[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 161 (Wednesday, August 20, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49302-49304]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-19748]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. AD14-14-000]


Price Formation in Energy and Ancillary Services Markets Operated 
by Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System 
Operators; Supplemental Notice of Workshop on Price Formation and 
Issuance of Report on Uplift in RTO and ISO Markets

    As announced in a Notice issued on July 9, 2014, the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission (Commission) will hold a workshop on Monday, 
September 8, 2014 to commence a discussion with industry on uplift 
payments in energy and ancillary service markets operated by the 
Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators 
(RTOs/ISOs). The workshop will commence at 8:45 a.m. and conclude at 
5:15 p.m. and be held at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426. This workshop is free of charge 
and open to the public. Commission members may participate in the 
workshop.
    The agenda and a list of participants for this workshop are 
attached. A report on uplift in RTO/ISO markets has been posted to the 
Commission Web site at: http://www.ferc.gov/legal/staff-reports/2014/08-13-14-uplift.pdf.
    Those who plan to attend the workshop are encouraged to complete 
the registration form located at:  https://www.ferc.gov/whats-new/registration/09-08-14-form.asp. There is no registration deadline.
    The workshop will be transcribed. Transcripts of the workshop will 
be 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 
workshop. The webcast will allow persons to listen to the workshop but 
not participate. Anyone with Internet access who wants to listen to the 
workshop can do so by navigating to the Calendar of Events at 
www.ferc.gov, locating the technical workshop in the Calendar, and 
clicking on the webcast link. The Capitol Connection provides technical 
support for the webcast and offers the option of

[[Page 49303]]

listening to the meeting via phone-bridge for a fee. If you have any 
questions, visit www.CapitolConnection.org or call 703-993-3100.
    While this workshop is not for the purpose of discussing specific 
cases, the workshop may address matters at issue in the following 
Commission proceedings that are pending: PJM Interconnection, L.L.C., 
Docket No. ER14-1144; Southwest Power Pool, Docket Nos. ER12-1179, 
ER13-1748, and ER14-2399; Midcontinent Independent System Operator 
(formerly Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.), 
Docket Nos. ER04-691, EL07-86, EL07-88, EL07-92, ER09-411, ER11-2275, 
ER12-678, ER13-2124, EL14-58, ER14-2156, ER14-2445, and ER14-5677; and 
ISO-New England, Docket Nos. ER14-2376 and ER14-2407.
    Commission workshops 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 workshop, please contact:

William Sauer (Technical Information), Office of Energy Policy and 
Innovation, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-6639, [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: August 14, 2014.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.

Price Formation in Energy and Ancillary Services Markets Operated by 
Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators

Uplift Workshop

Docket No. AD14-14-000

    September 8, 2014.

Agenda

    This workshop is part of the Commission's recently announced effort 
to explore improvements to market designs and operational practices in 
order to ensure appropriate price formation in energy and ancillary 
services markets. Specifically, the purpose of this workshop is to 
explore the technical, operational and market issues that give rise to 
uplift payments and the levels of transparency associated with uplift 
payments. The workshop will also preview the scope of the remaining 
price formation topics, which include offer price mitigation and price 
caps, scarcity and shortage pricing, and operator actions that affect 
prices.

8:45 a.m.-9:00 a.m.--Welcome and Opening Remarks
9:00 a.m.-10:45 a.m.--Panel 1: Causes of Uplift

    Panel 1 will explore issues that give rise to uplift payments. Each 
panelist will have the opportunity to discuss drivers of uplift 
payments in its RTO/ISO and is encouraged to be prepared to discuss: 
(1) uplift payments that have been highly concentrated and persistent 
on a geographic or resource basis; (2) technical, operational and 
market issues driving uplift payments; and (3) the relationship between 
uplift payments and unit flexibility.

Panelists

 Guillermo Bautista Alderete, California Independent System 
Operator Corporation
 Peter Brandien, ISO-New England, Inc.
 Todd Ramey, Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc.
 Joseph Bowring, Monitoring Analytics
 Robert Pike, New York Independent System Operator, Inc.
 Stu Bresler, PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.
 David Patton, Potomac Economics
 Richard Dillon, Southwest Power Pool, Inc.

10:45 a.m.-11:00 a.m.--Break
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.--Panel 2, Part 1: Impact on Market Participants

    Panel 2 will explore the impact of uplift on market participants. 
Each panelist will have the opportunity to discuss how uplift payments 
and/or charges affect its participation in energy and ancillary service 
markets operated by the RTOs/ISOs. Possible discussion items could 
include how business decisions are impacted by: (1) Uplift transparency 
provided by RTOs/ISOs, the RTO/ISO market monitoring units, and 
Electric Quarterly Reports; (2) price distortions resulting from out-
of-market payments; and (3) the level and volatility or 
unpredictability of uplift charges. The RTOs/ISOs and the RTO/ISO 
market monitoring units will be given an opportunity to discuss any 
issues raised by panelists. The first part of this panel will focus on 
the impact of uplift payments on market suppliers.

Panelists

 John Rohrbach, ACES
 Mark Smith, Calpine Corporation
 Brian Forshaw, Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy 
Cooperative
 Ivan Kimball, Consolidated Edison Co. of New York
 Jason Cox, Dynegy Inc.
 Michael Schnitzer, Entergy Nuclear Power Marketing, LLC
 Wesley Allen, Financial Marketers Coalition
 Peter Fuller, NRG Energy
 Elizabeth Whittle, Retail Energy Supply Association

12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m.--Lunch
1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.--Panel 2, Part 2: Impact on Market Participants

    This continuation of Panel 2 from the morning session will focus on 
the impact of uplift payments on load-serving entities and financial 
marketers.

Panelists (Same Panelists as Part 1)

2:00 p.m.-2:15 p.m.--Break
2:15 p.m.-4:00 p.m.--Panel 3: Price Transparency and Evolving Market 
Designs

    Panel 3 will explore the adequacy of and the potential to enhance 
uplift transparency and recent market design changes that may address 
some of the causes of uplift. Discussion will include whether and how 
to include uplift related costs into locational marginal prices and 
improve the usefulness of publicly available uplift information. 
Panelists should be prepared to discuss current initiatives and ideas 
for potential future market design changes that would further enhance 
transparency and price formation.

Panelists

 Bradford Cooper, California Independent System Operator 
Corporation
 Brian Forshaw, Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy 
Cooperative
 Susan Pope, Electric Power Supply Association
 William Berg, Exelon Corporation
 Matthew White, ISO-New England, Inc.
 Todd Ramey, Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc.
 Joseph Bowring, Monitoring Analytics
 Robert Pike, New York Independent System Operator, Inc.
 Stu Bresler, PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. Richard Dillon, 
Southwest Power Pool, Inc.
4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.--Panel 4: Broader Price Formation Issues

    Panel 4 will explore broader price formation issues and discuss 
next steps.

[[Page 49304]]

In the Notice issued on June 19, 2014, four price formation topics were 
outlined: (1) Use of uplift payments; (2) offer price mitigation and 
offer price caps; (3) scarcity and shortage pricing; and (4) operator 
actions that affect prices. This exploratory session will assist staff 
in examining the relationship among these four topics, whether other 
price formation topics, not included in the June 19, 2014 Notice, 
should be explored, and the appropriate next steps in this staff 
exploration of price formation.

Panelists

 Susan Pope, Electric Power Supply Association
 Judith Judson, Energy Storage Association
 Harry Singh, J. Aron & Company
 David Mohre, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
 Elizabeth Whittle, Retail Energy Supply Association
 David Patton, Potomac Economics
 Bob Weishaar, PJM Industrial Coalition and PJM Load Coalition

5:00 p.m.-5:15 p.m.--Closing

[FR Doc. 2014-19748 Filed 8-19-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P