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Enron Mail |
To Energy Committee Members, Principal Officers and Liaison Representatives:
ENERGY UPDATE - June 26, 2001 ***************************** Conservation: On Thursday, June 7 our Board Chair, Dr. James Woody signed on to the Energy Conservation Declaration of Action on behalf of the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group. Sponsored by the Bay Area Council, the Declaration represents an outward commitment to conservation and the quality of life and economic vitality of California. More than 50 business organizations and 120 CEO's signed on to help make this campaign a success. *********************************************** Load Management: On June 6 John Wilson of the California Energy Commission, along with his consultants John Flory and Mike O'Sheasy, presented the CEC proposed RTP Tariff to the Energy Committee and asked for our endorsement. Members of the Committee thoroughly reviewed the proposal and conducted case studies. The Committee submitted three main caveats to the CEC, upon which our endorsement depended. The CEC was very receptive to our concerns and amended the Tariff language to the Committee's satisfaction. If adopted, we are encouraged that many SVMG member companies can benefit from participating in the Real Time Pricing program due to our influence. Final adjustments to the language are being prepared and the CEC is expecting that this item will be heard by the California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday, June 28. We will let you know how this unfolds. After months of effort, we have succeeded in putting together a Blackout Notification System that will provide California employers, residents, and public safety officers with adequate time to respond to an impending rolling blackout. This system provides not only a 1-hour advanced warning before a blackout could occur, but also includes 48 and 24-hour notices that blackouts might happen due to predicted hot weather conditions, and/or a lack of energy supply, or planned and unplanned maintenance at generation facilities. The proactive approach will include a system by which residents and employers can have their extensive contact information such as e-mails, pagers, and cell phones listed in a database. This will help us better prepare for a blackout with more adequate time to power down assembly lines, projects, and computers, and power up emergency generators. We can also help prevent blackouts by taking early action. **************************************************************************** ***** Generation / Transmission: Included in the attached Energy Matrix is a listing of the different infrastructure projects that the SVMG has helped to endorse. There is also a link to our website where you can obtain more information on the projects. You will also find a section that provides an update to project status. The SVMG will continue to review and support needed infrastructure projects as they are presented to us. **************** Legislation / Regulation: For the past three weeks John Redding, Justin Bradley, and Derek Naten have been representing the SVMG in a series of meetings in Sacramento with a broad coalition of consumer, business/industrial, environmentalists, and labor groups, and Southern California Edison Company to influence a proposed regional energy plan. Discussion convened daily in an effort to solve the financial issues surrounding the SCE and DWR undercollections. SVMG has also been working with business groups to leverage our strength for a fair and comprehensive energy plan for California that would consist of an equitable (proportional) allocation of costs of utility and DWR undercollections between all customer classes, the restoration of a market with customer choice through direct access to bilateral electricity contracts, and the removal of barriers to on-site generation. We are currently stalled at this stage of the negotiations due to the enormous uncertainty of the terms and conditions of the DWR contract portfolio. We are encouraged, however, and will keep you updated. On June 17 Justin Bradley, our Energy Director testified in front of the House Budget Committee in Washington, DC advocating for research and development funding through the National Energy Reliability Initiative. Through his efforts we are aiming to influence a national energy policy that will help California as we continue to look forward at our energy situation. One way we will do this is to maintain a working and regular relationship with our federal representatives. Justin will be facilitating a bi-weekly dialogue with representatives Honda, Lofgren and Eshoo to exchange information about legislation and policy with our Legislative Subcommittee. We will let you know more when Justin returns. ************************* Energy Committee News: Please join us in welcoming the new co-chair of our Energy Committee. Joe Desmond, President and CEO of Infotility, has nearly 20 years of experience in the energy field. He is determined, bright, and enthusiastic about his work. Joe has a wealth of impressive experience in energy and leadership and a thorough knowledge of energy and the associated issues facing the SVMG companies. He has been an active and valued member of the Energy Committee, and has provided much leadership on salient issues, including Blackout Notification, Real Time Pricing, and Direct Access. We are excited to welcome Joe as our new Energy Committee co-chair and are confident that, along with the talent and expertise of John Redding and the entire committee, we will continue to lead as California resolves its energy crisis. Thanks to KC Mares for all his work as former co-chair and, although he will continue to participate, KC we will miss you! **************************************************************************** ********** Attached is our Energy Matrix. Through this matrix we intend to keep track of our activities on energy. When new business is reported on, old business will be added to the matrix, which will be updated weekly. If you have any questions, please call Justin Bradley at 408-501-7852. - Regulatory and Legislative Update.doc
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