Please mark your calendar and plan to join us for the following NEM meetings:

September 2009 Fall Leadership Roundtable - NEM’s Fall Leadership Roundtable Meeting will be held on September 15 & 16, 2009, at the Hampton Inn & Suites, Albany Downtown, Albany, NY 12210. NEM’s room rate has been secured at $129.00 per room per night. Many thanks to Matt Picardi of Shell Energy North America for the generous offer to host this meeting. Please register for the Fall Leadership Roundtable at this hotlink.

To date, the following public officials have confirmed to attend the Fall meeting:

Office of Governor David A. Paterson, Thomas Congdon (Day 2 only)
Office of Governor David A. Paterson, Kimberly Harriman
New York State Senator Aubertine's Office, Senator Aubertine and Chief of Staff, Lee Willbanks
Chairman, NYPSC, Garry Brown (Day 2 only)
NY State Dept. of Public Service, LuAnn Scherer
NY State Dept. of Public Service, Fran Hart
NY State Dept. of Public Service, Marty Insogna (Day 2 only)
NYISO - to confirm (Day 2 only)

January 2010 Executive Committee Meeting - NEM’s Annual Winter Executive Committee Policy and Planning Meeting will be held January 19 & 20, 2010, at the headquarters of South Carolina Research Authority in Charleston, South Carolina. NEM’s room rate has been secured at $129.00 per room per night at the Hilton Garden Inn Charleston Airport, 5265 International Blvd., N. Charleston, SC 29418. The Executive Committee sets the course for NEM’s advocacy in the coming year at this meeting. Many thanks to Bill Mahoney and South Carolina Research Authority for the generous offer to host this meeting.

April 2010 Annual Global Energy Forum – NEM’s Annual Global Energy Forum, will be held April 27 & 28, 2010, at the Embassy Suites Convention Center, Washington DC, 900 10th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001. NEM’s room rate has been secured at $289.00 per room per night. Sponsorship opportunities are available.

NEM is pleased to announce that EnergyNext ("EN") has joined the Association. EnergyNext ("EN") will be represented within NEM by owners Gordon M. Boyd and Gene Salerni, Ph.D.

EnergyNext works as a buyer's agent, project manager and consultant, representing business, institutional and municipal energy consumers and groups in New York, New Jersey and the Northeast. The professionals at EnergyNext have the experience and knowledge to address dynamic marketplace, technological, fiscal and regulatory conditions.

The Administration has finalized proposed legislation that would set forth a scheme for the regulation of OTC derivative markets. Specifically, it would require central clearing and trading of "standardized" OTC derivatives. Standardized OTC derivatives will be required to be traded on a CFTC- or SEC-regulated exchange or a CFTC- or SEC-regulated alternative swap execution facility. CFTC and SEC would be given broad authority under the legislation to: 1) issue and enforce business conduct, reporting, and recordkeeping rules for all OTC derivative dealers and major market participants; 2) deter market manipulation, fraud, insider trading, and other abuses in the OTC derivative markets; and 3) set position limits and large trader reporting requirements for OTC derivatives that perform or affect a significant price discovery function with respect to regulated markets. The full text of the Proposed OTC Derivatives Market Legislation is available on the NEM Website.

Relatedly, CFTC and SEC will convene joint meetings on "harmonization of regulation." The first will take place on September 2, 2009, at CFTC and the second will take place on September 3, 2009, at SEC. The Administration had previously recommended that CFTC and SEC prepare a report to Congress by September 30, 2009, identifying, "all existing conflicts in statutes and regulations with respect to similar types of financial instruments and either explains why those differences are essential to achieve underlying policy objectives with respect to investor protection, market integrity, and price transparency or make recommendations for changes to statutes and regulations that would eliminate those differences." The joint meetings are being held to accomplish this analysis. Topics to be discussed at the meetings include: regulation of exchanges and markets, the regulation of intermediaries, the regulation of clearance and settlement, enforcement, and the regulation of investment funds. The full text of the Notice of Joint Meetings is available on the NEM Website.