Federal Trade Commission Public Workshop:

Market Power and Consumer Protection Issues
Involved with Encouraging Competition in the U.S. Electric Industry

AGENDA

In recent years, states and the Federal government have taken steps to encourage restructuring and competition in the electricity industry, including the elimination of regulatory barriers. The FTC recognizes these issues are vast and interrelated and that states could derive substantial benefit from sharing ideas and experiences in these areas. The FTC, the National Council on Competition and the Electric Industry and the National Regulatory Research Institute seek to convene a workshop that will allow such idea sharing on two topics that bear directly on the FTC's expertise -- market power (e.g., evaluating and addressing horizontal market power concerns in generation) and consumer protection (e.g., disclosures by electric service providers of environmental attributes of power they are selling). The intent of the workshop is to provide a forum for discussing the experience under policies that have been implemented at the state level, rather than attempting to provide all of the answers to a complex set of issues that vary by region and locale.

NOTICE: To fully accommodate the strong public interest in the workshop, the location of the workshop has changed. It will be held in the Moot Court Auditorium at the Georgetown University Law Center, 600 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. The best entrance to the Moot Court Auditorium is on F Street, NW between First Street, NW and Second Street, NW. The closest Metro stop is Judiciary Square on the Red Line.

Monday, September 13, 1999

8:15 a.m.
Registration and Refreshments

9:00 a.m.
Introductory Remarks

Susan S. DeSanti, Director, Office of Policy Planning, Federal Trade Commission
 
Robert Pitofsky, Chairman, Federal Trade Commission
 
9:15 a.m.
Session I: Retail Competition in Pioneer States
 
Panel A: What Approaches Did Pioneer States Take in Promoting Retail Electricity Competition? 
(9:15 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.)
 
Moderator: 
Sheila F. Anthony, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission
 
Panelists:
P. Gregory Conlon, Former President, California Public Utilities Commission
 
Paul B. Vasington, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy
 
Nora Mead Brownell, Commissioner, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
 
Herbert H. Tate, President, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities

10:15 a.m. Break

Panel B: Assessment of the Results to Date of Pioneer State Reform Efforts
(10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.)
 
Moderator: 
Michael S. Wroblewski, Advocacy Coordinator, Office of Policy Planning, Federal Trade Commission
 
Panelists:
Irwin A. Popowsky, Consumer Advocate, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 
Alfred E. Kahn, Professor, Cornell University and Special Consultant to National Economic Research Associates, Inc. (Representing Edison Electric Institute)
 
John A. Anderson, Executive Director, Electricity Consumers Resource Council (ELCON)
 
Thomas M. Lenard, Vice-President for Research, The Progress and Freedom Foundation

12:00 p.m.
Lunch Break (On Your Own)

1:15 p.m.

Session II: Existing Market Power in Retail Markets
Panel A: How Have States Addressed Existing Market Power?
(1:15 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.)
 
Moderators: 
Charles D. Gray, Executive Director & General Counsel, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners; 
 
David A. Balto, Assistant Director, Policy and Evaluation, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission
 
Panelists:
Nora Mead Brownell, Commissioner, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
 
Herbert H. Tate, President, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities
 
P. Gregory Conlon, Former President, California Public Utilities Commission
 
James E. Doyle, Attorney General, State of Wisconsin

2:15 p.m. Break

2:30 p.m.

Panel B: Assessment of State Efforts to Address Existing Market Power
(2:30 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.)
 
Moderators: 
John Hilke, Electricity Project Coordinator, Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade Commission; 
 
Jade A. Eaton, Attorney, United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division
 
Panelists:
Paul L. Joskow, Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 
Richard S. Shapiro, Vice President State Government Affairs, Enron Corp.
 
John L. (Roy) Thilly, Chief Executive Officer, Wisconsin Public Power Inc. (Representing American Public Power Association)
 
Albert A. Foer, President, American Antitrust Institute

3:45 p.m.

Session III: How Does Wholesale Competition for Generation Affect Retail Electricity Competition? (3:45 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.)
 
Moderator: 
John Hilke, Electricity Project Coordinator, Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade Commission
 
Panelists:
Kevin Kelly, Deputy Director, Office of Electric Power Regulation, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
 
Daniel M. Adamson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Power Technologies, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, United States Department of Energy
 
Craig A. Glazer, Commissioner, Ohio Public Utilities Commission
 
Jerry Ellig, Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason University
 
Jan Smutny-Jones, Chairman, Board of Governors, California Independent System Operator; Executive Director, Independent Energy Producers Association

Tuesday, September 14, 1999

8:15 a.m.
Registration and Refreshments

9:00 a.m.
Introductory Remarks
Richard H. Cowart, Executive Director, National Council on Competition and the Electric Industry
 
Mozelle W. Thompson, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission (videotape)
 
Raymond Lawton, Director, National Regulatory Research Institute

9:15 a.m.
Session IV: Affiliate Rules or Codes of Conduct

Panel A: How Have States Developed Affiliate Rules or Codes of Conduct? (9:15 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.)
 
Moderator: 
Orson Swindle, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission
 
Panelists:
Judy M. Sheldrew, Chairman, Nevada Public Utilities Commission
 
Francis Ackerman, Assistant Attorney General, State of Maine
 
Paul B. Vasington, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of
Telecommunications and Energy
 

10:15 a.m. Break

10:30 a.m.
 
Panel B: Assessment of State Use of Affiliate Rules or Codes of Conduct (10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.)
 
Moderators: 
Marimichael O. Skubel, Coordinator for Regional Offices and State/Federal Relations, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission; 
 
Milton Marquis, Senior Counsel, United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division
 
Panelists:
Christie Day Leiser, Senior Counsel, Conectiv

Aaron Thomas, Manager of Regulatory and Government Relations, NewEnergy, Inc.
 
B. Dean Stanley, President and Chief Executive Officer, Kenergy Corp.
(Representing National Rural Electric Cooperative Association)
 
Kenneth W. Costello, Associate Director, Electric and Gas Division, National Regulatory Research Institute
 
Peter M. VanDoren, Editor, Regulation, The Cato Institute

12:00 p.m.
Lunch (On Your Own)

1:30 p.m.
 
Session V: Advertising and Disclosure of Environmental Attributes and Price (1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.)
 
Moderator: 
Mary Koelbel Engle, Assistant Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Enforcement Division, Federal Trade Commission
 
Panelists:
Richard H. Cowart, Executive Director, National Council on Competition and the Electric Industry
 
Shawn Pittard, Policy Advisor to Commissioner Michal Moore, California Energy Commission
 
Jan Hamrin, Executive Director, Center for Resource Solutions
 
Fred Schmidt, President, National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates;
 
Consumer Advocate, Nevada Public Service Commission
 
Diane Pirkey, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, United States Department of Energy

3:00 p.m. Break

3:15 p.m.
 
Session VI: Supplier Practices in a Retail Environment (3:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.)
 
Moderator: 
Gina Schaar Howard, Enforcement Division, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission
 
Panelists:
Barbara R. Alexander, Consumer Affairs Consultant
 
Richard P. Sedano, Commissioner, Vermont Department of Public Service
 
Alan S. Hirsch, Special Deputy Attorney General, Director of Consumer
Protection/Antitrust/Utilities, North Carolina Department of Justice
 
Peter H. Zamore, Vice-President, General Counsel and Secretary, GreenMountain.com
 
Carole L. Reynolds, Financial Practices Division, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission