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Folks,
<p>Senator Joe Dunn <b>will</b> be one of our keynote speakers on Friday,
October 5.&nbsp; To better understand Joe's role in California, see the
article below by Jessica Berthold of the Dow Jones Newswire.
<p>Our agenda will be as follows:
<br>&nbsp;
<p><br>
<center>
<p><b><font color="#6B26FF">Continental Breakfast 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.</font></b>
<br><b><font color="#6B26FF">Call to Order and Opening Remarks by WPTF
Chair, <u>Curtis Kebler</u> 9:00 a.m.</font></b>
<br><b><font color="#6B26FF">Elements of a Super RTO by <u>Ed Kee</u>,
PA Consulting, 9:15 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.</font></b>
<br><b><font color="#6B26FF">Round Robin Introduction of Attendees 10:00
a.m. to 11:00 a.m.</font></b>
<br><b><font color="#6B26FF">The Way Things Are by <u>John Dizard</u>,
11:15 p.m. to 12:15 p.m.</font></b>
<br><b><font color="#6B26FF">Lunch</font></b>
<br><b><font color="#6B26FF">Keynote Speaker: California <u>Senator Joe
Dunn </u>1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.</font></b>
<br><b><font color="#6B26FF">All Members Meeting (and guests) 2:30 p.m.
to 4:00 p.m.</font></b>
<br><b><font color="#6B26FF">Adjourn at 4:00 p.m.</font></b></center>

<p><br>
<br>
<p>Mr. Ed Kee of PA Consulting is an expert on FERC's RTO policy, and his
remarks will be very timely.&nbsp; Ed is based in PA's Washington D.C.
office, and he will discuss how the super RTO's will work, and provide
us a view point from "inside the beltway", i.e., FERC speak. Mr. Kee was
formerly at PHB, with client engagements related to electricity industry
restructuring and privatization.
<p>John Dizard has been writing on financial markets, economics, and political
economy for thirty years. He also has worked for Wall Street firms as well
as private investment companies.&nbsp; He has written extensively
<br>on central banking, international debt markets,&nbsp; energy and communications
markets, and distressed and bankrupt securities. He has written for a range
of general interest and financial magazines and newspapers, including Forbes,
Fortune,&nbsp; Institutional Investor, the New York Post, and the New York
Observer. Presently he is a regular columnist
<br>for the Financial Times, and is writing a feature story on the California
energy crisis for Harper's Magazine.
<p>If you haven't contacted Barb Ennis yet to make a reservation, then
by all means please do so.&nbsp; Otherwise she has no way to plan the luncheon.
Barb's phone number is 402-468-4966, and her e-mail address is baennis@earthlink.net.
<p>See you on Friday.
<p>gba
<p>=======================================
<p><b><font size=+1>Calif Senate Panel Probes Officials' Role In Power
Costs</font></b>
<p>&nbsp;Updated: Friday, September 28,
<br>&nbsp;2001 09:10 AM ET
<br>&nbsp;
<p>&nbsp;By Jessica Berthold
<p>&nbsp;Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
<p>&nbsp;(This article was originally published Thursday.)
<p>&nbsp;LOS ANGELES (Dow Jones)--A California Senate committee will
<br>&nbsp;depose former board members and managers of the state's wholesale
<br>&nbsp;power market operator next week as part of an investigation into
<br>&nbsp;whether those officials collaborated with suppliers to increase
electricity
<br>&nbsp;prices in the state, the committee's chairman said.
<p>&nbsp;The investigation by the Senate Select Committee To Investigate
Price
<br>&nbsp;Manipulation centers on an emergency request filed with federal
<br>&nbsp;regulators last December to lift a $250 per megawatt-hour price
cap on
<br>&nbsp;the market run by the California Independent System Operator.
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
The Federal Energy
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Regulatory Commission
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
agreed to lift the cap three
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hours after receiving the
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
request, which was filed by
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
ISO Chief Executive Terry
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Winter.
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Committee Chairman Sen. Joe
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Dunn, D-Santa Ana, said
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Wednesday the price cap was
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the state's "last line of
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
defense" against runaway
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
wholesale electricity prices.
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Within three days of the cap's
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
being lifted, wholesale prices
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
had nearly tripled to
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$700/MWh, the beginning of
<br>&nbsp;months of extremely high prices that marked the worst of the
state's
<br>&nbsp;electricity crisis, he said.
<p>&nbsp;Winter, who remains in his post, has said he acted quickly on
his own
<br>&nbsp;initiative to do what was necessary to keep power flowing to
the state.
<p>&nbsp;But Dunn, whose committee began serving 16 subpoenas this week,
<br>&nbsp;said the length and complexity of Winter's 50-page filing doesn't
jibe
<br>&nbsp;with Winter's claim that he acted alone and at the last minute
in making
<br>&nbsp;the request.
<p>&nbsp;"We're trying to determine who he was working with that led to
the
<br>&nbsp;filing and whether there was generator involvement," Dunn said.
"It also
<br>&nbsp;doesn't seem right that Winter, who owes his employment to the
board,
<br>&nbsp;would run around them."
<p>&nbsp;The former 26-member ISO board was a mish-mash of generators and
<br>&nbsp;other industry "stakeholders", as well as consumer advocates
and
<br>&nbsp;representatives of municipal utilities. Gov. Gray Davis replaced
that
<br>&nbsp;board in January with five members pointedly chosen for their
lack of
<br>&nbsp;affiliation with ISO market participants. The political nature
of those
<br>&nbsp;appointments, however, has called into question the board's
<br>&nbsp;independence, an issue now being examined by FERC.
<p>&nbsp;Board Members Say They Weren't Notified
<p>&nbsp;Mike Florio, a consumer advocate who is the only current board
<br>&nbsp;member to have served on the old board, said he had no knowledge
of
<br>&nbsp;Winter's FERC filing.
<p>&nbsp;"I was surprised that something that monumental was done without
<br>&nbsp;being consulted," said Florio, who received a subpoena Wednesday.
"I
<br>&nbsp;could see the decision to file being made at the last minute,
but
<br>&nbsp;obviously someone had to do the preparation work, and while that
was
<br>&nbsp;being done there would have been time for consultation."
<p>&nbsp;Florio said that, at that time, the board was polarized on the
issue of
<br>&nbsp;price caps, with those representing generators and large businesses
<br>&nbsp;against them, and municipal utilities and residential customers
for
<br>&nbsp;them.
<p>&nbsp;Jan Smutny-Jones, a former board member and president of the
<br>&nbsp;Independent Energy Producers Association, a generators' group,
also
<br>&nbsp;said he didn't know in advance about Winter's filing.
<p>&nbsp;"Board members were not consulted, regardless of their status
in the
<br>&nbsp;marketplace," said Smutny-Jones, who received his subpoena Tuesday.
<br>&nbsp;"I understand why (Winter) made the filing. He's the CEO of the
ISO,
<br>&nbsp;and he has that authority. In November and December the market
was
<br>&nbsp;collapsing rapidly, and the board was politicized to the point
of
<br>&nbsp;dysfunction. He did what he thought he needed to do."
<p>&nbsp;ISO spokesman Greg Fishman said Winter "absolutely did not" collude
<br>&nbsp;with generators, and said the move to lift the cap actually helped
<br>&nbsp;control prices paid by the ISO, which is responsible for keeping
the
<br>&nbsp;lights on in the state.
<p>&nbsp;Rather than limit prices, the caps simply drove suppliers into
uncapped
<br>&nbsp;markets outside the state, Fishman said. The ISO then had to
buy back
<br>&nbsp;that out-of-market power at uncapped prices.
<p>&nbsp;"The official market price on Dec. 6 was $250 a megawatt-hour,
but the
<br>&nbsp;price for us was really $506 a megawatt-hour," Fishman said.
<br>&nbsp;"In-market prices did spike after the December 8 order for a
few days,
<br>&nbsp;but after the spike they went down under $200 a megawatt-hour.
The
<br>&nbsp;order also gave us the ability to ask suppliers to justify their
bids. It
<br>&nbsp;essentially brought them under our umbrella."
<p>&nbsp;The subpoenas request e-mail, telephone, travel and meeting records,
<br>&nbsp;among other items. Further subpoenas may be issued, Dunn said.
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