On June 18, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) announced that it will hold two separate technical conferences later this year.  First, FERC will hold a Commissioner-led technical conference on September 30, 2020 to discuss issues related to carbon dioxide emission pricing (i.e., “carbon pricing”) as adopted by states in FERC-jurisdictional wholesale electricity markets (“Carbon Pricing in Organized Wholesale Electricity Markets”).  Second, FERC staff will hold a technical conference on October 27, 2020 to discuss whether existing frameworks for transmission, interconnection, and merchant transmission facilities can incorporate the growing offshore wind generation efficiently and effectively (“Offshore Wind Integration in RTOs/ISOs”).

Chairman Chatterjee highlighted both conferences during FERC’s open meeting on June 18, 2020.  Regarding the carbon pricing conference, Chairman Chatterjee stated that the conference will be “a forward-looking conversation about carbon pricing mechanisms in FERC-jurisdictional wholesale electricity markets.” Regarding the offshore wind integration conference, Chairman Chatterjee stated that it would provide an opportunity to have a “broad conversation” to better understand how to improve policies and rules to “continue to enable efficient and effective transmission infrastructure into the future” to support offshore wind.  Commissioner Glick commended Chairman Chatterjee for initiating the conference on offshore wind integration and noted that he looks forward to “digging in” with relevant stakeholders to explore “the most efficient approach for accommodating the growth of offshore wind.”

Notice for the Carbon Pricing in Organized Wholesale Electricity Markets is available here with calendar details available here.  The conference will be free and open to the public.  FERC will issue supplemental notices with details on the agenda, how to register, and format (i.e., held in-person at FERC’s headquarters with a WebEx option or solely electronically).

Notice for the Offshore Wind Integration in RTOs/ISOs is available here with calendar details here.  A self-nomination form for a person interested in joining the conference as a panelist may be found here and must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, August 14, 2020.  Those interested in attending the conference may register to attend here.  As with the other conference, FERC will issue supplemental notices with details on the agenda, how to register, and format.

In the past, FERC has used technical conferences such as this to gather information to support future policy statements and rulemakings.