Regulators must also address technical questions around communications protocols and the type of information that should flow through the meter, or directly to an appliance through a third party application. NIST is working on a priority action plan to establish standards for this interaction; at the same time some States are selecting communications protocols and appliance manufacturers are planning the roll out of 2012 Smart Appliances.

This panel will help regulators understand the current landscape and the technical and policy choices at play for tapping into the power of energy information.

Moderator	Rich Sedano      RAP
Panelists	Christine Wright      Staff      PUCT Michael Terrell      Energy Policy Director      Google, Inc. Kevin Messner      VP Gov't Relations      Assn. of Home Appliance Manufacturers Wayne Harbaugh      BGE Wayne Longcore      Director      Consumer Energy Laurence Daniels      DC People's Counsel

Regulators must also address technical questions around communications protocols and the type of information that should flow through the meter, or directly to an appliance through a third party application. NIST is working on a priority action plan to establish standards for this interaction; at the same time some States are selecting communications protocols and appliance manufacturers are planning the roll out of 2012 Smart Appliances.

This panel will help regulators understand the current landscape and the technical and policy choices at play for tapping into the power of energy information.

Moderator	Rich Sedano      RAP
Panelists	Christine Wright      Staff      PUCT Michael Terrell      Energy Policy Director      Google, Inc. Kevin Messner      VP Gov't Relations      Assn. of Home Appliance Manufacturers Wayne Harbaugh      BGE Wayne Longcore      Director      Consumer Energy Laurence Daniels      DC People's Counsel

A view of the challenges and responses by the utility sectors to assure delivery of vital utility services, including a discussion of interdependencies.

Speakers

Susan Moore      Director, Telecom Management Division      U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Nicholas Santillo, Jr.      Senior Manager, Operations Security      American Water George Gacser      Manager, Emergency Management      PEPCO Matt Wombacher      Protective Security Advisor, Capital Region      Department of Homeland Security

With the recent award of Stimulus Bill money for interconnection-wide planning, and the pendency in Congress of sweeping energy legislation that may cap greenhouse gas emissions, establish a national renewable portfolio standard and increase the likelihood of federal preemption over the siting of major transmission lines, the electric grid has never been a more important subject of policy debate than it is today. The purpose of this session is to explore some key regulatory issues that can be expected to dramatically reshape the ongoing development of the electric grid over the next decade.

The fact that region-wide transmission planning efforts are underway in both the Eastern and Western Interconnections is unprecedented. How will these efforts be undertaken and what kind of outcomes can we expect to result? Intermittent renewable resources will inevitably provide a much higher percentage of our electricity in 10 years than they do now. What will such increased reliance on renewables require in terms of additional infrastructure in order to assure that intermittency does not adversely affect reliability, and, specifically, what regulatory changes are needed to facilitate the development of this needed infrastructure? To the extent that we will be relying on additional renewable resources, major new transmission lines will be needed to access those resources. What are the biggest constraints facing the development of such resources, and what are the best policy tools to manage those constraints? And finally, this needed new transmission infrastructure will be expensive and will in many cases move energy across multiple states from where the resources are to where the load is. Who will pay for this new infrastructure, and what are the optimal ways to allocate the costs of these projects among project beneficiaries?

Moderators	Diane Barney      Chair      Staff Subcommittee on Electric Reliability Laurence G. Chaset      Chair      Staff Subcommittee on Electricity
Panelists	John Buechler      Executive Regulatory Policy Advisor-NYISO      Eastern Interconnection Planning Collaborative Mason Emnett      Office of Energy Policy and Innovation      FERC Udi Helman      Integration of Renewable Resources Program      California ISO Bill Malcolm      Manager, State Regulatory Relations      Midwest ISO Rick Gonzales      Vice-President, Operations      New York ISO

Moderator	Hon. Timothy A. Simon      Chairman, DOE/LNG, Co-Vice Chair, Committee on Gas      California PUC
Panelists	Michael Petras      NextFuels Hal Snyder      Sempra David Freeman      TeamOne Energy Ron Edelstein      Director, Regulatory and Government Relations      Gas Technology Institute

This standard has the potential to become the new international benchmark in asset management. It has the potential to improve a utility's bottom line and to enhance operational performance. If properly implemented, it may provide clear evidence of good practices to customers, investors, and regulators. Additionally, it assists in providing assurance that cost/benefits, risk management, sustainability, and a focus on customers are not just talk but are delivered through capital project implementation.

Moderator

John Shearman      President and CEO      UMS Group Inc.

NARUC policy was re-affirmed in 2008 to basically persist in urging the federal government to fulfill its statutory and contractual obligation to remove the spent fuel from reactor storage sites for safe permanent disposal. NARUC has also called for fundamental reform of how the Nuclear Waste Fund, into which nuclear utilities and their ratepayers have paid over $31 billion in fees and interest, is managed.

This session will be a reconsideration of NARUC policy and how to represent the ratepayers' interests before the blue-ribbon commission.

Moderator	Hon. David Wright      Commissioner      South Carolina Public Service Commission
Panelists	Sarah Hofmann      Chair, Staff Subcommittee on Nuclear Issues      VT DPS Brian O'Connell      Dir. Nuclear Waste Program Office      NARUC Representative      Nuclear Energy Institute

Moderator

Dave Harbour      Moratoria Study Group Vice Chairman. Commissioner Emeritus      Regulatory Commission of Alaska

Panelists

Hon. Robert M. Pickett      Moratoria Study Group Participant. Chairman      Regulatory Commission of Alaska Rick Irby      Moratoria Study Project Manager      SAIC John W. Broderick      Moratoria Study Group Official Observer. Sr. Economist      US Bureau of Land Management, Minerals and Realty Management Grace D. Soderberg      Moratoria Study Group Participant/Contributor. Director Energy Supply      Edison Electric Institute Michelle Michot Foss, PhD      Moratoria Study Group Official Observer. Chief Energy Economist and Head      Center for Energy Economics, Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas Chris McGill      Moratoria Study Group Contributor. Managing Director Policy Analysis      American Gas Association David Holt      Moratoria Study Group Participant/Contributor. President      Consumer Energy Alliance

By enabling access to previously untapped shale basins, hydraulic fracturing has been projected to increase the nation’s gas supply by over 35%. Yet, uncertainty about potentially adverse environmental impacts, including concerns about drinking and agricultural water contamination, have raised questions about potential unintended environmental consequences.

This panel will address the basics of hydraulic fracturing, debate the environmental concerns surrounding fracking, and review the technological and policy approaches that may enable access to shale natural gas while protecting water and other natural resources.

Moderator

Hon. Bob Anthony      Chairman      Oklahoma Corporation Commission

Panelists

Hon. Barry Smitherman      Chairman      Public Utility Commission of Texas Steve Heare      Director, Drinking Water Protection Division, Office of Grandwater and Drinking Water      US EPA Bill Kappel      US Geological Survey Michael Bahorich      Executive Vice President and Technology Officer      Apache Corporation Nancy Johnson      Director, Environmental Science and Policy Analysis      DOE Office of Oil and Natural Gas

Are today’s industry approaches for planning, financing, building, siting, and paying for distribution, transmission, generation, demand response, energy efficiency, and energy storage resources adequate for completing this transition? If not, what new approaches in each of these areas will be necessary? The Keynote panelists will discuss what the transition to this new clean energy world will entail, what will comprise the new electricity infrastructure, and how the systems will be operated.

The Keynote Panelists will address some of these questions:

* What is your definition of a clean energy economy?
* What is your view on what devices, structures and regional systems are needed to achieve a clean energy economy?
* What are the major drivers in a clean energy economy?
* How should the new energy economy be financed?
* What will be the game changers in this new electric power system?
* What are the barriers to moving to a new clean energy economy?
* What will be the role of government in the clean energy economy?
* What are the long-term expected financial drivers for enabling a clean energy economy?
* Will there be a shift in how energy is financed, given the changes in the marketplace over the past year?
* How can state and federal tax policies affect investments in clean energy?
* What will be the impact to consumers?

Moderator	Susan Tierney      Principal      Analysis Group, Inc.
Panelists	Dan Bakal      Director of Electric Power Programs      Ceres Hon. Garry Brown      Chair, NYPSC      Chair, NARUC Committee on Electricity John Podesta      President and CEO      Center for American Progress Thomas King      President      National Grid USA Carl Pope      Executive Director      Sierra Club Hon. Jon Wellinghoff      Chairman      FERC

The panel may be asked the following questions:

* Is coordinated planning critical for delivering remotely located renewable energy to markets? Are there examples where long-term coordinated planning has worked well in conjunction with market-based decision making? Are there best practices to follow?
* What should be the long-term role of DOE and other federal agencies in long-term system planning? What role should DOE have in market design and operations?
* Presumably interconnection-level analyses must precede any form of interconnection-level planning. Would market-based decision-making be enhanced by the availability of information from such analyses?
* What are some of the possible meanings of the term "interconnection-level transmission plan?" What are the possible effects, positive and negative, of such plans?

Moderator	David Meyer      Senior Policy Advisor, Ofc of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability      US DOE
Panelists	Hon. Lauren Azar      Commissioner      Wisconsin Public Service Commission Christian Brosseau      President, HQ Energy Services US      Hydro Québec Doug Larson      Director      Western Governors Association Hon. Marc Spitzer      Commissioner      FERC Gordon van Welie      CEO      Independent System Operator-New England

(Luncheon is open to the registrants of the National Electricity Forum only. Tickets will be required for entry to this luncheon. Tickets will be distributed with Name Badges at registration.)

Speaker

Hon. Gaétan Caron      Chair and CEO, National Energy Board of Canada      Vice Chair, NARUC Committee on International Relations

The panelists may be asked to address the following questions:

* What will the implications be for the electricity sector when carbon emission mandates become law?
* How will consumers be affected, and how should this be addressed?
* How will carbon mandates impact efforts to modernize the Nation’s electricity grid?
* What role will new technologies play in the future? How viable are these technologies, and what is the timeline for deployment?
* What should be the plan if CCS fails?

Moderator	Peter Behr      Journalist      E&E News
Panelists	Richard Cowart      Principal      Regulatory Assistance Project William McCollum      CEO      Tennessee Valley Authority Hon. Richard Morgan      Commissioner      DC PSC William D Schulze, Ph.D.      Professor of Applied Economics and Public Policy      Cornell University

The panelists may be asked the following questions:

* What undeveloped technologies might play a transformative role? What will be needed to evaluate their practical potential? How would you handicap the potential of each technology?
* How do we "get it right"? What if we invest heavily in the "wrong" technologies? How do we move forward in an atmosphere of technological uncertainty, without foreclosing the ability to deploy "superior" technologies if and when they are developed?
* If deployment of PHEVs in the next decade achieves the high levels of some projections, major changes to the electric system infrastructure will be required. What near-term actions are needed to support the deployment of PHEVs? What is the "chicken" and what is the "egg"?
* What role beyond R&D should DOE play in encouraging the development and deployment of any of these wild cards?
* How should rate regulators balance the need to protect utilities that are early adopters of new technologies from losses and the need to protect utility customers from paying for investors’ mistakes?

Moderator	Sam Baldwin      Chief Technology Officer, Ofc of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy      US DOE
Panelists	Dan Arvizu      Director      National Renewable Energy Laboratory Hon. Arun Majumdar      Director, ARPA-Energy      US DOE Peter Mandelstam      President, Bluewater Wind      Chair, AWEA Offshore Wind Working Group Arshad Mansoor      Vice President      Electric Power Research Institute Hon. Warren F. Miller      Assistant Secretary for Nuclear      US DOE

The panel may be asked the following questions:

* What will the smart grid look like? What public policies are needed to ensure a successful shift to a smart grid?
* Are micro-grids the wave of the future? Do they ensure a greater degree of reliability than regional grids?
* What actions can be taken now that will get the deployment of existing smart grid technologies started?
* How will the expanded deployment of AMI technologies aid in ensuring reliability?
* What is the scale of investment needed to expand both smart grid and transmission on a national scale?
* How do we ensure that today’s needed assets – the latest and greatest meter or other smart grid component - don’t become tomorrow’s stranded assets?
* Will / should regulators wait until manufacturing costs are lower before approving these newer systems?
* Can software updates at nominal incremental costs to users be developed for meter and other smart grid components?

Moderator

Hon. Pat Oshie      Commissioner, WUTC      Chair, NARUC Committee on ERE

Panelists

Nancy Brockway      Principal      NBrockway & Associates Hon. Paul Centolella      Commissioner      Ohio Public Utilities Commission Robert Gilligan      Vice President for Transmission and Distribution      GE Energy Professor Mark Johnson      Director of Industry and Innovation Programs      Future Renewable Electricity Energy Delivery and Management Systems Center Anne Pramaggiore      President      ComEd

The panel will discuss the implications of energy efficiency program planning for overall system planning. Issues to be discussed include the challenges to extensive deployment; the role of government, energy industry participants and consumers; and the linkages between energy efficiency planning and transmission and generation investment decisions. The panel will discuss these issues in the context of transforming the Nation’s electricity delivery system in the clean energy economy.

The panel will discuss the following questions:

* Can energy efficiency reduce transmission needs?
* Can energy efficiency programs compete with other technologies or are efforts to deploy innovative technologies too strong?
* What happens to energy efficiency after the massive one-time push from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act?
* Is ratepayer-funded energy efficiency still relevant given other funding streams?
* Can the Nation deploy energy efficiency at a much larger scale? If so, should it be done?
* If energy efficiency is the key to a clean energy economy, should it be nationally mandated?
* How can large and small consumers be encouraged or incented to undertake energy efficiency?
* Should federal energy efficiency standards be considered in conjunction with renewable energy standards or should they be separate?
* Are utilities structured/equipped to implement energy efficiency programs or are such programs best implemented and administered by independent entities?

Moderator	Steven Nadel      Director      American Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy
Panelists	Terry Boston      CEO      PJM Interconnection LLC Hon. Kathleen Hogan      Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency      US DOE Hon. Joseph Kelliher      Executive Vice President, Federal Regulatory Affairs      FPL Group Chris Miller      President      Piedmont Environmental Council Hon. John Savage      Commissioner      Oregon Public Utility Commission

It is often difficult for policymakers to make informed electricity infrastructure decision when future fuel prices cannot be forecast reliably. When fuel prices are low, the zeal for new resources dims, and more natural gas, for example, is chosen to generate electricity. While federal carbon legislation may include support for renewable energy, many believe that renewable energy resources alone cannot meet the Nation’s energy needs, and that natural gas will be relied on increasingly for electricity generation, over new nuclear power and clean coal generation. Yet, carbon emissions from burning natural gas could become less acceptable in the years ahead if the world must adopt more stringent climate control measures. The panel will discuss how to pursue a long-term goal for a clean energy economy when investment decisions may be driven in large part by changing economic conditions, fuel prices, environmental regulations, and government policies.

The panel may be asked the following questions:

* Can the industry maintain constant pursuit of a long-term goal for a clean energy economy in the face of transitory trends?
* To what degree are power industry plans for the next half-century affected by near-term factors such as the current state of the economy, unusual investor caution at the present time, today’s fuel prices, current environmental regulations, and today’s government policies?
* If transitory factors play a significant role, is this approach to long-term planning satisfactory, and if not, what are the alternatives?
* Can economically sound generation, transmission, and other investment decisions be made with uncertainty about fuel prices and the price of carbon over the long term?
* How will the passage of Federal climate change legislation affect the use of natural gas for new electric generation? How will it affect coal and nuclear power?
* How can regulators best oversee utility investment choices in light of the wide range of available choices and the uncertainty about future prices and trends?

Moderator	Hon. Erin O'Connell-Diaz      Commissioner      Illinois Commerce Commission
Panelists	Hon. Ronald Binz      Chairman      Colorado Public Utilities Commission Benjamin Fowke      President and CEO      Xcel Energy Robert Johnston      President and CEO      Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia Ronald Litzinger      CEO      Edison Mission Energy Philip Sharp      President      Resources for the Future