October 6, 2000

Announcements

 A Final Head-Count for both the NEM Executive Committee Meeting and the Industry Leadership Roundtable and Golf Tournament is Needed

Those who have not yet registered but are planning to attend the October 30-31, 2000, Executive Committee Meeting and Industry Leadership Roundtable and Golf Tournament in The Woodlands, Texas, must contact headquarters ASAP to reserve a space.

 NEM's "National Energy Technology Policy" Draft Circulating for Member Comment

A draft of NEM's "National Energy Technology Policy" is attached with this update for members and will be discussed and voted on at the Executive Committee Meeting on October 30, 2000. A conference call will be held to discuss XML and EDI technology on October 10, 2000, at 11AM Eastern Time. The Working Draft is available to members on the NEM Website.

Federal

 MAPP Members Seek Review of FERC Refund Order

The MAPP Members seek review of retroactive refunds ordered by FERC pertaining to Schedule F of its compliance filing arguing that:

  • FERC lacked authority to order retroactive refunds for unchanged rates set forth in Schedule F in conformance with FERC's pro forma tariff.

  • FERC failed to consider whether the ordered refunds would be below reasonable rates resulting in a windfall to certain customers.

The full text of the MAPP Members brief is available from NEM headquarters.

FERC

 NYISO Requests Extension of Time to Comply with Member Systems Stipulation

The NYISO has requested an extension of time to comply with the Member Systems Stipulation. The Stipulation requires new calculations of the Transmission Service Charge (TSC) and extensive coding modifications to its Billing and Accounting System. The full text of the NYISO's Request for Extension of the Stipulation is available from NEM headquarters.

State Issues

New York

 Proposed Settlement Filed in ConEd Electric Proceeding

A proposed settlement agreement has been filed with the Commission in the ConEd electric proceeding. A procedural schedule for receiving comments in the proceeding has been set as follows:

  • Proponents Submit Supporting Statements - October 12, 2000.

  • Opponents Submit Opposing Statements - October 19, 2000.

  • ALJ to Conduct Evidentiary and Public Comment Hearings - Week of October 23, 2000.

The full text of the Procedural Schedule is available on the NEM Website. The full text of the Proposed Settlement Agreement is available from NEM headquarters. Member comments are needed ASAP.

 NYSEG Filed Testimony in Back-Out Rate Proceeding

NYSEG has filed testimony in the back-out rate proceeding arguing that market prices have not exceeded the back-out rate and therefore should not be re-examined. NYSEG asserted the market price data should be based on a twelve-month average and historical NY market prices are well below the back-out rate and energy and capacity forward prices for 2001, for the most part, have been below the back-out rate. NYSEG countered NEM's assertions stating that it continues to bear the costs of ancillary services, line losses, and installed capacity reserve requirements for customers that switch and so these costs should not be included in the back-out rate. A confidential copy of the full text of NYSEG's Testimony is available for members on the NEM Website.

 Commission Ruling on Standby Service

The Commission ruled that station use and start-up services are retail standby services, subject to retail electric service tariffs, when delivered to a wholesale generator by an electric corporation franchised and certified under NY law. The full text of the Commission's Ruling is available on the NEM Website.

 NFG Statement in Support of Stipulation

NFG has filed a statement in support of the rate plan in the proposed Stipulation. The Stipulation includes a $10 million customer credit and an additional $7.6 million in bill credits under previous settlements. The full text of NFG's Statement in Support of the Stipulation is available from NEM headquarters.

Texas

 Commission Adopts Rules on Provider of Last Resort

The Commission has adopted rules on the Provider of Last Resort (POLR) as follows:

  • POLRs must offer a standard retail service package for each customer class (residential, small non-residential and large non-residential) at a fixed, non-discountable rate.

  • A company may operate as both a Retail Electric Provider (REP) and a POLR but must keep these two functions separate.

  • The Commission will use a competitive bidding process to select the POLR for each customer class in each designated service area.

  • The Commission must designate POLRs no later than June 1, 2001, and has the authority to require REPs to become POLRs as a condition of receiving or maintaining an operating certificate.

  • Customers who receive POLR service by default will not be subject to a minimum service term unless they request a leveled payment plan, which requires a minimum service length of six months.

The full text of the Provider of Last Rules will be posted on the NEM Website when made available electronically.

Pennsylvania

 Winter Reliability Meeting

Commission Staff has scheduled a winter reliability meeting with the electric and gas utilities, ECAR, and PJM to discuss plans and strategies to meet customer demand for energy for the winter of 2000-2001. The meeting will be held October 13, 2000 at 1:30 p.m. The full text of the Winter Reliability Meeting Agenda is available on the NEM Website. NEM members who plan to attend are requested to contact headquarters.

 POLR/SOLR Proceeding Position Papers

The following entities' position papers on the definition and scope of the provider/supplier of last resort are available on the NEM Website:

Ohio

 Commission Approves Ohio Power (OP) and Columbus Southern Power (CSP) Stipulations

The Commission has approved the OP and CSP Stipulations providing as follows:

  • Neither company will impose any lost revenue charges (generation transition charges) on any switching customer.

  • All distribution electric rates in effect on December 31, 2005, will be frozen through December 31, 2007, for OP and through December 31, 2008, for CSP.

  • During the Market Development Period (MDP), CSP will provide a shopping incentive of 2.5 mills/kilowatt-hour to the first 25 percent of the residential class load that switches. There will be no further shopping incentive for CSP and no shopping incentive at all for OP.

  • With respect to customer switching during the MDP, customers that take generation service from OP and CSP during any part of May 16 through September 15 must either remain a customer through April 15 of the following year or choose a market-based tariff which will not be lower than the generation cost embedded in the standard offer. Non-aggregated residential customers are permitted to shop three times during the MDP and to return two times to the default tariff before being required to choose from one of the two options.

  • OP and CSP will provide a $1.00 credit to suppliers for each consolidated bill issued by that provider during the first year of the MDP with a future credit to be further negotiated.

  • OP and CSP will file unbundled residential tariffs to reflect a five percent reduction in the generation component, including the Regulatory Transition Charge (RTC) component, and will not seek to reduce that five percent during the MDP.

The full text of the Commission's Order Approving the Stipulations is available on the NEM Website.

 DP&L Submits Proposed Compliance Tariffs

In response to the Commission's Order, DP&L has submitted a working draft of its proposed compliance tariffs. Comments on the draft tariffs are due by October 19, 2000. The full text of DP&L's Proposed Compliance Tariffs, filed as Attachment 1 and Attachment 2 (caution: large files), are available on the NEM Website.

Maryland

 Pepco Submits Sixteenth Status Report on EDI

Pepco reports in its Sixteenth Status Report on EDI that testing of Batch Four suppliers is complete. Batch Five testing will begin October 30, 2000. As of September 25, 2000, Pepco successfully processed production enrollment transactions from three licensed suppliers. The full text of Pepco's Status Report is available from NEM headquarters.

Other Issues

 GISB Proposal for Electric and Gas Standards Group

The board of directors of GISB voted to release a proposal for a combined electric and gas industry standards group that would be a successor organization to GISB. The proposal sets forth a possible governance structure for the organization that would be responsible for creating and maintaining standards for doing business in the converging gas and electric markets. The full text of GISB's Electric and Gas Industry Standards Group Proposal is available on the NEM Website.

 Gas EDI Meeting for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware

A meeting on the development of a regional document for gas EDI standards will be held on October 13, 2000, at 9:30AM in Philadelphia. The agenda of the meeting includes a discussion on the status of gas deregulation and EDI standards in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware and the convergence of each state's rules into one. Those interested in attending should contact NEM headquarters ASAP.