NEM is pleased to announce that CMS Energy Marketing, Services and Trading (CMS MS&T) has been elected to NEM's Executive Committee. CMS MS&T is one of the fastest growing energy marketing companies in North America. CMS MS&T specializes in the trading and marketing of energy commodities as well as the special products designed to help performance driven customers get the most from their energy purchases. Tamela "Tami" Pallas, President and Chief Operating Officer, and Steve Husband, Vice President of Business Solutions, will represent CMS MS&T on the Executive Committee.

NEM is pleased to announce that Trigen has been nominated to become a member of NEM's Executive Committee. Trigen is a leading developer, owner and operator of industrial, commercial, institutional and district energy systems in North America. Trigen combines the use of highly efficient energy technologies including combined heat and power (CHP) systems with flexible, customer-centered business structures to deliver innovative and reliable utility solutions. Dennis Haines, Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Mark Hall, Vice President of External Affairs, and Craig Bennett, Staff Attorney, will represent Trigen within NEM.

All NEM members and prospective members are invited to join the Executive Committee for an open meeting on October 3-5, 2001, at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. A block of rooms has been reserved at the rate of $179 per night. In order to receive the special rate, reservations must be received by September 14, 2001, at 312-726-7500. A revised agenda for the meeting is hotlinked here for your convenience. Many thanks to Exelon, Nicor, Peoples, InBusiness Teleservices and Encorp for sponsoring the meeting. Please also mark your calendar for April 1 and 2, 2002, the Annual Membership Meeting and National Restructuring Conference, that will be held at the Marriott Metro Center in Washington, DC.

The Home Energy Generation Act, S.1403, has been introduced in the Senate. The bill provides that: 1) retail electric suppliers shall offer to make electric energy meters capable of net metering available to customers with on-site energy generation units (with generating capacity of not more than 100 kilowatts for residential consumers and not more than 250 kilowatts for commercial consumers); 2) owners/operators of on-site generating units shall be credited for excess kilowatt-hours generated; 3) FERC must publish model interconnection standards; 4) each state must adopt FERC's interconnection standards within a year of enactment of this law or FERC can enforce the model standards within the state; and 5) FERC must promulgate regulations to ensure simplified contracts are used for interconnection of generation facilities with power production capacity of 250 kilowatts or less. The full text of S.1403 is available on the NEM Website.

The ALJ in the southeast RTO mediations has released a report recommending adoption of the "Collaborative Governance Model" which is largely drawn from previous submissions of GridSouth, GridFlorida and Entergy. The Collaborative Governance Model generally adopts the GridFlorida Planning Protocol and Market Monitor proposals that were approved by the Commission. The Model calls for the creation of a for-profit transmission company with an Independent Board of Directors and the delegation of certain operating responsibilities to an Independent Market Administrator (IMA). The full text of the Mediation Report is available on the NEM Website.

The revised standby rate proposal adopted a number of NEM's initial comments. NEM filed a second set of comments on the revised standby rate proposal supporting its recommendation that standby customers be entitled to credits for savings attributable to them. NEM expressed concern with the requirement that rates be instituted prior to the performance of fully unbundled embedded cost of service studies. Furthermore, NEM argued that utility rates should be based directly on the size, configuration and actual demand of a unit, and rates should only require distributed generation investors to pay for the actual energy used and only when it is used. The full text of NEM's Comments is available on the NEM Website.

The BPU approved a Customer Account Services (CAS) Implementation Issues document and an Internet EDI Plan. The CAS document addresses utility bill formats, bill inserts, third party supplier logos on utility bills, payment of disputed charges, and customer creditworthiness. The Internet EDI plan includes a migration plan from VANs to the Internet, a protocol for Internet transmission failures, and an Internet EDI test plan. The full text of the Order is available from NEM headquarters.

The utilities are hosting a bidder information session in connection with their proposal for Basic Generation Service loads to be bid out in a single auction. The session will be held on September 24, 2001, at 10AM at the Westin Hotel in Philadelphia. Those interested in attending should email DeborahMarks@pseg.com.

Staff has asked the Commission to require Consumers supplement its unbundled gas cost of service study to include volumetric information as previously ordered. The full text of Staff's Motion is available on the NEM Website.

Staff filed testimony in the Illinois Power delivery services tariff proceeding arguing that: 1) customers could be given the option of enrolling with their chosen suppliers via the Internet; 2) customers who give IP the required 30-day notice to return to IP's bundled service should be permitted to rescind the notice; 3) IP should only hold smaller-use customers who return to its bundled service to a 12-month term, rather than a 24-month term; and 4) IP's proposed tariffs for self-generation customers are discriminatory and should be revised so that self-generation customers are subject to the same demand, distribution and transformation charges as non-self-generation customers. The full text of Staff's Testimony is available on the NEM Website.

CUB and the Attorney General filed joint testimony arguing that IP's delivery service rates should be based on usage so that bills increase as usage increases. They also argue that IP overstated the cost of service of the residential class because of several inappropriate allocations. They recommend that the customer charge for residential delivery service be the same as the customer charge for residential bundled rates to allow customers to more easily compare bundled and unbundled rates and prevent unreasonable price disparities when a customer chooses unbundled service. The full text of the Joint Testimony is available on the NEM Website. NEM is a party to this proceeding. NEM members interested in providing input on NEM's participation should contact headquarters.

Draft documents created by the Governance Committee of the Retail Energy Standards Board setting forth a proposed structure for a standards-setting organization for the retail electric market are available for review and comment at http://www.ubpnet.org/workshop/. Comments are due September 17, 2001.