-----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. Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, copy, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.=