The IEEE-USA Energy Policy Committee (EPC) is closely following energy policy legislation that is currently being considered by a joint House/Senate conference committee. The conference committee will attempt to reconcile differing versions of the bill passed by each chamber. At issue for the EPC is a provision in the Senate bill that will create a self-regulating electric reliability organization. The new organization, the North American Electric Reliability Organization. NAERO, would build on the successful voluntary industry-created North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) and provide necessary legislative authority to transform this volunteer organization into a means to assure the reliability of the complete North American Electric grid, including the elements that lie within Canada and Mexico. The House bill does not include the provision. The committee sent letters to conferees and members of the committee met key Congressional staffers urging support for the Senate provisions.

The committee is also currently reviewing the recent report distributed by the Department of Energy’s National Transmission Grid Study (NTGS). The study, released in May of 2002, recommends ways to “facilitate investment in the Nation’s transmission infrastructure to improve reliability and reduce electricity costs to consumers.” In addition, delegates from the committee met with Senate appropriations staffers to urge their support for an increase in funding for Transmission Reliability Research in the FY2003 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill.

Ned Sauthoff, the NPSS Liaison to the IEEE-USA Energy Policy Committee, can be reached at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, MS-37, P.O. Box 451, Princeton, NJ  08543; Phone: +1 609 243-3207; Fax: +1 609 243-3266; E-mail: n.sauthoff@ieee.org.