Serious questions are being raised about future efforts to restructure the electric power industry, particularly in light of September 11th, the Enron bankruptcy, and the California crisis. As a result, some contend that restructuring has not gone far enough and partial restructuring has resulted in market distortions. Others insist that restructuring efforts have gone too far and in order to protect consumers it should be rolled back, or at a minimum delayed for a lengthy review. There is no consensus for action among Members of Congress, federal and state regulators, consumers, and industry. Every state that has restructured their market has used different models and assumptions based on the needs of their particular state. Some aspects of those various models have succeeded while other aspects have not. One thing is clear - there is a great need for policymakers to be given appropriate guidance on how electric power system should be structured for the future (considering that the evolving structure will be markedly different than anything we have seen before) so that they can make informed decisions on developing the attributes of electric power markets so that consumers benefit and are protected.

In response to this need, the Consumer Energy Council of America launched a broad-based consensus forum on January 17, 2002 called: "Energy Security and Electric Industry Restructuring: What is Needed to Assure Safety, Reliability and Consumer Confidence in the Future?" The Forum was made up of six plenary sessions and a series of focused working group meetings over a period of twelve months, culminating in a final report with consensus findings and recommendations. This final report, entitled "Positioning the Consumer for the future: A Roadmap to an Optimal Electric Power System," was published in April 2003 and is now available for purchase.

The purpose of this forum was to bring together representatives from all stakeholder groups to develop policy recommendations regarding the future structure of the electric industry while ensuring benefits and protection for all consumers. As with all previous CECA Forums, the blue ribbon panel of Forum members represents a wide cross-section of stakeholders including:

• Consumer Groups
• Advocates
• Environmentalists
• Utilities
• Competitive Power Suppliers
• Federal and State Regulators
• Members of Congress and Congressional staff
• Federal Agency officials
• Academia

A complete list of participants is available on the Forum Participants page. The emphasis on consensus agreements with such a broad-based group ensures that the findings and recommendations developed by the Forum represents the most comprehensive effort to date to find solutions that are acceptable to all stakeholders.

Approach and Organization

The objective of the Advisory Committee process was to arrive at one of four outcomes on each specific issue under discussion:

• Consensus
• Agreement on those alternatives which are clearly unacceptable.
• Identification of several alternative approaches that are considered most acceptable by members of the Advisory Committee.
• Assuming a clear consensus is not achieved on a particular issue, CECA, as with all previous projects, retains the option of making a recommendation within the parameters of the second and third bullets above. A clear, concise disclaimer is reproduced on every published CECA report, which states: "The Advisory Committee members do not necessarily approve, disapprove, or endorse the report. CECA assumes full responsibility for the report and its contents."

Meeting Procedures of the Advisory Committee

CECA staff, in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman, and Subcommittee Co-Chairs, prepares and distributes in advance all materials to be discussed and an agenda for meetings of the Advisory Committee. As part of the prepared materials, the CECA staff distributes, when appropriate, a document(s) of policy proposals which will serve as the basis of discussion at the meeting. The prepared agenda is followed closely in order to maximize productivity and make most efficient use of members' time, each participant is actively encouraged to offer their viewpoint during the course of Advisory Committee meetings. The Chairman and Vice-Chairman are responsible for conducting the meetings in an orderly fashion.

Given the short period of time available for Advisory Committee meetings, time management is key. It is the responsibility of the Chairman and Vice Chairman to keep the meeting flowing smoothly. If consensus is not reached after a reasonable period of discussion for any given issue, the Chairman and Vice Chairman will instruct the CECA staff to work with individual participants and Subcommittee Co-Chairs to consider the issue again and submit new recommendations -- and move on with the meeting. Major points of contention are not necessarily expected to be resolved during the course of one meeting. Diversity of opinion is respected at all times.

All issues are fair game. However, the focus of the Restructuring Forum is to identify those issues which small business and residential consumers consider to be the most important, and to recommend legislation and/or regulatory actions which address the concerns that have been identified.

As with past consensus-building CECA projects, voting is to be avoided at all costs.

Mission of the Subcommittees

The Subcommittees will deliberate on issues and prepare recommendations for consideration prior to presenting them to the Advisory Committee. Subcommittees will identify issues, which need to be considered discussion in written materials prepared by CECA. Much of the preliminary discussions of points of contention and preliminary attempts at consensus-building will take place at the Subcommittee level. Subcommittee Co-Chairs are responsible for conducting their Subcommittee, as they deem appropriate.

Focus on Consumer Benefits

There is an urgent need for a coherent plan of action to prevent future crises similar to the California experience of 2000-01, and to move the nation toward a long-term solution. The Forum examined the lessons learned from past restructuring efforts, what the barriers are to an optimal system, and what the structure of the marketplace should be to allow for consumer benefits in the form of a safe and secure supply of reliable electricity, generous choice of services and quality, and reasonable prices.

The final report of the CECA Energy Security & Electric Industry Restructuring Forum provides Members of Congress and state and federal regulators with public policy findings and recommendations on how the system should be structured on a going-forward basis so that consumers will be assured a safe, reliable and price sensitive electric power marketplace in the years ahead. The Electric Utility Restructuring Forum, is the most significant, broad-based panel in the country on this important subject and the resulting report is a must read for anyone with an interest in energy policy.