NEM's Summer Executive Committee and Policy Development will take place on July 9-10, 2007. The meeting will be hosted by The Goeken Group Corp. and PolyBrite International. The meeting will take place at the Spring Hill Suites Chicago/Naperville and will be followed by a reception and tour at the Goeken Group Corp. headquarters. Many thanks to Jack Goeken, Carl Scianna and Sandra Goeken-Miles for offering to host our meeting. At this meeting, we evaluate our advocacy priorities for the remainder of the year and elect our Executive Committee leadership.

Please contact the Springhill Suites Chicago/Naperville for the preferred NEM accommodation rate at 630-393-3103. Please register at this hotlink. The final agenda is available here.

The House Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality was scheduled to meet in open markup session this week to consider committee prints on energy legislation. The legislation is scheduled for markup before the full House Energy and Commerce Committee next week. It pertains to a smart electricity grid, energy efficiency standards, loan guarantees for innovative energy technologies, renewable fuels infrastructure incentives, and Energy Information Administration data collection. Of particular note, with respect to a smart grid, the committee prints would establish a federal policy in support of grid modernization and establish a Grid Modernization Commission. PURPA would be amended to require states to consider electric utility rate decoupling as well as requiring utilities to make time-sensitive supply, cost, price and other information available to consumers to facilitate smart grid technologies and demand response. With respect to energy efficiency, the committee prints would establish new efficiency standards for home appliances, lighting, residential, commercial and federal buildings. The House is also considering modifications to the Energy Information Administration's state data collection efforts to support efficient energy markets. The full texts of the Committee Prints are available on the NEM Website.

FERC is issuing an ANOPR on potential reforms to improve the operation of wholesale power markets administered by RTOs/ISOs. The ANOPR is in response to information received in two prior technical conferences and pertains to demand response, long term power contracts, market monitoring units, and responsiveness of RTOs/ISOs. The Commission has outlined its proposals for consideration as follows:

"Demand Response and Pricing During Power Shortages - proposals
1) Require RTOs and ISOs to allow demand resources to provide certain ancillary services in their markets unless not permitted by state law, modify tariffs to let demand resources provide spinning and supplemental reserves without being required to sell into the energy market.
2) Modify RTO and ISO tariffs to eliminate certain charges for purchasing less energy in real time than in the day ahead market during a system emergency.
3) Amend market rules to permit an entity that aggregates the demand responses of individual retail consumers to bid the aggregate demand reduction directly into an RTO or ISO energy market, unless not permitted by state law.
4) Modify market power mitigation rules so that pricing during an emergency can elicit more demand response.

Long-term Power Contracting - proposals
1) Require RTOs and ISOs to post information that would facilitate long-term contracts.
2) Require or encourage efforts by RTOs and ISOs to develop standardized forward products.
3) Dedicate a portion of the ISO’s or RTO’s website for market participants to post long-term buy/sell offers.

Market Monitoring Policies and Information Sharing - proposals
1) Remove the market monitoring unit from RTO/ISO operations.
2) Require that the MMU advise the Commission and other stakeholders of any design flaws and report to the Commission any tariff violations it believes may
have been committed by the RTO or ISO.
3) Regular conference calls among the market monitor, interested state commission and FERC staff.
4) Release of offer and bid data, with a lag period. Release would mask market participants’ identities.
5) Subject to certain limitations, state regulatory commissions within an RTO or ISO may request and receive information from the RTO’s or ISO’s market monitoring unit.
6) Develop a pro forma tariff provision to address all sections relating to market monitoring.

Responsiveness of RTOs and ISOs - proposals
1) Provide RTO and ISO customers with direct access to the board of directors."

Comments on the ANOPR are due 45 days after publication in the Federal Register. The full text of the ANOPR Fact Sheet is available on the NEM Website.