
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 221 (Wednesday, November 16, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71011-71013]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-29546]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission


Reliability Technical Conference Agenda

Reliability Technical Conference.  Docket No. AD12-1-000
North American Electric            Docket No. RC11-6-000
 Reliability Corporation.
Public Service Commission of       Docket No. EL11-62-000
 South Carolina and the South
 Carolina Office of Regulatory
 Staff.
 
Not consolidated.

    As announced in the Notice of Technical Conference issued on 
October 7, 2011, the Commission will hold a technical conference on 
Tuesday, November 29, 2011, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Wednesday, 
November 30, 2011, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to explore the progress made 
on the priorities for addressing risks to reliability that were 
identified in earlier Commission technical conferences. The conference 
also will discuss emerging issues, including processes used by planning 
authorities and other entities to identify reliability concerns that 
may arise in the course of compliance with Environmental Protection 
Agency regulations, and the tools and processes (including tariffs and 
market rules) available to address any identified reliability concerns. 
The agenda for this conference is attached. Commission members will 
participate in this conference.
    The Commission will be accepting written comments regarding the 
matters discussed at this technical conference. Any person or entity 
wishing to submit written comments regarding the matters discussed at 
the conference should submit such comments in Docket No. AD12-1-000, on 
or before December 9, 2011.
    Information on this event will be posted on the Calendar of Events 
on the Commission's Web site, http://www.ferc.gov, prior to the event. 
The conference will be transcribed. Transcripts will be available 
immediately for a fee from Ace Reporting Company ((202) 347-3700 or 1-
(800) 336-6646). A free webcast of this event is also available through 
http://www.ferc.gov. Anyone with Internet access who desires to listen 
to this event can do so by navigating to www.ferc.gov's Calendar of 
Events and locating this event in the Calendar. The event will contain 
a link to the webcast. The Capitol Connection provides technical 
support for webcasts and offers the option of listening to the meeting 
via phone-bridge for a fee. If you have any questions, visit http://www.CapitolConnection.org or call (703) 993-3100.
    Commission conferences are accessible under section 508 of the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973. For accessibility accommodations, please 
send an email to accessibility@ferc.gov or call toll free 1-(866) 208-
3372 (voice) or (202) 208-1659 (TTY), or send a FAX to (202) 208-2106 
with the required accommodations.
    For more information about this conference, please contact:
    Sarah McKinley, Office of External Affairs, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, 
(202) 502-8368, sarah.mckinley@ferc.gov.

    Dated: November 9, 2011.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.

Reliability Technical Conference

Commissioner-Led Reliability Technical Conference

November 29, 2011
1 p.m.-5 p.m.
November 30, 2011
9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Agenda
November 29, 2011
1 p.m. Commissioners' Opening Remarks
1:20 p.m. Introductions
    Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur, Chair
1:25 p.m. Panel I: Identifying Priorities for NERC Activities

    Presentations: NERC will be invited to provide an update on its 
priorities as identified in the February 8, 2011 Reliability Technical 
Conference. Panelists will be invited to express their general views on 
how NERC's prioritization tool has been working. Has NERC addressed 
concerns raised at the February 8, 2011 Reliability Technical 
Conference. Panelists will be asked to address some or all of the 
following:
    a. What are the most critical reliability issues and/or standards 
development initiatives that needed to be addressed in 2011 and 2012? 
What is the status of the priorities identified by NERC at the

[[Page 71012]]

February technical conference? Has NERC's prioritization tool been 
useful?
    b. One of the priorities was improving the compliance and 
enforcement process. How is that being addressed?
    c. What are the biggest challenges to addressing these priorities 
and/or completing these initiatives in an effective and timely manner? 
What next steps are appropriate to timely and effectively address the 
priorities discussed?
    d. How do NERC and reliability standards development teams 
incorporate in new or re-ordered priorities regarding reliability 
standards into their work plans? How are emerging issues considered and 
are any becoming high priorities?

Panelists

     Gerry W. Cauley, President and Chief Executive Officer, 
North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)
     Kevin Burke, Chairman, President and CEO, Consolidated 
Edison Inc., on behalf of Consolidated Edison and the Edison Electric 
Institute (EEI)
     Mike Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer, Georgia 
Transmission Corporation, on behalf of Georgia Transmission Corp. and 
the National Rural Electric Association (NRECA)
     John A. Anderson, President, Electricity Consumers 
Resource Council (ELCON)
     Allen Mosher, Senior Director of Policy Analysis and 
Reliability, American Public Power Association (APPA); NERC Standards 
Committee Chairman
     Deborah Le Vine, Director, System Operations, California 
Independent System Operator Corporation (CAISO)
     William J. Gallagher, NERC Member Representatives 
Committee Chairman; Retired CEO, Vermont Public Power Supply Authority
     Peter Fraser, Acting Managing Director of Regulatory 
Policy, Ontario Energy Board

3:30 p.m. Panel II: Incorporating Lessons Learned into a More Reliable 
Grid

    Presentations: Panelists will address how lessons learned are 
incorporated into NERC priorities. Panelists will be asked to address 
some or all of the following:
    a. How do lessons learned from events analysis get disseminated to 
industry?
    b. How do NERC's non-standards processes such as the Industry 
Alerts, Recommendations, Event Analysis, Essential Actions, Lessons 
Learned and Compliance Application Notices interact with the 
reliability standards? To what extent do these processes aid in 
identifying important reliability matters that are not addressed under 
the existing Reliability Standards?
    c. Is the alerts process getting the message out on issues of 
immediate importance?
    d. How do you gauge whether industry is appropriately implementing 
NERC alerts or lessons learned from an event analysis?
    e. Is there a feedback loop into the Reliability Standards 
development process to determine if there is a gap in the standards? If 
so, how has that been working? If not, should there be?

Panelists

     Gerry W. Cauley, President and Chief Executive Officer, 
North American Electric Reliability Corporation
     Thomas J. Galloway, President and Chief Executive Officer, 
North American Transmission Forum
     Tom Burgess, Executive Director, Integrated System 
Planning and Development, FirstEnergy, on behalf of FirstEnergy and EEI
     Scott Helyer, Vice President, Transmission at Tenaska, on 
behalf of Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA)
     State Commission(s) to be Announced
     Mary Kipp, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and 
Chief Compliance Officer, El Paso Electric

Commissioner Closing Comments

November 30, 2011
9 a.m. Commissioners' Opening Remarks
9:20 a.m. Introductions
    Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur, Chair
9: 30 a.m. Remarks: Janet McCabe, Principal Deputy Assistant 
Administrator for Air and Radiation, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency
9:40 a.m. Panel III: Presentations and Discussion on the Current State 
of Processes for Identifying Unit-Specific Local or Regional 
Reliability Issues in Response to Final EPA Regulations

    Presentations: Panelists will be asked to describe their local and 
regional processes for identifying unit-specific reliability issues in 
response to final EPA environmental requirements. Panelists should 
address the following broad questions in their presentations:
    a. How should reliability aspects of EPA's proposed and final 
regulations be addressed? What local or regional processes are used to 
plan for emerging issues such as the EPA regulations? How are you 
incorporating the EPA regulations into this process?
    b. What have you proposed to the EPA regarding an exemption 
process? Do you support the exemption process changes identified by the 
RTOs or other entities in comments to the EPA? Do you have any 
alternative proposals?
    c. What market structures and tariff rules are used to address 
local and regional reliability issues that may arise from generation 
retirements potentially triggered by EPA regulations? Are any changes 
to market and tariff rules needed?
    d. Do you have the right tools to identify any problems that may 
arise? Are there other process changes that could help address 
reliability-related requests for exemptions from the EPA regulations?

Panelists

     Mark Lauby, Vice President and Director of Reliability 
Assessment and Performance Analysis, North American Electric 
Reliability Corporation
     Michael Kormos, Senior Vice President of Operations, PJM 
Interconnection, L.L.C.
     Carl Monroe, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating 
Officer, Southwest Power Pool (SPP)
     Thomas F. Farrell II, Chairman, President & CEO--Dominion, 
on behalf of EEI
     Kathleen Barron, Vice President, Federal Regulatory 
Affairs and Policy, Exelon Corporation
     Anthony Topazi, Chief Operating Officer, Southern Company
     State Commission(s) to be Announced

12 p.m. Lunch
12:45 p.m. Continuation of Panel III

    Discussion with Commissioners: Open dialogue and questions and 
answers between Panel 1 and Commissioners.

2:15 p.m. Break
2:30 p.m. Panel IV: Discussion on multi-jurisdictional processes.

    Presentations: Panelists will be asked to describe how they 
coordinate processes such as the state integrated resource planning 
with their reliability planning and the safety valve proposal. 
Panelists should address the following broad questions in their 
presentations:
    a. What, if any role should the Commission or DOE play in studying 
replacement generation or other reliability solutions due to 
retirements? What role does the retail regulator, such as a state 
public utility commission or municipal authority play in forming your 
bulk power system reliability plans?
    b. Do you support the exemption process changes identified by the 
RTOs or other entities in comments to the EPA? What role can the 
Commission play in evaluating individual requests

[[Page 71013]]

under a safety-valve approach? Do you have any alternative proposals?

Panelists

     Patricia A. Hoffman, Assistant Secretary for Electricity & 
Infrastructure Reliability, U.S. Department of Energy
     Gerry W. Cauley, President and Chief Executive Officer, 
North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)
     Nick Akins, CEO of American Electric Power (AEP), on 
behalf of AEP and EEI
     Clair J. Moeller, Vice President Transmission Asset 
Management, Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. 
(MISO)
     State Commission(s) to be Announced
     Eric Baker, President and Chief Executive Officer, 
Wolverine Electric Power Cooperative
     Debra Raggio, Vice President, Government and Regulatory 
Affairs, Assistant General Counsel, GenOn Energy, Inc.

Commissioner Closing Comments

[FR Doc. 2011-29546 Filed 11-15-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


