FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Contact:  Patrick Dorinson
December 12, 1997	(916) 351-4466

CAL-ISO NAMES COMMITTEE TO FOSTER COMPETITION
IN NEW ELECTRICITY MARKETPLACE

(Folsom, CA)  A Market Surveillance Committee is now in place to assist the California Independent System Operator (Cal-ISO) in maintaining a level playing field for companies competing in the state’s newly restructured electricity marketplace.  
     The Cal-ISO Board of Governors, at its regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday, December 10, 1997 in Sacramento, approved the blue ribbon panel of experts. The Market Surveillance Committee will act as a market watchdog, providing independent expert advice to the Cal-ISO and recommending corrective action to prevent abuses of the system.  The three members are:
    Carl Shapiro.  The Transamerica Professor of Business Strategy at the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley.  He recently served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.  He has worked extensively on antitrust issues for private clients, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Justice Department.  His current research is in the areas of antitrust economics, intellectual property and licensing, product standards and compatibility, and the economics of networks.
    Robert R. Nordhaus.  A partner in the law firm Van Ness Feldman in Washington, D.C.  In 1978 he became the first General Counsel for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  He also served as General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Energy from 1993-1997.  His legal specialty is federal electric, natural gas, and environmental regulation.  
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Much of his work has focused on facilitating the transition from command-and-control regulation to competitive markets and on market power issues within these markets.
     Frank A. Wolak.  An Associate Professor of Economics at Stanford University.  He has been involved in reviewing the performance of newly restructured electricity markets in Norway, Sweden, Australia, and New Zealand.  His work on market power and gaming in the England and Wales pool led to the current reforms under consideration in the Britain’s market.  He has served as a consultant to the California Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Communication Commission, and the U.S. Postal Rate Commission on issues relating to competition in network  industries.
    The Marketing and Information Protocol adopted by the Cal-ISO requires the establishment of a Market Surveillance Committee on or before ISO operations commence January 1, 1998.  Committee members are required to be independent of participants in the restructured California electric markets.
     The Cal-ISO will take over operation of the bulk of the state’s power grid next month when California ushers in a free-market electricity industry.  The not-for-profit corporation is chartered by the state to safeguard the reliable delivery of electricity and ensure equal access to California’s “electron freeway”.

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ISO-121297