NEM's Annual Spring Restructuring Conference will be held at the Marriott Metro Center on April 26-27, 2005 in Washington, DC. The VIP reception will be held at the Canadian Embassy. A number of Senators and Ambassadors have confirmed attendance at the reception. Many thanks to Centrica, Commerce Energy Group, ESG, Excelergy, Interstate Gas Supply, Constellation NewEnergy, Proliance and SAP for offering to sponsor this event.

Speakers this year include FERC Chairman Patrick Wood, FERC Commissioner Kelly, CA Deputy Secretary of Energy Joseph Desmond, Orange and Rockland Utilities President John McMahon, MADTE Chairman Paul Afonso and Chairman Alan Schriber from Ohio. In addition to those mentioned above, Michigan PSC Chair Laura Chappelle, Ronald Cerniglia of the New York PSC, and Jeanne Fox of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities have also confirmed.

Sessions will include: 1) Serving the Public Interest: Shifting Commodity Risks to the Marketplace, Modification of the Obligation to Serve and Incentives for Sustainable Growth; 2) Transition to a Competitive Market – Cutting Edge Accelerated Customer Migration Strategies, Incentives and Timing of Utilities Exit from the Merchant Function. To sign-up for this conference or to view the agenda for the two day event, please click here.

The House is considering H.R. 6, the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The bill is substantially similar to the bill passed by the House in 2003. Bill provisions include: 1) FERC is to certify an Electric Reliability Organization charged with establishing and enforcing reliability standards for the bulk power system, subject to FERC's review; 2) FERC is authorized to issue permits for transmission construction in a "national interest electric transmission corridor" as designated by the Secretary of Energy; 3) FERC shall encourage the deployment of advanced transmission technologies; 4) an Office of Transmission and Distribtion is to be established at the Department of Energy; 5) unregulated transmitting utilities may be required to provide transmission services at comparable rates, terms and conditions to those they apply to themselves and that are not unduly discriminatory or preferential; 6) It is the "sense of Congress" that all transmitting utilities in interstate commerce should voluntarily become members of RTOs/ISOs; 7) FERC's SMD NOPR is remanded for reconsideration and no final rule mandating a standard electricity market design may be issued before October 31, 2006, or take effect before December 31, 2006; 8) Load serving entities holding firm transmission rights (FTRs) to meet service obligations are entitled to use those FTRs to deliver energy to meet service obligations, and FERC can make transmission rights not used to meet service obligations available to other entities; 9) FERC must initiate a rulemaking on incentive-based rate treatments for the transmission of electric energy in interstate commerce by public utilities; 10) electric utilities must offer time-based rates and provide customers with time-based meters subject to state PUC reviews for appropriateness; 11) PUHCA is repealed; 12) FERC must issue rules establishing an electronic information system to provide itself and the public with access to information to facilitate price transparency and participation in markets; 13) round trip trading is prohibited; 14) FERC must issue rules requiring jurisdictional entities to report information about the availability and prices of natural gas sold at wholesale in interstate commerce to FERC and price publishers; 15) civil and criminal penalties for Federal Power Act and Natural Gas Act violations are increased; 16) FERC has refund authority for short-term sales of electric energy in violation of Commission rules; 17) FERC can abrogate or modify executed contracts upon a finding that its failure to act would be contrary to the public interest, unless the contract expressly provides another standard of review; 18) FTC may issue rules to protect disclosure of consumer information obtained in connection with the sale or delivery of electric energy to consumers; and 19) FTC may issue slamming and cramming rules for electric consumers. The full text of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 is available on the NEM Website.