On May 28, 2013, FERC announced that it will hold a technical conference on the California Independent System Operator Corporation’s (“CAISO”) proposal to provide financial assistance to resources that are either at risk for retirement or are uneconomic, but are still needed for flexible capacity and local reliability (the “FLRR Mechanism”).  Previously, on March 29, 2013, the Commission rejected CAISO’s proposed FLRR Mechanism (see April 5, 2013 edition of the WER).  In its March 29th order, the Commission directed FERC staff to convene a technical conference with CAISO, the California Public Utilities Commission and other industry participants to identify possible solutions to underlying reliability issues presented by CAISO in its FLRR Mechanism filing on December 12, 2012.

The technical conference will be held on July 31st from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm (Pacific Time) and August 1st from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm at the California Natural Resources Agency, and led by FERC Staff, with presentations by panelists.  FERC stated in its announcement that the technical conference should “facilitate a structured dialogue on flexible and local resources at risk of retirement for CAISO and its stakeholders” and look at developing incentives, through a market-based mechanism, that will ensure that reliability needs are met.

The technical conference will be available via audiocast on FERC’s website, and participants can pre-register to attend in person.  An agenda and supplemental notice will be issued prior to the technical conference.

The Commission’s notice is available here.