Coordination Between Natural Gas and Electricity Markets, 51795-51798 [2012-20904]
Download as PDF
pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 166 / Monday, August 27, 2012 / Notices
Compressor Station in Washington
County, Virginia, under East
Tennessee’s blanket certificate issued in
Docket No. CP82–412–000,1 all as more
fully set forth in the application which
is on file with the Commission and open
to the public for inspection.
East Tennessee proposes to abandon
in place two standby 660 horsepower
reciprocating natural gas compressor
units and abandon in place or remove
related appurtenant equipment at the
Glade Spring Compressor Station. East
Tennessee states that the two standby
compressor units are outdated and their
abandonment would have no effect on
any of East Tennessee’s transportation
customers. East Tennessee also states
that in order to install additional noise
control equipment and update the two
compressor units would require
significant capital investment. Further,
East Tennessee estimates that it would
cost $15,900,942 to construct these
facilities today.
Any questions concerning this
application may be directed to Lisa A.
Connolly, General Manager, Rates &
Certificates, East Tennessee Natural Gas,
LLC, P.O. Box 1642, Houston, Texas
77251–1642, or via telephone at (713)
627–4102, facsimile (713) 627–5947, or
via email:
laconnolly@spectraenergy.com.
This filing is available for review at
the Commission or may be viewed on
the Commission’s Web site at https://
www.ferc.gov, using the ‘‘eLibrary’’ link.
Enter the docket number excluding the
last three digits in the docket number
filed to access the document. For
assistance, please contact FERC Online
Support at FERC
OnlineSupport@ferc.gov or call toll-free
at (866) 206–3676, or, for TTY, contact
(202) 502–8659. Comments, protests and
interventions may be filed electronically
via the Internet in lieu of paper. See, 18
CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the
instructions on the Commission’s Web
site under the ‘‘e-Filing’’ link. The
Commission strongly encourages
intervenors to file electronically.
Any person or the Commission’s staff
may, within 60 days after issuance of
the instant notice by the Commission,
file pursuant to Rule 214 of the
Commission’s Procedural Rules (18 CFR
385.214) a motion to intervene or notice
of intervention and pursuant to Section
157.205 of the regulations under the
NGA (18 CFR 157.205), a protest to the
1 20
FERC ¶ 62,413 (1982).
VerDate Mar<15>2010
15:04 Aug 24, 2012
Jkt 226001
request. If no protest is filed within the
time allowed therefor, the proposed
activity shall be deemed to be
authorized effective the day after the
time allowed for filing a protest. If a
protest is filed and not withdrawn
within 30 days after the allowed time
for filing a protest, the instant request
shall be treated as an application for
authorization pursuant to Section 7 of
the NGA.
Dated: August 20, 2012.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012–20907 Filed 8–24–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Docket No. AD12–12–000]
Coordination Between Natural Gas and
Electricity Markets
Supplemental Notice of Technical
Conference
As announced in the Notices issued
on July 5, 2012 1 and July 17, 2012,2 the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(Commission) staff will hold a technical
conference on Tuesday, August 28,
2012, from 9 a.m. to approximately 5:30
p.m. local time to discuss gas-electric
coordination issues in the West region.3
The agenda and list of roundtable
participants for this conference is
attached. This conference is free of
charge and open to the public.
Commission members may participate
in the conference.
The West region technical conference
will be held at the following venue:
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Portland,
1000 NE Multnomah Street, Portland,
OR, 97232, USA, Tel (reservations and
other information): 1–503–281–6111, 1–
800–996–0510 (toll free).
1 Coordination between Natural Gas and
Electricity Markets, Docket No. AD12–12–000 (July
5, 2012) (Notice Of Technical Conferences) (https://
elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/common/
opennat.asp?fileID=13023450); 77 FR 41184 (July
12, 2012) (https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-201207-12/pdf/2012-16997.pdf).
2 Coordination between Natural Gas and
Electricity Markets, Docket No. AD12–12–000 (July
17, 2012) (Supplemental Notice Of Technical
Conferences) (https://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/
common/opennat.asp?fileID=13029403).
3 As indicated in the July 5, 2012 notice, for
purposes of this technical conference, the West
region includes the Western Interconnection.
PO 00000
Frm 00048
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
51795
If you have not already done so, those
who plan to attend the West region
technical conference are strongly
encouraged to complete the registration
form located at: www.ferc.gov/whatsnew/registration/nat-gas-elec-mktsform.asp. There is no deadline to
register to attend the conference. The
dress code for the conference will be
business casual. The agenda and
roundtable participants for the
remaining technical conferences will be
issued in supplemental notices at later
dates.
The West region technical conference
will not be transcribed. However, there
will be a free audiocast of the
conference. The audiocast will allow
persons to listen to the West region
technical conference, but not
participate. Anyone with Internet access
who desires to listen to the West region
conference can do so by navigating to
www.ferc.gov’s Calendar of Events and
locating the West region technical
conference in the Calendar. The West
region technical conference will contain
a link to its audiocast. The Capitol
Connection provides technical support
for audiocasts and offers the option of
listening to the meeting via phonebridge for a fee. If you have any
questions, visit
www.CapitolConnection.org or call 703–
993–3100.4
Information on this and the other
regional technical conferences will also
be posted on the Web site www.ferc.gov/
industries/electric/indus-act/electriccoord.asp, as well as the Calendar of
Events on the Commission’s Web site
www.ferc.gov. Changes to the agenda or
list of roundtable participants for the
West region technical conference, if any,
will be posted on the Web site
www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indusact/electric-coord.asp prior to the
conference.
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.
4 The audiocast will continue to be available on
the Calendar of Events on the Commission’s Web
site www.ferc.gov for three months after the
conference.
E:\FR\FM\27AUN1.SGM
27AUN1
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 166 / Monday, August 27, 2012 / Notices
For more information about this and
the other regional technical conferences,
please contact: Pamela Silberstein,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
888 First Street NE.,Washington, DC
20426, (202) 502–8938,
Pamela.Silberstein@ferc.gov;Sarah
McKinley, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street NE.,
Coordination Between Natural Gas and
Electricity markets
arrangements. Others emphasize
regionally-based approaches to
determine whether this is demand for
additional pipeline capacity and
services, or whether there are ways the
region can better deploy existing
capacity to meet demand growth. Some
commenters suggest that the
Commission has a role to play, in terms
of possible refinements to its blanket
certificate process.
While some pipelines offer flexible
pipeline and storage services,
commenters suggest that more flexibility
and additional nomination
opportunities are needed by operators of
gas-fired generation in some areas.
Commenters differ on the impact of the
mismatch in the scheduling and
delivery timelines between the gas and
electric industries, with some calling for
greater harmonization between natural
gas trading and transportation
nomination and scheduling timelines
and electricity trading and scheduling
times within the West, and others
contending that the gas-electric
mismatch presents no significant
challenges or that it is a longer-term
issue.
Roundtable participants are
encouraged to be prepared to discuss
the following:
1. Describe the policies and practices
in your region that impact the
procurement of gas transportation and
storage capacity purchases by gas-fired
generators. What changes do you expect,
if any, as the use of gas for electric
generation increases? Salt River Project
in its comments suggests the possible
development of a gas-sharing pool
similar to regional electric reserve
sharing pools.5 Would this type of
development help to address the
disincentives to long-term gas supply
and transportation contracting noted by
Docket No. AD12–12–000
pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
West Region—August 28, 2012,
Portland, OR
Agenda
9–9:15 Welcome and Opening
Remarks
9:15–9:45 Regional Energy
Infrastructure Presentation (FERC
staff)
9:45–12 First Roundtable Discussion:
Gas-Electric Coordination and Market
Structures in the West
The Western region consists of
bilateral markets, trading hubs, and the
organized wholesale energy markets of
the California ISO (CAISO), and varying
access to fuel supplies and natural gas
storage across several sub-regions.
Public and non-public utilities may
participate in these markets.
Commenters in the West stress the need
for regional and even sub-regional
approaches to gas-electric coordination,
in light of the different market
structures and mix of resources that coexist. The Commission anticipates that
the differing perspectives of the Pacific
Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Desert
Southwest, and California sub-regions
will be reflected in the discussion of
gas-electric coordination topics and
challenges.
Many within the Western region
expect that a significant portion of new
generating capacity installed in the next
ten years will use natural gas as its
primary fuel, which has raised concerns
for some regarding the sufficiency of
pipeline capacity to accommodate this
growth in gas-fired generation.
Approaches to addressing infrastructure
adequacy also vary across the region.
Some commenters stress the need for
cost recovery mechanisms or other
market enhancements that provide
incentives for appropriate fuel
VerDate Mar<15>2010
15:04 Aug 24, 2012
Jkt 226001
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502–8004,
Sarah.McKinley@ferc.gov.
Dated: August 20, 2012.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
the California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC)? 6 Some
commenters state that the West already
engages in substantial outage and
maintenance coordination between the
electric and pipeline industries. How, if
at all, is the resulting knowledge of
pipeline conditions taken into account
in electric dispatch and pricing
decisions, and how is the resulting
knowledge of electric system conditions
taken into account in pipeline
operational decisions?
2. How does your region approach the
question of gas infrastructure adequacy?
Are there reforms to the organized
wholesale electric market rules that
CAISO could consider as a possible
means to allow a gas-fired generator to
recover the costs of contracting for gas
infrastructure expansion needed to
serve electric markets in the region? To
what extent do bilateral contracts
provide for the recovery of such costs,
both in CAISO and in the areas that do
not have organized markets?
Commenters like Puget Sound Energy,
Inc. (Puget Sound Energy) suggest that
the immediate need to add
infrastructure could be minimized by
allowing pipeline capacity release for
periods longer than one year at greater
than maximum tariff rate.7 What would
be the advantages and drawbacks to
these proposals?
3. What types of services offered by
natural gas pipelines and storage
providers throughout the West would
best meet the needs of gas-fired
generators in the region? Recognizing
that some pipelines offer additional
nomination opportunities beyond the
current standards, would generators like
to see additional operating flexibility in
pipeline services, and if so, what kind?
For example, one commenter
6 CPUC
5 Salt
River Project Agricultural Improvement and
Power District March 30, 2012 Comments at 2.
PO 00000
Frm 00049
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
7 Puget
March 30, 2012 Comments at 7.
Sound Energy March 30, 2012 Comments
at 10.
E:\FR\FM\27AUN1.SGM
27AUN1
EN27AU12.000
51796
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 166 / Monday, August 27, 2012 / Notices
pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
recommends that the Commission
encourage gas storage operators to offer
24-hour service and balancing services.
Another described an ‘‘intermittent gas’’
product conceptually similar to
conditional firm electric transmission
service.8 Would proposals like these
address generators’ flexibility needs?
Are these ideas feasible in the West,
and, if so, how could they be
structured? What financial assurances
would gas pipelines and storage
providers need to provide such
services?
4. How diverse (or consistent) are
nomination, scheduling and
commitment practices across the region?
How do the regions’ utilities and
generators manage the mismatch
between the scheduling and
commitment timelines on the electric
side in local time and the NAESB
standard gas pipeline practices? Are
there areas in the West where this is
more of a problem to generators than
elsewhere? If so, can the gas and electric
market scheduling timelines be adjusted
in a way that improves matters for those
regions where it is a problem?
12–1:30 Break
1:30–2:45 Second Roundtable
Discussion: Communications/
Coordination/Information-Sharing
Each of the sub-regions that make up
the West has experienced unexpected
events that highlighted the need for
improved communication and
coordination between electric and gas
entities: For example, Denver/the
Rockies in December 2006; the Pacific
Northwest in December 2009; California
in September 2010; and the Southwest
in February and September 2011.9
Western commenters in this proceeding
identified possible improvements
including enhanced communication
during emergency outages, coordination
of maintenance outage scheduling, and
FERC clarification of allowed
information sharing under existing
8 Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and
Power District March 30, 2012 Comments at 2;
MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company March 30,
2012 Comments at 15.
9 See ‘‘Investigation of the Controlled Outages of
February 18, 2006 by Public Service Company of
Colorado,’’ Docket No. 06I–118EG, Initial Report to
the Colorado Public Utilities Commission by the
Staff of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission,
July 7, 2006; ‘‘Plugging Into Natural Gas,’’ https://
pnucc.org/sites/default/files/
RidingNorthwestDec2009Event_0.pdf; https://
www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/events/sanbruno.htm;
‘‘Report on Outages and Curtailments During the
Southwest Cold Weather Event of February 1–5,
2011,’’ https://www.ferc.gov/legal/staff-reports/0816-11-report.pdf; ‘‘Arizona-Southern California
Outages on September 8, 2011,’’ https://
www.ferc.gov/legal/staff-reports/04-27-2012-fercnerc-report.pdf.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
15:04 Aug 24, 2012
Jkt 226001
rules, particularly the Standards of
Conduct.
Comments suggest that improving
communications protocols between the
gas and electric industry is one issue
that may lend itself to more immediate
resolution than other gas-electric
coordination issues. This panel will
discuss whether there are adequate
communication protocols among the
various stakeholders to assure
appropriate gas-electric coordination
and identify potential solutions to any
issues.
Roundtable participants are
encouraged to be prepared to discuss
the following:
1. How are coordination and
information-sharing regarding both
emergency and planned outages
handled by affected gas and electric
entities in the different regions? Are
improvements needed? Several entities
in the Northwest stated that the gas and
electric utility planners in the
Northwest have initiated regular
meetings to address resiliency in a
coordinated manner.10 What kind of
coordination occurs and what kind of
information is shared and with whom in
preparation for extreme events that
simultaneously and significantly affect
both the gas and electric sectors. Are
there any limitations on communication
that seem unnecessarily restrictive?
Should entities coordinate weather
forecasts?
2. The gas pipelines in California and
the CAISO have worked to improve
their coordination of planned outages.
What is the impact of electric system
outages upon the gas system, and vice
versa? Are further changes needed to
allow for the coordination of planned
outages? Will the Pipeline Safety,
Regulatory Certainty and Job Creation
Act of 2011 impose new requirements
upon inter-industry communication and
coordination? If so, how are the
industries planning for those new
requirements?
3. Several commenters identified the
nature of information that currently is
available and shared between gas and
electric entities. Is there additional
information that needs to be shared that
currently is not being shared, and are all
the relevant and necessary parties
included? Are the information-sharing
mechanisms appropriate to the
circumstances? Are improvements
needed and who should be responsible
for implementing improvements?
4. Parties in the West region expect
increased reliance on gas-fired
10 Puget Sound Energy March 30, 2012 Comments
at 6; Northwest Gas Association, et al., March 29,
2012 Comments at 1.
PO 00000
Frm 00050
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
51797
generators to result in greater daily
fluctuations in gas usage than have been
experienced in the past. For example,
the 2012 California Gas Report prepared
by the California Gas and Electric
Utilities projects that there will be
higher daily fluctuations in gas usage in
the future, associated with the increase
in renewable generation in the state.11
What changes in communications and
real time data sharing protocols will be
needed to accommodate these expected
variations?
5. Based on the experience in your
region, what aspects of the FERC
Standards of Conduct (which govern the
relationship between a transmission
provider and its marketing function)
need to be clarified or potentially
revised to improve gas-electric
communications and coordination? For
example, Puget Sound Energy
recommends that the Commission
should clarify that the exception for a
transmission provider to disclose nonpublic transmission information with its
merchant function should not be limited
solely to an emergency on the
transmission provider’s system. Rather,
Puget Sound Energy suggests that the
exception be broadened to include nonemergency situations to prevent an
emergency and also to permit
communications to alleviate
emergencies on a nearby/regional
transmission provider’s system.12
Describe specific non-emergency
situations to be covered by the
suggested clarification to the emergency
exception to prohibited
communications. Although the
Standards of Conduct do not restrict
transmission providers from
communicating with each other,
describe how the Standards of Conduct
prevent individuals managing resources
on a number of transmission systems in
a region from conferring with each other
as suggested by Puget Sound Energy.
2:45–3 Break
3–4:30 Third Roundtable Discussion:
Reliability
The bulk electric system is typically
planned, as required by the mandatory
reliability standards, to meet projected
customer demands and system
performance criteria, even under single
element contingency conditions.
Interstate natural gas pipelines are
planned and expanded to meet firm gas
delivery contracts between the pipelines
and one or more shippers. As noted
11 ‘‘2012 California Gas Report Prepared by the
California Gas and Electric Utilities,’’ July 2012, at
11; https://www.socalgas.com/regulatory/
documents/cgr/2012%20CGR_Final.pdf.
12 Puget Sound Energy March 30, 2012 Comments
at 12–13.
E:\FR\FM\27AUN1.SGM
27AUN1
pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
51798
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 166 / Monday, August 27, 2012 / Notices
above, almost all commenters from the
West indicated they expect an increased
reliance on natural gas generation in the
coming years, due to economic and
national policy factors. Commenters
also expressed concerns about the future
reliability and interdependencies of the
bulk electric system and the interstate
natural gas pipeline system as the
amount of natural gas-fired generation
increases.
Roundtable participants are
encouraged to be prepared to discuss
the following:
1. Is there a need for a minimum level
of dependability in the fuel supply for
gas-fired generators? How would it be
defined, who would define it, and what
would be the mechanism for
accomplishing this? To what extent is
the dependability of fuel supply a
required specification in standardized
contract documents for buying and
selling electricity? Should this be
addressed regionally, and how can it be
addressed in the regions without
organized markets? What role can or do
State Commissions play in defining or
otherwise supporting requirements for
fuel dependability in all of the Western
subregions?
2. Several commenters express
concern about whether there are
particular reliability concerns in areas
that lack underground natural gas
storage. What tools are available to
regions to manage gas-fired generation
swings and preserve reliability, in areas
without gas storage? What happens
when there are events that impact
pipeline deliverability in those regions?
3. To what extent do the regions in
the West coordinate studies of the
natural gas and electric systems to
analyze forecasted resource mix and/or
interdependency risks from
curtailments or contingencies? Can this
be addressed through existing
transmission planning processes or are
different processes needed?
4. Commenters from California and
the Northwest highlighted ongoing
coordination efforts that allowed
participants from the natural gas and
electric industries, as well as state
regulators, to assess emergency response
plans and provided a forum to discuss
and implement improvements.13 Are
sufficient emergency coordination
procedures in place in the West? Are
these procedures routinely tested
through functional exercises or
simulations? Should all regions within
13 See, e.g., Northwest Industrial Gas Users March
30, 2012 Comments at 3; Northwest Gas
Association, et al. March 29, 2012 Comments at 1.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
15:04 Aug 24, 2012
Jkt 226001
the West routinely conduct joint
functional exercises?
4:30–5:30 General Discussion of Other
Region-Specific Issues Affecting
Gas-Electric Coordination
Electric markets in the West function
differently in California, the Pacific
Northwest and in the rest of the Western
Interconnect. To the extent not
discussed in the earlier roundtable
discussions, we’ll discuss these
differences as well as any specific issues
of concern to one or more of these subregions not touched on earlier.
Roundtable Participants:
➢ Richard Adams, Executive Director,
Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference
Committee
➢ Ed Brewer, Vice President,
Commercial Operations, Williams—
Northwest Pipeline
➢ Will Brown, Director-Commercial,
Kinder Morgan West Region Pipelines
➢ Tina Burnett, Senior Energy Analyst,
The Boeing Corporation (on behalf of
Process Gas Consumers Group)
➢ Stefan Byrd, Senior Vice President
Commercial and Trading (on behalf of
MidAmerican Energy Holdings
Company) (representing the common
views of Pacific Corp Energy and Kern
River Gas Transmission)
➢ Jan Caldwell, Manager, Marketing
Services, Williams—Northwest
Pipeline
➢ Shelley Corman, Senior Vice
President, Commercial & Regulatory,
Transwestern Pipeline Company
➢ John Dagg, Director of Gas
Transmission and System Operations,
Southern California Gas Company and
San Diego Gas & Electric
➢ Lynn Dahlberg, Director Marketing
Services, Williams—Northwest
Pipeline
➢ Curtis Dallinger, Director, Gas
Resource Planning, Xcel Energy
➢ Randy Friedman, Director, Gas
Supply, Northwest Natural Gas
➢ Paul Goldstein, Managing Director,
Sempra U.S. Gas & Power
➢ Roger Graham, Director Wholesale
Marketing & Business Development,
Pacific Gas & Electric
➢ Steve Harper, Director Gas Supply,
Avista Corp.
➢ Robert Hayes, Vice President of
Physical Trading and Operations,
Calpine Corporation
➢ Tom Haymaker, Slice Manager, Clark
Public Utilities
➢ Lee Hobbs, Senior Vice President,
TransCanada US Pipelines
➢ Skip Horvath, President, Natural Gas
Supply Association
➢ Kevin Johnson, Director, Gas Control,
Kinder Morgan Western Pipelines
➢ Dan Kirschner, Executive Director,
Northwest Gas Association
PO 00000
Frm 00051
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
➢ Ray Miller, Vice President, Pipeline
Management, Kinder Morgan
Pipelines
➢ John Moura, Associate Director,
Reliability Assessment, NERC
➢ Liam Noailles, Manager, Market
Operations, Xcel Energy
➢ Kent Price, Senior Marketing
Representative, Salt River Project
➢ Pete Richards, Director, Operations,
Gas Control & Measurement,
Williams—Northwest Pipeline
➢ Clay Riding, Director Natural Gas
Resources, Puget Sound Energy
➢ Andrew Soto, Senior Managing
Counsel, American Gas Association
➢ Reuben Tavares, Electric Generation
System Specialist, California Energy
Commission
➢ Justin Thompson, Director of
Business Support, Arizona Public
Service Company
➢ William Tom, Senior Manager, DayAhead Operations, Pacific Gas &
Electric
➢ Gregory Van Pelt, External Affairs
Manager, California ISO
➢ Craig Williams, Market Interface
Manager, Western Electricity
Coordinating Council
[FR Doc. 2012–20904 Filed 8–24–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[EPA–HQ–OAR–2008–0699; FRL–9721–6]
First Draft Documents Related to the
Review of the National Ambient Air
Quality Standards for Ozone
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of extension of comment
period.
AGENCY:
The EPA is announcing an
extension of the public comment period
for the first draft assessment documents
titled, Health Risk and Exposure
Assessment for Ozone, First External
Review Draft; Welfare Risk and
Exposure Assessment for Ozone, First
External Review Draft; and Policy
Assessment for the Review of the Ozone
National Ambient Air Quality
Standards: First External Review Draft.
The Agency is extending the comment
period by 31 days to provide
stakeholders and the public adequate
time to conduct appropriate analysis
and prepare meaningful comments on
these first draft assessment documents.
The original comment period was to end
on September 11, 2012. The extended
comment period will now close on
October 12, 2012.
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\27AUN1.SGM
27AUN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 166 (Monday, August 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51795-51798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-20904]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. AD12-12-000]
Coordination Between Natural Gas and Electricity Markets
Supplemental Notice of Technical Conference
As announced in the Notices issued on July 5, 2012 \1\ and July 17,
2012,\2\ the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) staff
will hold a technical conference on Tuesday, August 28, 2012, from 9
a.m. to approximately 5:30 p.m. local time to discuss gas-electric
coordination issues in the West region.\3\ The agenda and list of
roundtable participants for this conference is attached. This
conference is free of charge and open to the public. Commission members
may participate in the conference.
The West region technical conference will be held at the following
venue: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Portland, 1000 NE Multnomah Street,
Portland, OR, 97232, USA, Tel (reservations and other information): 1-
503-281-6111, 1-800-996-0510 (toll free).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Coordination between Natural Gas and Electricity Markets,
Docket No. AD12-12-000 (July 5, 2012) (Notice Of Technical
Conferences) (https://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/common/opennat.asp?fileID=13023450); 77 FR 41184 (July 12, 2012) (https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-07-12/pdf/2012-16997.pdf).
\2\ Coordination between Natural Gas and Electricity Markets,
Docket No. AD12-12-000 (July 17, 2012) (Supplemental Notice Of
Technical Conferences) (https://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/common/opennat.asp?fileID=13029403).
\3\ As indicated in the July 5, 2012 notice, for purposes of
this technical conference, the West region includes the Western
Interconnection.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have not already done so, those who plan to attend the West
region technical conference are strongly encouraged to complete the
registration form located at: www.ferc.gov/whats-new/registration/nat-gas-elec-mkts-form.asp. There is no deadline to register to attend the
conference. The dress code for the conference will be business casual.
The agenda and roundtable participants for the remaining technical
conferences will be issued in supplemental notices at later dates.
The West region technical conference will not be transcribed.
However, there will be a free audiocast of the conference. The
audiocast will allow persons to listen to the West region technical
conference, but not participate. Anyone with Internet access who
desires to listen to the West region conference can do so by navigating
to www.ferc.gov's Calendar of Events and locating the West region
technical conference in the Calendar. The West region technical
conference will contain a link to its audiocast. The Capitol Connection
provides technical support for audiocasts and offers the option of
listening to the meeting via phone-bridge for a fee. If you have any
questions, visit www.CapitolConnection.org or call 703-993-3100.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ The audiocast will continue to be available on the Calendar
of Events on the Commission's Web site www.ferc.gov for three months
after the conference.
_____________________________________-
Information on this and the other regional technical conferences
will also be posted on the Web site www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indus-act/electric-coord.asp, as well as the Calendar of Events on the
Commission's Web site www.ferc.gov. Changes to the agenda or list of
roundtable participants for the West region technical conference, if
any, will be posted on the Web site www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indus-act/electric-coord.asp prior to the conference.
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.
[[Page 51796]]
For more information about this and the other regional technical
conferences, please contact: Pamela Silberstein, Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE.,Washington, DC 20426, (202)
502-8938, Pamela.Silberstein@ferc.gov;Sarah McKinley, Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426,
(202) 502-8004, Sarah.McKinley@ferc.gov.
Dated: August 20, 2012.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN27AU12.000
Coordination Between Natural Gas and Electricity markets
Docket No. AD12-12-000
West Region--August 28, 2012, Portland, OR
Agenda
9-9:15 Welcome and Opening Remarks
9:15-9:45 Regional Energy Infrastructure Presentation (FERC staff)
9:45-12 First Roundtable Discussion: Gas-Electric Coordination and
Market Structures in the West
The Western region consists of bilateral markets, trading hubs, and
the organized wholesale energy markets of the California ISO (CAISO),
and varying access to fuel supplies and natural gas storage across
several sub-regions. Public and non-public utilities may participate in
these markets. Commenters in the West stress the need for regional and
even sub-regional approaches to gas-electric coordination, in light of
the different market structures and mix of resources that co-exist. The
Commission anticipates that the differing perspectives of the Pacific
Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Desert Southwest, and California sub-regions
will be reflected in the discussion of gas-electric coordination topics
and challenges.
Many within the Western region expect that a significant portion of
new generating capacity installed in the next ten years will use
natural gas as its primary fuel, which has raised concerns for some
regarding the sufficiency of pipeline capacity to accommodate this
growth in gas-fired generation. Approaches to addressing infrastructure
adequacy also vary across the region. Some commenters stress the need
for cost recovery mechanisms or other market enhancements that provide
incentives for appropriate fuel arrangements. Others emphasize
regionally-based approaches to determine whether this is demand for
additional pipeline capacity and services, or whether there are ways
the region can better deploy existing capacity to meet demand growth.
Some commenters suggest that the Commission has a role to play, in
terms of possible refinements to its blanket certificate process.
While some pipelines offer flexible pipeline and storage services,
commenters suggest that more flexibility and additional nomination
opportunities are needed by operators of gas-fired generation in some
areas. Commenters differ on the impact of the mismatch in the
scheduling and delivery timelines between the gas and electric
industries, with some calling for greater harmonization between natural
gas trading and transportation nomination and scheduling timelines and
electricity trading and scheduling times within the West, and others
contending that the gas-electric mismatch presents no significant
challenges or that it is a longer-term issue.
Roundtable participants are encouraged to be prepared to discuss
the following:
1. Describe the policies and practices in your region that impact
the procurement of gas transportation and storage capacity purchases by
gas-fired generators. What changes do you expect, if any, as the use of
gas for electric generation increases? Salt River Project in its
comments suggests the possible development of a gas-sharing pool
similar to regional electric reserve sharing pools.\5\ Would this type
of development help to address the disincentives to long-term gas
supply and transportation contracting noted by the California Public
Utilities Commission (CPUC)? \6\ Some commenters state that the West
already engages in substantial outage and maintenance coordination
between the electric and pipeline industries. How, if at all, is the
resulting knowledge of pipeline conditions taken into account in
electric dispatch and pricing decisions, and how is the resulting
knowledge of electric system conditions taken into account in pipeline
operational decisions?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power
District March 30, 2012 Comments at 2.
\6\ CPUC March 30, 2012 Comments at 7.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. How does your region approach the question of gas infrastructure
adequacy? Are there reforms to the organized wholesale electric market
rules that CAISO could consider as a possible means to allow a gas-
fired generator to recover the costs of contracting for gas
infrastructure expansion needed to serve electric markets in the
region? To what extent do bilateral contracts provide for the recovery
of such costs, both in CAISO and in the areas that do not have
organized markets? Commenters like Puget Sound Energy, Inc. (Puget
Sound Energy) suggest that the immediate need to add infrastructure
could be minimized by allowing pipeline capacity release for periods
longer than one year at greater than maximum tariff rate.\7\ What would
be the advantages and drawbacks to these proposals?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ Puget Sound Energy March 30, 2012 Comments at 10.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. What types of services offered by natural gas pipelines and
storage providers throughout the West would best meet the needs of gas-
fired generators in the region? Recognizing that some pipelines offer
additional nomination opportunities beyond the current standards, would
generators like to see additional operating flexibility in pipeline
services, and if so, what kind? For example, one commenter
[[Page 51797]]
recommends that the Commission encourage gas storage operators to offer
24-hour service and balancing services. Another described an
``intermittent gas'' product conceptually similar to conditional firm
electric transmission service.\8\ Would proposals like these address
generators' flexibility needs? Are these ideas feasible in the West,
and, if so, how could they be structured? What financial assurances
would gas pipelines and storage providers need to provide such
services?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power
District March 30, 2012 Comments at 2; MidAmerican Energy Holdings
Company March 30, 2012 Comments at 15.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. How diverse (or consistent) are nomination, scheduling and
commitment practices across the region? How do the regions' utilities
and generators manage the mismatch between the scheduling and
commitment timelines on the electric side in local time and the NAESB
standard gas pipeline practices? Are there areas in the West where this
is more of a problem to generators than elsewhere? If so, can the gas
and electric market scheduling timelines be adjusted in a way that
improves matters for those regions where it is a problem?
12-1:30 Break
1:30-2:45 Second Roundtable Discussion: Communications/Coordination/
Information-Sharing
Each of the sub-regions that make up the West has experienced
unexpected events that highlighted the need for improved communication
and coordination between electric and gas entities: For example,
Denver/the Rockies in December 2006; the Pacific Northwest in December
2009; California in September 2010; and the Southwest in February and
September 2011.\9\ Western commenters in this proceeding identified
possible improvements including enhanced communication during emergency
outages, coordination of maintenance outage scheduling, and FERC
clarification of allowed information sharing under existing rules,
particularly the Standards of Conduct.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ See ``Investigation of the Controlled Outages of February
18, 2006 by Public Service Company of Colorado,'' Docket No. 06I-
118EG, Initial Report to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission by
the Staff of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, July 7, 2006;
``Plugging Into Natural Gas,'' https://pnucc.org/sites/default/files/RidingNorthwestDec2009Event_0.pdf; https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/events/sanbruno.htm; ``Report on Outages and Curtailments During the
Southwest Cold Weather Event of February 1-5, 2011,'' https://www.ferc.gov/legal/staff-reports/08-16-11-report.pdf; ``Arizona-
Southern California Outages on September 8, 2011,'' https://www.ferc.gov/legal/staff-reports/04-27-2012-ferc-nerc-report.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments suggest that improving communications protocols between
the gas and electric industry is one issue that may lend itself to more
immediate resolution than other gas-electric coordination issues. This
panel will discuss whether there are adequate communication protocols
among the various stakeholders to assure appropriate gas-electric
coordination and identify potential solutions to any issues.
Roundtable participants are encouraged to be prepared to discuss
the following:
1. How are coordination and information-sharing regarding both
emergency and planned outages handled by affected gas and electric
entities in the different regions? Are improvements needed? Several
entities in the Northwest stated that the gas and electric utility
planners in the Northwest have initiated regular meetings to address
resiliency in a coordinated manner.\10\ What kind of coordination
occurs and what kind of information is shared and with whom in
preparation for extreme events that simultaneously and significantly
affect both the gas and electric sectors. Are there any limitations on
communication that seem unnecessarily restrictive? Should entities
coordinate weather forecasts?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ Puget Sound Energy March 30, 2012 Comments at 6; Northwest
Gas Association, et al., March 29, 2012 Comments at 1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. The gas pipelines in California and the CAISO have worked to
improve their coordination of planned outages. What is the impact of
electric system outages upon the gas system, and vice versa? Are
further changes needed to allow for the coordination of planned
outages? Will the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty and Job
Creation Act of 2011 impose new requirements upon inter-industry
communication and coordination? If so, how are the industries planning
for those new requirements?
3. Several commenters identified the nature of information that
currently is available and shared between gas and electric entities. Is
there additional information that needs to be shared that currently is
not being shared, and are all the relevant and necessary parties
included? Are the information-sharing mechanisms appropriate to the
circumstances? Are improvements needed and who should be responsible
for implementing improvements?
4. Parties in the West region expect increased reliance on gas-
fired generators to result in greater daily fluctuations in gas usage
than have been experienced in the past. For example, the 2012
California Gas Report prepared by the California Gas and Electric
Utilities projects that there will be higher daily fluctuations in gas
usage in the future, associated with the increase in renewable
generation in the state.\11\ What changes in communications and real
time data sharing protocols will be needed to accommodate these
expected variations?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ ``2012 California Gas Report Prepared by the California Gas
and Electric Utilities,'' July 2012, at 11; https://www.socalgas.com/regulatory/documents/cgr/2012%20CGR_Final.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Based on the experience in your region, what aspects of the FERC
Standards of Conduct (which govern the relationship between a
transmission provider and its marketing function) need to be clarified
or potentially revised to improve gas-electric communications and
coordination? For example, Puget Sound Energy recommends that the
Commission should clarify that the exception for a transmission
provider to disclose non-public transmission information with its
merchant function should not be limited solely to an emergency on the
transmission provider's system. Rather, Puget Sound Energy suggests
that the exception be broadened to include non-emergency situations to
prevent an emergency and also to permit communications to alleviate
emergencies on a nearby/regional transmission provider's system.\12\
Describe specific non-emergency situations to be covered by the
suggested clarification to the emergency exception to prohibited
communications. Although the Standards of Conduct do not restrict
transmission providers from communicating with each other, describe how
the Standards of Conduct prevent individuals managing resources on a
number of transmission systems in a region from conferring with each
other as suggested by Puget Sound Energy.
\12\ Puget Sound Energy March 30, 2012 Comments at 12-13.
2:45-3 Break
3-4:30 Third Roundtable Discussion: Reliability
The bulk electric system is typically planned, as required by the
mandatory reliability standards, to meet projected customer demands and
system performance criteria, even under single element contingency
conditions. Interstate natural gas pipelines are planned and expanded
to meet firm gas delivery contracts between the pipelines and one or
more shippers. As noted
[[Page 51798]]
above, almost all commenters from the West indicated they expect an
increased reliance on natural gas generation in the coming years, due
to economic and national policy factors. Commenters also expressed
concerns about the future reliability and interdependencies of the bulk
electric system and the interstate natural gas pipeline system as the
amount of natural gas-fired generation increases.
Roundtable participants are encouraged to be prepared to discuss
the following:
1. Is there a need for a minimum level of dependability in the fuel
supply for gas-fired generators? How would it be defined, who would
define it, and what would be the mechanism for accomplishing this? To
what extent is the dependability of fuel supply a required
specification in standardized contract documents for buying and selling
electricity? Should this be addressed regionally, and how can it be
addressed in the regions without organized markets? What role can or do
State Commissions play in defining or otherwise supporting requirements
for fuel dependability in all of the Western subregions?
2. Several commenters express concern about whether there are
particular reliability concerns in areas that lack underground natural
gas storage. What tools are available to regions to manage gas-fired
generation swings and preserve reliability, in areas without gas
storage? What happens when there are events that impact pipeline
deliverability in those regions?
3. To what extent do the regions in the West coordinate studies of
the natural gas and electric systems to analyze forecasted resource mix
and/or interdependency risks from curtailments or contingencies? Can
this be addressed through existing transmission planning processes or
are different processes needed?
4. Commenters from California and the Northwest highlighted ongoing
coordination efforts that allowed participants from the natural gas and
electric industries, as well as state regulators, to assess emergency
response plans and provided a forum to discuss and implement
improvements.\13\ Are sufficient emergency coordination procedures in
place in the West? Are these procedures routinely tested through
functional exercises or simulations? Should all regions within the West
routinely conduct joint functional exercises?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\13\ See, e.g., Northwest Industrial Gas Users March 30, 2012
Comments at 3; Northwest Gas Association, et al. March 29, 2012
Comments at 1.
4:30-5:30 General Discussion of Other Region-Specific Issues Affecting
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gas-Electric Coordination
Electric markets in the West function differently in California,
the Pacific Northwest and in the rest of the Western Interconnect. To
the extent not discussed in the earlier roundtable discussions, we'll
discuss these differences as well as any specific issues of concern to
one or more of these sub-regions not touched on earlier.
Roundtable Participants:
[rtarr8] Richard Adams, Executive Director, Pacific Northwest Utilities
Conference Committee
[rtarr8] Ed Brewer, Vice President, Commercial Operations, Williams--
Northwest Pipeline
[rtarr8] Will Brown, Director-Commercial, Kinder Morgan West Region
Pipelines
[rtarr8] Tina Burnett, Senior Energy Analyst, The Boeing Corporation
(on behalf of Process Gas Consumers Group)
[rtarr8] Stefan Byrd, Senior Vice President Commercial and Trading (on
behalf of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company) (representing the common
views of Pacific Corp Energy and Kern River Gas Transmission)
[rtarr8] Jan Caldwell, Manager, Marketing Services, Williams--Northwest
Pipeline
[rtarr8] Shelley Corman, Senior Vice President, Commercial &
Regulatory, Transwestern Pipeline Company
[rtarr8] John Dagg, Director of Gas Transmission and System Operations,
Southern California Gas Company and San Diego Gas & Electric
[rtarr8] Lynn Dahlberg, Director Marketing Services, Williams--
Northwest Pipeline
[rtarr8] Curtis Dallinger, Director, Gas Resource Planning, Xcel Energy
[rtarr8] Randy Friedman, Director, Gas Supply, Northwest Natural Gas
[rtarr8] Paul Goldstein, Managing Director, Sempra U.S. Gas & Power
[rtarr8] Roger Graham, Director Wholesale Marketing & Business
Development, Pacific Gas & Electric
[rtarr8] Steve Harper, Director Gas Supply, Avista Corp.
[rtarr8] Robert Hayes, Vice President of Physical Trading and
Operations, Calpine Corporation
[rtarr8] Tom Haymaker, Slice Manager, Clark Public Utilities
[rtarr8] Lee Hobbs, Senior Vice President, TransCanada US Pipelines
[rtarr8] Skip Horvath, President, Natural Gas Supply Association
[rtarr8] Kevin Johnson, Director, Gas Control, Kinder Morgan Western
Pipelines
[rtarr8] Dan Kirschner, Executive Director, Northwest Gas Association
[rtarr8] Ray Miller, Vice President, Pipeline Management, Kinder Morgan
Pipelines
[rtarr8] John Moura, Associate Director, Reliability Assessment, NERC
[rtarr8] Liam Noailles, Manager, Market Operations, Xcel Energy
[rtarr8] Kent Price, Senior Marketing Representative, Salt River
Project
[rtarr8] Pete Richards, Director, Operations, Gas Control &
Measurement, Williams--Northwest Pipeline
[rtarr8] Clay Riding, Director Natural Gas Resources, Puget Sound
Energy
[rtarr8] Andrew Soto, Senior Managing Counsel, American Gas Association
[rtarr8] Reuben Tavares, Electric Generation System Specialist,
California Energy Commission
[rtarr8] Justin Thompson, Director of Business Support, Arizona Public
Service Company
[rtarr8] William Tom, Senior Manager, Day-Ahead Operations, Pacific Gas
& Electric
[rtarr8] Gregory Van Pelt, External Affairs Manager, California ISO
[rtarr8] Craig Williams, Market Interface Manager, Western Electricity
Coordinating Council
[FR Doc. 2012-20904 Filed 8-24-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P