January 2010 Executive Committee Meeting - NEM’s Annual Winter Executive Committee Policy and Planning Meeting was held this at the headquarters of South Carolina Research Authority in Charleston, South Carolina. The Executive Committee sets the course for NEM’s advocacy in the coming year at this meeting. At this meeting, NEM also elected its 2010-11 Leadership Team. Many thanks to Bill Mahoney and South Carolina Research Authority for hosting this meeting.

NARUC Winter Meeting - NEM is the Welcome Reception sponsor for NARUC's Winter Meeting in Washington, DC, on February 14-17, 2010. Please contact headquarters if you are interested in attending and/or participating in this event. For additional information on the event please see: http://winter.narucmeetings.org/index.cfm

NEM's 13th Annual National Energy Restructuring Conference - NEM will convene its 13th Annual National Energy Restructuring Conference at the Embassy Suites Hotel Washington D.C. Convention Center on April 27th & 28th, 2010. This year’s theme is “Renaissance in Energy Markets.” Topics of discussion will include Competitive Energy Supply, Demand, Prices and Economic Opportunities. On the evening of April 26, 2010, we will host a reception at the Latvian Embassy.

NEM is pleased to announce that New World Incentives has been elected to NEM's Executive Committee. New World Incentives will be represented by Michael Pouls, President. New World Incentives is an incentive, loyalty, and Promotions Company based in Philadelphia, PA. They maintain a sales force of approximately 1500 agents throughout the US, Canada, & Puerto Rico. Their focus of the company and staff is to provide businesses with products and programs that help increase sales. They also utilize their network of sales agents to help businesses sell their products directly to consumers or B2B.

NEM is pleased to announce that VoiceLog, a third party verification company, has been elected to NEM's Executive Committee. VoiceLog, a division of BSG Clearing Solutions, will be represented by Dan Homa, Voice Log Sales Manager. Over the last decade, VoiceLog has offered third party verification in the deregulated energy market and understands what works when it comes to getting a customer's authorization to change electric or gas providers. Each energy company's target market, sales approach and product offering is different. Whether selling gas or electric, residential or commercial, with fixed or variable rates, VoiceLog understands the Energy business and has developed cost effective turnkey verification solutions. With our complete product offering of automated "open ended" call recording, automated "scripted" verifications and live operator scripted verifications, VoiceLog has a product in place to meet every energy company's marketing needs.

FERC issued Order 720-A, in response to requests for rehearing and clarification of its decision to require major non-interstate pipelines to post daily scheduled volume information and other data for certain points. Issues decided on rehearing include:
1) Until a non-interstate pipeline has experienced three years of operational flow, it must use its maximum delivery capacity to determine whether it is a major non-interstate pipeline subject to the rule;
2) The definition of major non-interstate pipeline is clarified to mean a set of facilities that are both physically interconnected and operational integrated;
3) Major non-interstate pipelines must post scheduled flow data for points where design capacity is unknown or does not exist with scheduled maximum natural gas volumes equal to or greater than 15,000 MMBtu on any day within the previous three calendar years;
4) An exemption from posting requirements shall apply to receipt points with scheduled natural gas volumes of less than 5,000 MMBtu per day on each day within the prior three calendar years;
5) Major non-interstate pipelines are to begin internet postings for newly eligible receipt and delivery points within 45 days of the point's eligibility for posting;
6) Bi-directional scheduled volumes should not be netted prior to posting;
7) Postings shall be made by 10:00PM central clock time the day prior to scheduled flow; and
8) An exemption from the posting requirements shall apply to major non-interstate pipelines that deliver more than 95 percent of their annual flows to end-users as measured by average deliveries over the preceding three calendar years.

The full text of Order 720-A is available on the NEM Website.

FERC issued a proposed rulemaking on a number of credit reforms to be applied to the organized wholesale electric markets. The proposals under consideration by the Commission include:
1) Shortening the settlement cycle to no more than seven calendar days with no more than an additional seven calendar days for final payment;
2) Limiting unsecured credit to no more than $50 million per market participant in energy markets while eliminating unsecured credit in Financial Transmission Rights markets;
3) Clarification of the ability of market participants to offset amounts owed to and amounts owed by them and to manage defaults;
4) Establishing minimum participation criteria for market participants;
5) Specifying circumstances by which a market administrator may invoke "material adverse change" to require a market participant to post additional collateral; and
6) Limiting the time period allowed for posting additional collateral when additional collateral has been requested.

Comments on the NOPR are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. The full text of the NOPR is available on the NEM Website.