FW: Glenn English - A Few Things (April 29) Bill Willingham 29 Apr 2011 22:16 UTC


-----Original Message-----
From: Holt, Rob [mailto:Rob.Holt@nreca.coop]
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2011 12:31 PM
To: Holt, Rob
Subject: Glenn English - A Few Things (April 29)

MEMORANDUM

April 29, 2011

TO:                  Statewide Managers
      G&T Managers
      NRECA Board of Directors

FROM:            Glenn English, Chief Executive Officer

A few things I wanted to share with you...

Congress resumes session next week with leaders of both parties listing the
federal debt ceiling, FY12 budget and deficit reduction and addressing
rising gasoline prices as top priorities for legislative action.  These
issues continue to drain the political momentum on other legislation,
leaving some lawmakers hesitant to take up other topics.  We will have to
work hard to get our message through on electric cooperative issues during
the Legislative Conference next week.

I appreciate your willingness to come to Washington again to take on an
important role: making sure the electric cooperative voice is heard loud and
clear.  Our issues are fundamental to helping electric cooperatives provide
affordable energy.

Electric cooperatives will be taking messages on the four main Legislative
Conference issues to Capitol Hill this year and asking members of Congress
to support us:
1.      Sign letters to House and Senate Agriculture Appropriations
Subcommittees supporting a $6.5 billion loan level for the RUS Electric Loan
Program,
2.      Cosponsor H.R. 1391 (Recycling Coal Combustion Residuals
Accessibility Act) to ensure coal combustion residuals are treated as
non-hazardous materials,
3.      Support an extension of, or replacement for, the Clean Renewable
Energy Bond program,
4.      Cosponsor and vote for S. 49 (Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act).

Workshop Forums - Legislative Conference activities will feature in-depth
workshops on Monday morning to provide the latest developments and context
on additional issues:
*       Environmental Issues Update: The Environmental Protection Agency is
developing new, more stringent rules governing air quality, water quality,
and coal ash management.  What are the implications for co-ops?
*       Derivatives: What Lies Ahead for End-Users?  An update on
implementation and congressional oversight of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street
Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
*       Clean Energy Standard: Congress is responding to President Obama's
call for 80 percent clean energy by 2035.  What do co-ops need to know?
*       Action Committee for Rural Electrification(r): What's your political
action plan?

Electric cooperative advocates unable to make the trip to Washington this
year can see the Monday "General Briefing" session live at 3 p.m. (EST) by
clicking the Legislative Conference 2011 link on
www.cooperative.com<http://www.cooperative.com>.

Electric Cooperative Representatives to Testify on Hydropower Issues

Three electric cooperative representatives will testify from the
stakeholder's perspective on protecting federal hydropower investments in
the West before the House Water and Power Subcommittee on Wednesday - during
our Legislative Conference.  Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association
President Roman Gillen, Colorado Rural Electric Association President Chris
Morgan and Rushmore Electric Cooperative General Manager Vic Simmons are
listed to testify.  The oversight hearing is the latest in a series on
energy security and domestic production among committees with jurisdiction
on energy issues.  The hearing is expected to cover a variety of topics that
impact federal hydropower, including operational changes at federal dams
driven by fish and wildlife issues, integration of renewable energy and
customer-funded improvements.

Senate Energy Panel to Discuss Proposed New Federal Cybersecurity Powers

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has released a discussion
draft of cybersecurity legislation that would give the federal government
the authority to issue orders directly to the electric power sector,
including electric cooperatives, when it  believes North American Electric
Reliability Corp. (NERC) standards are not adequate to handle cyber and
physical threats and vulnerabilities. The committee will hold a legislative
hearing on this bill on Thursday.  Electric cooperatives, along with the
entire electric power sector, have agreed for several years that the federal
government needs limited additional authority to deal with severe, imminent
attacks.

However, this draft goes well beyond filling that narrow gap, giving both
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and Department of Energy
(DOE) new powers to supersede the NERC standards-writing process in a wide
variety of circumstances.  It also opens the door for broader regulation of
distribution assets.  It is unclear whether the bill will move much farther
than the Committee.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has long said
he wants a comprehensive bill, rather than an electric-sector specific
approach, that handles cyber threats to all segments of the economy.  House
Energy and Commerce Committee staff, who last year strongly supported new
authority for FERC, have said they may not pick this issue up again for
several months.  While this legislative debate plays out, electric co-ops
are proactively participating in the NERC standards-writing process and also
working to develop cybersecurity best practices for distribution co-ops in a
partnership between the Cooperative Research Network and DOE.

Supreme Court Raises Critical Questions on GHG Emissions 'Nuisance' Case

It will likely be several months before we see the U.S. Supreme Court's
decision after oral arguments last week in the American Electric Power Co.
v. Connecticut case on the appropriateness of a common law "public nuisance"
suit by several states on power plant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  The
five investor-owned utilities and Tennessee Valley Authority are asking the
Supreme Court to overturn a lower appellate court ruling that the states can
file a case under common law on the basis that power plant GHG emissions and
climate change are a "public nuisance."  While there is no sure way to
predict the outcome, we are optimistic due to the fact that all of the
justices raised critical points about whether a plaintiff can file a "public
nuisance" lawsuit to require GHG sources to reduce or mitigate those
emissions.  The Supreme Court hearing the case is good news for utilities.
This is a high-stakes case; a ruling in favor of the states would expose all
utilities with fossil-based generation to such lawsuits.

Co-ops Face New Disclosure Requirement under Proposed FERC Transparency Rule

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has proposed a new
electricity market transparency rule that will require non-FERC
jurisdictional electric co-ops and municipal utilities to file quarterly
reports on their electricity transactions (Docket No. RM10-12-000).  Those
electric co-ops that are FERC jurisdictional are already required to file
these reports.  When FERC issued a notice of inquiry on this transparency
rule last year, NRECA met with FERC officials and raised the fact that
co-ops which are RUS borrowers are already required to disclose this
information to RUS.  NRECA urged FERC to, at the very least, limit the
proposed rule to electric co-ops with more than 4 million megawatt-hours in
wholesale sales, and to exclude retail sales from being counted for
compliance.  With those changes, the rule would affect about two dozen G&T
co-ops.  It would also apply to sales by the Tennessee Valley Authority and
the Power Marketing Administrations.  The proposed rule was published in the
Federal Register today and is open 60 days for public comment.  NRECA
anticipates commenting on the proposed rule.

NRECA Seeks FERC Rehearing on Demand Response Rule

NRECA joined in two rehearing requests on a Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) final rule for demand response compensation in organized
wholesale markets.  The first filing (Docket RM10-17-001) asks for a
rehearing on the order because FERC is intruding into areas of state
jurisdiction.  NRECA and Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (Docket RM10-17)
also asked FERC tell regional grid operators to work with stakeholders to
propose an appropriate compensation level for demand response resources and
when to use these resources as an alternative.  See the filings at this
link:
https://www.cooperative.com/governmentaffairs/regulatoryissues/Pages/Filings
.aspx.

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