NEM's Annual Winter Executive Policy, Planning and Development Meeting for 2005 will be held on January 19-20, 2005 at Constellation NewEnergy's offices in Chicago. Please click here to view the Agenda. All members who wish to attend must sign up here.

The Winter Executive Committee Meeting is held each year to establish the association's priorities for advocacy in 2005. Executive Committee members and Policy Chairs will prioritize the states, utilities, issues and positions for NEM's advocacy in 2005.

Please use the following hotlinks to view NEM's Issues Lists for the following topics: wholesale issues, retail issues and technology issues.

Issues identified for NEM advocacy in 2005 include: NEM's position on the timing, method and preferred utility incentives to Accelerate Customer Migration: Consolidated Utility Billing; Consolidated Retailer Billing; Proper Timing, Structure and Purpose of Retail Auctions; as well as the Formation of working groups to review and revise NEM Policy Positions and to develop a portfolio of cost-effective, regulatory approaches to accelerate customer migration.

The attire will be casual and all attempts will be made to get us out in one day. We need a final headcount next week. Please sign up today.

NEM's Annual Spring Membership Meeting and National Restructuring Conference will be held at the Marriott Metro Center on April 26-27, 2005. in Washington, DC. Many thanks to Centrica, Commerce Energy Group, ESG, Excelergy, Interstate Gas Supply, Itron, Proliance and SAP for offering to sponsor this event. Sponsorship ads and logos are due for advertisements as soon as possible.

FERC Chairman Patrick Wood, Commissioners Brownell, Kelly and Kelliher in addition to CA Deputy Secretary of Energy Joseph Desmond, NYPSC Chairman William Flynn and MADTE Chairman Paul Afonso have already confirmed to speak. Governor Schwartzenegger and Chairman Alan Schriber from Ohio, and high-ranking Administration officials have also been invited.

Sessions at the meeting include: The Role of Regulators To Ensure Consumers Receive Current Market-Based Prices; Roundtable: The Future of Network Restructuring in a Digital Revolution (Will Congress need to Preempt Deregulation to Ensure U.S. Competitiveness in the 21st Century?); and Transition to a Competitive Market – Cutting Edge Accelerated Customer Migration Strategies, Incentives and Timing of Utilities’ Exit from the Merchant Function.

Please use this hotlink to register for the event. Please click here to view the draft agenda.

The North American Energy Standards Board recently welcomed ten new members to its Executive Committee. Though all four Executive Committee Chairs will be continuing in their positions until December 31, 2005, many positions within NAESB remain open. Nominations for any Executive Committee positions must be received at naesb@naesb.org by close of business on January 18, 2005. The full text of NAESB's Announcement is available on the NEM web site.

The meeting will be held on January 13, 2005 to explore issues for the Commission to study. NEM has filed comments with the Commission, recommending the repeal of the state action doctrine as a defense for gas and electric utilities engaged in anticompetitive conduct in deregulated markets. Because competitive suppliers are beginning to offer new services and products to consumers, NEM argued that there is a greater risk that utilities will act to protect their monopoly in anticompetitive ways. The full texts of the Agenda, Notice and NEM's Comments are available on the NEM web site.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing for Samuel W. Bodman, nominated to be Secretary of Energy, on January 19, 2005. The Committee will also hold a Natural Gas Supply and Demand Conference on January 24, 2005. NEM will be in attendance and will report on the meeting to members. Click here to go to the Committee's web site.

As part of the Do Not Call Act's mandate, the FTC and FCC must file an annual report on the national registry for the fiscal years 2003 - 2007. In this report, concluding September 2003, 51,968,777 numbers had been registered with 1968 entities paying to access the registry. No enforcement proceedings had been instituted, as the registry rules did not become effective until October 1, 2003. The FCC also decided not to preempt state lists, but rather ensures that all state lists include at least every number registered on the Federal list. Within eighteen months, the Commission hopes to integrate the state lists into the Federal registry. The full text of the FCC's Report is available from NEM Headquarters.

State and local regulators from the New England region will meet with FERC Commissioners and Staff to discuss issues affecting Connecticut infrastructure. The Commission will hold the conference on January 6, 2005 in Hartford as a follow-up to the conference held October, 13 2004. The full text of the Notice is available on the NEM web site.