A number of very prominent speakers and PUC Commissioners have agreed to speak at NEM's Annual Membership Meeting and National Restructuring Conference to be held June 20 and 21, 2002 at the Marriott Metro Center in Washington, DC. An agenda for the conference is hotlinked here. A quick registration form and an electronic brochure are also hotlinked here.

Please contact NEM headquarters if you are interested in sponsorship or table-top space at the conference, as space will be limited.

NEM's Risk Valuation, Management and Financial Accountability Taskforce will hold a one day meeting at the Georgetown Club in Washington, DC on April 18, 2002, beginning at 11AM and lasting no later than 5:30PM. The purpose of the meeting is to identify issues and the principles upon which we will build an action plan.

The issues for consideration include: (1) FERC retroactive "just and reasonable" ratemaking authority over derivative and forward contracts, (2) CFTC jurisdiction over OTC forward and derivative trades, (3) the valuation of risk portfolios, assets, equity securities and forward price curves given the lack of depth in the wholesale marketplace, (4) the new SEC disclosure rules issued January 22, 2002, (4) the expansion of PUCHA to include power marketers, (5) the Feinstein and Defasio bills, and (6) the California CPUC retroactive rulemaking abrogating customer choice, the related FERC investigation and the outright request to void above-market contracts. This is in addition to wholesale market structure design, NAESB and implementation issues that will be ongoing for several years.

Your participation is encouraged. Those planning to attend the meeting should respond ASAP to register@energymarketers.com or info@energymarketers.com.

NEM will be meeting with Commissioner Brownell on March 6, 2002. The group will convene for a working lunch at 10:30AM at the Center Cafe at Union Station prior to the meeting. Those members who wish to obtain another copy of the meeting agenda should contact headquarters. Additionally, those members planning to attend that have not already provided their social security numbers should contact headquarters ASAP.

Interested parties met to review procedures that have been drafted for the NAESB Retail Electric and Gas Quadrants (REQ and RGQ) in West Palm Beach, Florida last Wednesday. Some progress was made regarding procedure language and which NAESB document (i.e. NAESB Bylaws, Quadrant Procedures or Segment Procedures) should address specific issues. All remaining comments about the proposed REQ Procedures were resolved during two subsequent conference calls, and the revised document will be distributed to prospective REQ members and other interested parties by the end of this week. Recipients will be polled to determine their support for the document. The poll results along with any additional comments in response to the revised procedures will be submitted to NAESB for approval by March 6, 2002, so that they may be reviewed by the NAESB Board at the March 7, 2002, NAESB Board meeting.

Many thanks to Misty Khan of Telerx for this summary.

NEM members should forward their comments on FERC's NOPR on accounting and reporting of financial instruments, comprehensive income, derivatives and hedging activities as well as on the formation of a single energy industry standards organization to headquarters by next week so there is adequate opportunity to incorporate them into NEM's final comments.

The RTO cost-benefit study performed by ICF Consulting entitled, "Economic Assessment of RTO Policy," for FERC has been released. The study concludes that $1-10 billion per year in economic gains could result from FERC's RTO policy. The study cautions that the net benefits of RTO policy are dependent on, "effective and timely implementation of competitive electric power markets, and on minimizing delays and excessive start up costs." The study also concluded that larger RTOs would lead to somewhat greater benefits and that most regions will benefit from price decreases as a result of RTO policy. The full texts of the Study and ICF's FERC Presentation are available on the NEM Website.

A staff conference will be convened on March 11, 2002, at 9:30AM to discuss issues pertaining to market-based rate authorizations. The full text of the Notice of Staff Conference is available on the NEM Website.

Allegheny Power will convene a supplier workshop on March 11, 2002, at 10AM to discuss the procedural changes associated with Allegheny Power joining PJM to form PJM West. The meeting will be held at Allegheny Power's Greensburg Corporate Center located in Greensburg, PA. Those interested in attending should contact Becky Sarber at 724-838-6593 or rsarbe1@alleghenypower.com.