required all transmission providers to submit processes for 
regional planning. However, questions have been raised as to incumbent 
and new entrant rights, whether merchant transmission projects should 
be required to coordinate with an Order No. 890 regional planning 
process and coordination across boundaries.
    Since 2005, the Commission has acted on a number of requests 
regarding affiliated or independent transmission; merchant 
transmission; and joint ownership. Among other things, the Commission 
is interested in gaining a better understanding of the rights, 
obligations, and challenges afforded these entities as compared to 
traditional transmission investment and whether there are barriers to 
comparable treatment of these entities in the wholesale/interstate 
transmission market.
    Panel Discussions:
    While there may be common obstacles to the building of 
transmission, at the same time it appears that the challenges may 
differ in some respects regionally. Thus, the panels of this conference 
will be divided geographically. While the basic topics of discussion 
will be the same in both panels, the individual problems and solutions 
identified may vary by region, e.g., Eastern and Western 
Interconnection.
    The Commission hopes to learn from each panel of the experiences 
parties have faced in trying to build transmission, with particular 
focus on regulatory and economic issues, and discuss how they differ by 
transmission business model. With regard to both problems and 
solutions, the focus should also be on matters that are within the 
Commission's control or ability to affect. The discussion should focus 
on specific areas of the Commission's regulations and policies that may 
present barriers to comparable treatment. Among the issues of interest 
to the Commission are:
     The impact on transmission providers regarding rights of 
first refusal to build and own transmission;
     Whether all transmission investment (e.g., upgrades, 
greenfield lines) are treated comparably in the award of rights (e.g., 
financial or physical rights);
     Whether the Commission's policies regarding the provision 
of ancillary services are appropriate as applied to transmission-only 
entities;
     Whether there are specific processes in RTO/ISO rules and 
markets that present barriers to alternative transmission business 
models;
     Development opportunities for the different transmission 
business models;
     The benefits of and the peculiar challenges faced by 
alternative business models (e.g., merchant transmission doesn't have a 
rate base from which to obtain cost recovery); and
     Whether there should be different approaches to projects 
with differing scope, e.g., long-distance backbone projects with long 
lead lines vs. incremental upgrades to existing facilities.

Transmission Barriers to Entry Technical Conference; October 14, 2008

Agenda

Opening Remarks
    1 p.m.-1:15 p.m.
Panel I: Western Interconnect
    1:15 p.m.-3 p.m.

Richard Hayslip, Associate General Manager, SALT RIVER PROJECT, 
representing the LARGE PUBLIC POWER COUNCIL
Tom Wray, Project Manager, SUNZIA TRANSMISSION PROJECT
Robert van Beers, Chief Operating Officer, TONBRIDGE POWER INC., 
representing Montana Alberta Tie Ltd.
Paul McCoy, President, TRANS-ELECT
Marc S. Lipschultz, Member, KOHLBERG KRAVIS ROBERTS & CO.
Karl ``Fritz'' Schlopy, Managing Director, MERRILL LYNCH & CO. GLOBAL 
ENERGY & POWER, representing Real Estate Investment Trusts
Roy Jones, Vice President, Transmission Development, LS POWER 
DEVELOPMENT
Break
    3 p.m.-3:15 p.m.
Panel II: Eastern Interconnect
    3:15 p.m.-5 p.m.

Sharon M. Reishus, Chairman, MAINE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
Roy Thilly, President & CEO, WISCONSIN PUBLIC POWER INC., representing 
the Transmission Access Policy Study Group
Susan Tomasky, President--AEP Transmission, AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER

[[Page 61856]]

Joseph L. Welch, Chairman, President & CEO, ITC HOLDINGS
Raymond Hepper, Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, 
ISO NEW ENGLAND INC.
Edward M. Stern, President & CEO, NEPTUNE REGIONAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEM 
& CEO, HUDSON TRANSMISSION PARTNERS
Robert J. Patrylo, CEO, STRATEGIC TRANSMISSION LLC

 [FR Doc. E8-24665 Filed 10-16-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P