APEGGA Events: Oct 17, 2002

APEGGA Events
17
October 2002, Thursday

DATE: Thursday, October 17, 2002

TIME: 11:15 a.m. Registration
11:45 a.m. Luncheon
12:15 p.m. Guest Speaker

LOCATION: The Fairmont Palliser Hotel
133 9 Avenue SW

COST: $25.00 Members / General Public
$12.50 Students

GUEST SPEAKER: Murray Nelson, P.Eng.

TOPIC: "An Update on Alberta's Electricity Market"

Electricity deregulation began in 1995 with the passage of the Electricity & Utility Act which created an hourly wholesale market for electricity and ended regulation for any new generation built after 1996. This act was further amended in 1998 to deregulate utility-owned generation and to introduce customer choice both in 2001

Deregulation was put to the test in 2001 during what many describe as the perfect storm - high natural gas prices, a tight supply situation in Alberta and the impact of a 'seriously flawed market' in California combined to create record high wholesale prices. The wholesale market responded as it was designed to do, but as anything that is stress tested to that degree, we found some areas to strengthen.

While the large retail market is functioning well, the small retail market is taking longer to evolve. This was not entirely unexpected since the 1998 amendments included a 5 year regulated rate option to allow for the transition. However, the small retail market has hit roadblocks in many jurisdictions and the government recently announced decisions on the future of the RRO to reflect those circumstances. In addition some directional decisions must be made to provide certainty to both customers and retailers for this market to evolve more quickly.

Finally, since the two major cities have expanded their electricity businesses outside their municipal boundaries, they must compete on the same basis as investor-owned companies. The speech will elaborate on each of these paragraphs and also provide a time-line for these changes to be implemented.

You can find further information at http://www.apegga.org./ To ensure adequate seating, please obtain a ticket from one of the ticket agents listed on the reverse; or pre-register with the Calgary APEGGA office at 262-7714 before Friday, October 11, 2002. The Calgary Branch now accepts Visa, MasterCard, or American Express for tickets sold prior to the day of the event.

LAKELAND BRANCH PD EVENING & FISH FRY

WHERE: Kin Hall (Harbourview Community Center), 1301 8 Avenue - Cold Lake

TIME; 6:00 pm

COST: $10 Members, $15 Non-Members

SPEAKER: Stuart Nadeau, Senior Regulatory Advisor, Imperial Oil Resources

TOPIC: "Engineering and the Environment"

This session will qualify for 1.5 PDHs.

Please RSVP to Andrew Wright (780) 639-5290 or andrew.b.wright@esso.com by October 14, 2002.

Payments to the branch can only be made by cash or cheque. If you wish to pay by credit card (VISA, AMEX or MasterCard) you must call: Shirley Layne at 1-800-661-7020 to make your payment.


For Information on this Calendar, contact: Barbara Jensen	Licensed To: APEGGA