[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 206 (Friday, October 24, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63618-63619]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-25323]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. AD14-18-000]


Joint Technical Conference on New York Markets & Infrastructure; 
Supplemental Notice of Technical Conference

    As announced in the Notice issued on September 17, 2014,\1\ the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission), jointly with the New 
York Public Service Commission will hold a technical conference on 
November 5, 2014 from 9:00 a.m. to approximately 4:00 p.m., to discuss 
issues of mutual interest and concern regarding the installed capacity 
market and energy infrastructure in New York and review the role of New 
York's centralized capacity market in attracting investment and 
ensuring resource adequacy and reliability. The conference will be held 
in the New York Institute of Technology Auditorium located at 1871 
Broadway, between 61st and 62nd Streets, New York, NY 10023. A 
preliminary agenda for this conference is attached. Conference 
panelists will be identified in a subsequent notice. This conference is 
free of charge and open to the public.
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    \1\ Joint Technical Conference on New York Markets & 
Infrastructure, Docket No. AD14-00018-000 (September 17, 2014).
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    The technical conference will be transcribed. The conference will 
also be Webcast. The Webcast will allow persons to listen to the 
technical conference, but not participate. Further details on the 
Webcast, including the link, will be provided in a subsequent notice.
    Information on the technical conference will be posted on the Web 
site http://www.ferc.gov/EventCalendar/EventDetails.aspx?ID=7531&CalType=%20&CalendarID=116&Date=11/05/2014&View=Listview, as well as the Calendar of Events on the 
Commission's Web site, http://www.ferc.gov, prior to the conference.
    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 1-866-208-
3372 (voice) or 202-502-8659 (TTY), or send a FAX to 202-208-2106 with 
the required accommodations.
    For more information about the technical conference, please 
contact:

Kathleen Schnorf (Technical Information), Office of Energy Market 
Regulation, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-8547, [email protected].
Betty Watson (Technical Information), Office of Energy Policy and 
Innovation, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-8552, [email protected].
Kate Hoke (Legal Information), Office of General Counsel, Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 
20426, (202) 502-8404, [email protected].
Sarah McKinley (Logistical Information), Office of External Affairs, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, 
DC 20426, (202) 502-8004, [email protected].

    Dated: October 10, 2014.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.

Joint FERC-NYPSC Technical Conference on New York Markets & 
Infrastructure

Docket No. AD14-18-000

November 5, 2014

Preliminary Agenda

8:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m. Registration
9:00 a.m.-9:30 a.m. Opening remarks by Commissioners
9:30 a.m.-10:15 a.m. NYISO and Independent Market Monitor presentation

    NYISO and the Independent Market Monitor will report on the recent 
performance of NYISO's capacity market. NYISO will also describe 
current initiatives it is undertaking, and hurdles it is facing, as it 
seeks to improve performance of its capacity market to attract adequate 
investment in resources and infrastructure to efficiently meet New York 
State's reliability/resource adequacy needs. NYISO will provide 
information on recent investments made in resources and infrastructure 
through NYISO's markets and transmission planning efforts, and discuss 
the implementation of the new capacity zone in the Lower Hudson Valley. 
NYISO will provide a brief update on preparedness for the upcoming 
winter. Finally, the Independent Market Monitor will provide its 
recommendations for improved performance of NYISO's capacity market.

10:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Panel One: Assessing the performance of NYISO's 
capacity market design in attracting investment in resources and 
infrastructure to meet reliability/resource adequacy needs

    This session will discuss the role of NYISO's capacity market in 
attracting investment in both resources and infrastructure in order to 
meet New York State's reliability and/or resource adequacy needs. In 
particular, panelists should discuss the particular capacity market 
design features that encourage merchant investment in resources and 
infrastructure. Panelists will be asked to discuss how the capacity 
market is addressing local and state-wide resource adequacy and 
reliability issues at just and reasonable rates. Finally, panelists 
should discuss what changes, if any, should be considered going forward 
to improve the performance of NYISO's capacity market.
    Panelists should be prepared to discuss the following questions:
    a. How do particular market design features impact infrastructure 
investment decisions by merchant entities? How can these market design 
aspects best address the interests of both buyers and sellers? How do 
buyer-side mitigation measures affect investment? Should the NYISO 
capacity market provide a longer revenue certainty period (e.g., 3, 5, 
or 10 years)? Does the existing NYISO capacity market appropriately 
incent investment as compared with three-year forward market designs in 
other capacity markets (e.g., PJM, ISO-NE)? Are long-term bilateral 
contracts a feasible alternative procurement mechanism for New York 
(e.g., California model)?
    b. Are changes to NYISO's capacity market necessary to better 
ensure resource performance during peak demand conditions (summer or 
winter)?
    c. Why are Reliability Support Services (RSS) needed? What is the 
effect of RSS agreements on the ability of the NYISO capacity market to 
efficiently meet the intended goal of incentivizing investment in 
resources and infrastructure? Are there other market and infrastructure 
impacts of the use of RSS agreements?
    d. How does NYISO coordinate its planning processes and its 
capacity market? Are there possible improvements in the coordination 
efforts?

[[Page 63619]]

    e. How is the planning of transmission, generation and other 
resources coordinated between retail and wholesale markets?

12:15 p.m.-1:00 p.m. Lunch Break
1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. Panel Two: Role of NYISO's capacity market in 
attracting investment in resources and infrastructure needed to meet 
public policy objectives

    This session will focus on whether, and to what extent, NYISO's 
capacity market should play a role in attracting investment in 
resources and infrastructure to meet public policy objectives. There 
may be a range of public policy objectives, including increasing 
renewable resources; maintaining or increasing clean energy resources 
to meet emission reduction goals; increasing distributed resources; 
increasing energy efficiency and demand response resources; maintaining 
fuel diversity; maintaining price stability for customers (wholesale, 
retail, commercial and industrial); economic development; and spurring 
investment in resources and infrastructure (both power lines and gas 
pipelines). Panelists should address whether these objectives are 
appropriately addressed through the NYISO capacity market. If so, this 
session will also include a discussion of whether certain aspects of 
the current NYISO capacity market design--in particular the capacity 
market product definition--need to change to achieve the requisite 
public policy objectives. The discussion may also explore whether some 
of these objectives are complementary or in conflict with other 
objectives.
    Panelists should be prepared to discuss the following questions:
    a. Are changes to the capacity market needed to account for fuel 
availability/firmness of fuel, or to differentiate the value of 
capacity resources based on the ``firmness'' of fuel arrangements?
    b. Should the capacity market specifically account for or otherwise 
value resources that are intended to meet current or future public 
policy goals (e.g., fuel diversity or emission reduction goals)? How 
should there be modifications to the buyer-side mitigation rules to 
help achieve those goals?
    c. What price signals and tariff changes may be needed to achieve 
the objectives under discussion in the PSC's Reforming the Energy 
Vision (REV) proceeding?
    d. Are there market, environmental, or other barriers to entry in 
certain locations or for certain kinds of resources (e.g., repowering 
assets in New York City)?
    e. Are there broader market design features outside of the capacity 
market (e.g., scarcity and shortage pricing) that could be adjusted to 
account for public policy objectives (e.g., increasing renewables)?

3:00 p.m.-3:15 p.m. Break
3:15 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Roundtable discussion among Commissioners/Wrap up

    Discussion of possible paths forward for identified issues and 
solutions.

[FR Doc. 2014-25323 Filed 10-23-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P