The Commission issued a proposed rulemaking on competitive gas supply. The proposed gas rules are drawn from those developed for competitive electric service and pertain to: pre-enrollment information; transfers of service; supplier-utility coordination, utility consolidated billing, POR or prorated payments; non-residential customer protection; and residential customer protection. Initial comments on the proposed gas rules are due September 22, and reply comments are due October 3. The Commission will convene a rulemaking session on October 14 at 10AM to consider the proposed rules. The full texts of the Proposed Competitive Gas Supply Rulemaking and Notice of Rulemaking Session are available on the NEM Website.

NEM will convene a conference call on Wednesday, September 3rd at 1PM EST to discuss the Maryland PSC's proposed rulemaking on competitive gas supply. The dial-in number is 913-643-5111 and passcode is 209353.

The Board will convene a legislative hearing to receive comments on proposals for the provision of Basic Generation Service in 2009. The hearing will be held on September 29, 2008, beginning at 10AM in the 8th floor hearing room of the Board's Newark offices. It will be chaired by President Fox. Those that wish to participate should contact frank.perrotti@bpu.state.nj.us by September 24, 2008. Comments to be referenced during the hearing should be circulated on the Board's electronic list server.

In their submittal, the utilities proposed to continue the current BGS procurement methodology. Accordingly, BGS-Fixed Price (BGS-FP) and BGS-CIEP (Commercial and Industrial Pricing) Supply would be procured through the conduct of descending clock auctions. The BGS-FP auction would be for the supply of full requirements tranches of each utility's BGS-FP load for a three-year period. The BGS-CIEP auction would be for the supply of full requirements tranches of each utility's BGS-CIEP load for a one-year term.

The full texts of the Notice of Hearing, Utilities' 2009 BGS Proposal and Utility-Specific Addenda are available on the NEM Website.

RG&E filed to extend its current electric rate plan, slated to expire at the end of 2008. Under the current plan, RG&E's residential and small commercial customers have four rate options: commodity service from an ESCO under the ESCO Price Option, commodity service from an ESCO under the Variable Price Option, the RG&E Fixed Price Option (FPO), and the RG&E Variable Price Option.

The Commission determined that RG&E's FPO should be modified consistent with similar changes adopted for NYSEG's FPO. The Commission reasoned modifying the FPO, "will better facilitate retail access in RG&E's service territory than would occur under the existing FPO." Accordingly, RG&E's 135% conversion factor is reduced to 116.9% with a 4 mill adder. RG&E should also implement an earnings sharing mechanism for the FPO similar to NYSEG. Additionally, RG&E must implement a fixed NBC, subject to annual reconciliation. RG&E may offer the FPO in 2009. However, inasmuch as the utility FPO, "was intended as a transitional mechanism in the movement towards a future state, envisioned in the Policy Statement on Retail Markets, in which fixed-price service would be obtained from the competitive market, rather than the utility," RG&E cannot offer the FPO again after 2009 without explicit Commission approval. RG&E tariffs implementing these changes are due September 16, 2008, and comments on the tariffs are due September 22, 2008. The full text of the RG&E Order is available on the NEM Website.

The Commission will hold two technical conferences to discuss issues associated with the installation and operation of distributed generation facilities in the State. The first will be held September 22nd from 10:30AM to 3:30PM in the 19th floor board room of the Commission's Albany offices and the second will be held September 24th from 10:30AM to 3:30PM in the 4th floor board room of the Commission's Manhattan offices. Specifically, the conferences are intended to "better understand how co-administration of the Department's Standard Interconnection Requirements, the utilities' standby delivery electric tariffs and natural gas for DG delivery gas tariffs, and recent revisions to the net metering statute in conjunction with hourly market (real-time and day-ahead) commodity service prices, are used to economically evaluate distributed generation options." Registration is required by September 15, 2008, by emailing Theresa_Gaillard@dps.state.ny.us or calling 518-474-5029. The full text of the Notice of Technical Conferences is available on the NEM Website.

PPL filed a proposed plan for procurement of electric provider of last resort supply for 2011 through mid-2014. By the terms of the plan, PPL would conduct four procurements per year, for supply contracts of 12-month and 24-month durations as well as for hourly purchases in the open market. PPL explained that, "for residential and small-business customers, 90 percent of the supply would be acquired through fixed-price contracts of 12 or 24 months and 10 percent through hourly purchases in the open market. All of the power for large commercial and industrial customers would be purchased on an hourly basis in the open market." PPL proposed that an independent third party oversee the procurement process and will also seek bids from companies to manage its hourly purchases in the open market. The full text of PPL's POLR Plan will be posted on the NEM Website when made available electronically.