ABC Group The Energy Professionals Association Launching Northeast Chapter

The Energy Professionals Association (TEPA) will launch a Northeast chapter, after recently holding a special roundtable discussion in New York City for energy brokers, consultants and suppliers in the area.

The roundtable, which was held on Aug. 14 at the offices of Good Energy, was attended by energy professionals across New York, New Jersey and Maryland. ConEdison Solutions and Direct Energy helped sponsor the roundtable discussion.

Based on the positive response generated from the roundtable discussions, a follow up meeting to select a Board of Directors for the TEPA Northeast chapter is scheduled for October 2013. It will be the first chapter organized outside Texas.

In Texas, where TEPA originated, TEPA established a standardized code of conduct, serves as an educational resource, and advocates legislative initiatives in competitive energy markets.

TEPA will offer the same services in the Northeast as it does in Texas, including its certification of individual energy professionals. Michael Harris, president of TEPA, told EnergyChoiceMatters.com, that the testing to be a TEPA-certified energy professional in the Northeast will differ from the Texas testing to reflect the market design differences between the two regions.

TEPA will also serve as a forum to identify problem actors in the Northeast, Harris said. The goal is to help protect the overall community, especially business customers, who may not be covered by customer protection rules in some states, which are targeted to residential or small volume customers.

The Northeast chapter will cover all deregulated states in the "Mid-Atlantic and Northeast," Harris said. This initially does not include Illinois, but Harris said that TEPA is looking at Illinois and the Midwest as the next area for expansion.

Issues of particular concern to TEPA in the Northeast include the capacity markets, the resetting of tariffs, and issues resulting from the generation mix.

"Without question, our Number One concern for that market is what's happening in the capacity markets, and how that's affecting our business customers," Harris said.