NEM booked the new Embassy Suites Hotel Washington D.C. Convention Center for the Annual Spring Membership Meeting and Restructuring Conference on April 29 and 30, 2008. This year's theme is "Strategic Energy, Security & Advanced Technology Policies - Think Globally, Save Locally." Please register at this hotlink. A final agenda can be viewed at this hotlink.

Hotel accommodations have also been arranged at this facility located at 900 10th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001. NEM has secured preferred hotel rates of $259.00 per night. Please call (202) 739-2001 to make your reservations.

We have also confirmed the following featured speakers for the event: Doug Hengel, U.S. Department of State, Gary Lunn, Canadian Minister of Natural Resources, Foreign officials from Russia, Israel, Romania, Slovenia, and Moldovia, C.H. "Bud Albright, Jr., Undersecretary of Energy for DOE, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), Member, Energy and Natural Resources Committee, US House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC), U.S. Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX), U.S. Congressman John Shadegg (R-AZ), U.S. Congressman Tim Murphy (R-PA), FERC Commissioner Marc Spitzer, FERC Commissioner Jon Wellinghoff, CFTC Commissioner Michael Dunn, Natural Resources Canada Minister Gary Lunn, David Wales, Deputy Director, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission, Massachusetts DPU Chairman, Paul Hibbard, New York PSC Chairman, Garry Brown, Texas PUC Chairman, Barry SmithermanStan Wise, Commissioner Georgia PSC, Calvin Timmerman, Asst. Executive Director, Maryland PSC and Pennsylvania PUC Energy Advisor, Eric Matheson.

President Bush this week announced a new U.S. goal of stopping the growth of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. The policy announcement is made in the context of the upcoming Major Economies Meeting intended to lay the groundwork for the world leaders climate change meeting in July, impending Congressional debates on climate change legislation, and potential EPA action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. In reaction to the Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, the Bush policy statement argues that the Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act were never meant to regulate global climate change. A premise of the plan is that in order to reach the 2025 goal, power sector greenhouse gas emissions must slow so as to peak within ten to fifteen years, and decline thereafter.

The Bush plan focuses on reforming technology incentives to make lower emission technologies more competitive. This includes making incentives carbon-weighted, technology neutral and long lasting, to provide positive and reliable market signals.

The full texts of the President's Remarks and Climate Change Fact Sheet are posted on the NEM Website.

FERC Staff will convene a technical conference on demand response in organized electric markets. The conference will take place May 21, 2008, from 9AM to 5PM at the Commission's Washington headquarters. Topics identified for discussion at the conference include: demand response valuation and comparable compensation; previously unidentified barriers to comparable treatment of demand response and means of eliminating those barriers; and standardization of terms, practices, rules and procedures associated with demand response. The Commission is soliciting speakers for the event and speaker nominations must be submitted by April 23, 2008. The full text of the Notice of Technical Conference is available on the NEM Website.

FERC issued a Notice of Inquiry to examine its assessment of annual charges from public utilities. Charges are currently assessed against public utilities providing transmission service based on the volume of electricity transmitted. In the NOI, the Commission requests comment on alternatively assessing the charge only on transmission volumes, new charges on wholesale power sales and other license fees, recognition of regional market structure differences, or use of other factors such as peak load or transmission investments to collect the assessment. Comments on the NOI are due thirty days after publication in the Federal Register. The full text of the NOI will be posted on the NEM Website when made available electronically.