[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 58 (Wednesday, March 26, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16789-16791]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-06539]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. AD14-8-000]


Winter 2013-2014 Operations and Market Performance in Regional 
Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators; 
Supplemental Notice of Technical Conference

    As announced in the Notice issued on February 21, 2014,\1\ the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) will hold a 
Commissioner-led technical conference on Tuesday, April 1, 2014, from 9 
a.m. to approximately 5 p.m. to discuss the impacts of recent cold 
weather events on the Regional Transmission Organizations/Independent 
System Operators (RTOs/ISOs), and discuss actions taken to respond 
during those occurrences. The conference will be held at the Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 
20426. This conference is free of charge and open to the public. 
Commission members will participate in the conference. The agenda and 
list of participants for this conference are attached.
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    \1\ Winter 2013-2014 Operations and Market Performance in 
Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System 
Operators; Supplemental Notice of Technical Conference (http://www.ferc.gov/CalendarFiles/20140221164557-AD14-8-000TC.pdf).
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    Following the conference, the Commission will take written public 
comments until May 15, 2014.
    If you have not already done so, those who plan to attend the 
technical conference are strongly encouraged to complete the 
registration form located at: https://www.ferc.gov/whats-new/registration/04-01-14-form.asp. There is no deadline to register to 
attend the conference.
    The technical conference will be transcribed. Transcripts of the 
technical conference will be immediately available for a fee from Ace-
Federal Reporters, Inc. (202-347-3700 or 1-800-336-6646). Additionally, 
there will be a free webcast of the conference. The webcast will allow 
persons to listen to the technical conference but not participate. 
Anyone with Internet access who wants to listen to the conference can 
do so by navigating to the Calendar of Events at www.ferc.gov and 
locating the technical conference in the Calendar. The technical 
conference will contain a link to its webcast. The Capitol Connection 
provides technical support for the webcast and offers the

[[Page 16790]]

option of listening to the meeting via phone-bridge for a fee. If you 
have any questions, visit www.CapitolConnection.org or call 703-993-
3100.\2\
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    \2\ The webcast will continue to be available on the Calendar of 
Events on the Commission's website www.ferc.gov for three months 
after the conference.
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    Notice is also hereby given that the discussions at the conference 
may address matters at issue in the following Commission proceeding(s) 
that are either pending or within their rehearing period: Independent 
Market Monitor for PJM v. PJM Interconnection, L.L.C., Docket No. EL14-
20; ISO New England Inc., et al., Docket No. ER13-1851; PJM 
Interconnection, L.L.C., Docket Nos. ER14-822, ER14-1144, ER14-1145 and 
ER14-1469; Indicated CAISO Suppliers, Docket No. ER14-1428; California 
Independent System Operator Corporation, Docket Nos. ER14-1440 and 
ER14-1442.
    Commission conferences are accessible under section 508 of the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973. For accessibility accommodations please 
send an email 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 requested accommodations.
    For more information about the technical conference, please 
contact:

Jordan Kwok (Technical Information), Office of Energy Policy and 
Innovation, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-6161, [email protected].
Sarah McKinley (Logistical Information), Office of External Affairs, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, 
DC 20426, (202) 502-8368, [email protected].

    Dated: March 19, 2014.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN26MR14.000

Winter 2013-2014 Operations and Market Performance in Regional 
Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators

Docket No. AD14-8-000
April 1, 2014
Agenda
    The purpose of this technical conference is to explore the impacts 
of recent cold weather events on the Regional Transmission 
Organizations (RTOs) and Independent System Operators (ISOs) and 
discuss actions taken to respond to those impacts.

9:00am-9:15am Welcome and Opening Remarks
9:15am-10:00am Staff Presentation by the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission (FERC) Office of Enforcement
10:00am-12:30pm Panel 1: Presentations by RTOs/ISOs

    Each RTO/ISO will have the opportunity to present for 20 minutes 
and is encouraged to explain: (1) The steps it took to prepare for the 
cold weather events; (2) the operational conditions leading into the 
day-ahead; (3) the operator actions taken to address events prior to 
day-ahead, day-ahead, and in real-time; (4) the information that was 
available from and provided to natural gas pipelines, natural gas 
marketers, electric generators, customers, and others, as appropriate; 
and (5) how it accounted for that information as part of its 
operations. The RTOs/ISOs should be prepared to discuss observations 
about regional market performance and lessons learned that would be 
relevant to improving performance of the Commission-regulated markets. 
Following each presentation, there will be time for questions from the 
Commissioners.
Panelists
 Brad Bouillon, California Independent System Operator
 Peter Brandien, ISO-New England
 Richard Doying, Midcontinent Independent System Operator
 Wes Yeomans, New York Independent System Operator
 Michael Kormos, PJM Interconnection
 Bruce Rew, Southwest Power Pool
12:30pm-1:30pm Lunch
1:30pm-3:45pm Panel 2: Stakeholders Discussion

    Each panelist will have 10 minutes to provide information on the 
following three topics:
    1. Experiences during the cold weather events: Describe experience 
and observations during the cold weather events, the information that 
was available to assist in preparation, and the actions taken in real-
time to respond.
    2. Lessons learned: Explain the most important lesson(s) learned, 
particularly as relevant to regional electric market prices and 
performance, adequacy of infrastructure, fuel procurement, and fuel 
diversity.
    3. Policy implications: Share observations about changes that could 
be made to improve the performance of Commission-regulated markets 
during future extreme weather events. Panelists are encouraged to 
highlight any short-term operational, fuel procurement, or other 
changes that may be necessary before next winter. Additionally, they 
should share their views on any long-term improvements needed in the 
future more generally.
Panelists
 John Sturm, ACES Power Marketing
 Donald Sipe, American Forest & Paper
 Mark Stultz, BP
 Donald Schneider, First Energy
 David Devine, Kinder Morgan
 Paula Carmody, Maryland Office of the People's Counsel
 James Stanzione, National Grid
 Abraham Silverman, NRG
 Melvin Christopher, Pacific Gas & Electric
 James Tramuto, Southwestern Energy
    During this panel, a representative from each RTO/ISO will be 
present to answer technical questions that arise.

3:45pm-4:00pm Break
4:00pm-5:00pm Roundtable Discussion with FERC Commissioners, State 
Commission Representatives, and RTOs/ISOs
    FERC Commissioners and state commission representatives from each 
region will participate in a discussion with the representatives from 
the RTOs/ISOs to review what was heard during the day and consider 
lessons learned.
State Commission Representatives
 James Volz, Chair, Vermont Public Service Board
 Audrey Zibelman, Chair, New York State Public Service 
Commission:
 Lawrence Brenner, Commissioner, Maryland Public Service 
Commission
 Eric Callisto, Commissioner, Wisconsin Public Service 
Commission
 Donna Nelson, Chair, Public Utility Commission of Texas
 California Public Utilities Commission (invited)

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5:00pm-5:15pm Closing

[FR Doc. 2014-06539 Filed 3-25-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P