IEIA Forum Seventh Annual Meeting Special Session Announcement: Hydraulic Fracturing – Fracking 28 October 2014 The International Electricity Infrastructure Assurance Forum announces its Seventh Annual Meeting co-hosted with the Australian Government’s Department of Industry. The IEIA Forum is a collaboration of electric energy industry and government from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and United States. The meeting will bring together government and electric energy participants for in-depth exchange on current infrastructure assurance/critical infrastructure protection topics. Special Session Summary The Seventh Annual meeting will feature a special ancillary session on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and its impact on fuel options for the electric utility sector. Whether as a “bridge fuel” or as a permanent component of the electricity fuel mix, natural gas represents the cleanest, and possibly the most flexible, fossil fuel option for many stakeholders. Increasingly successful fracking technologies have led to production gains that have proved disruptive to countries with fracking operations on a variety of levels; we anticipate this session will focus its discussion on related issues as they impact IEIA Forum-participant nations and the interaction with the electric energy sector, including:  Lower natural gas prices challenging the economics of intermittent alternatives (renewables) and even base load nuclear power plants in spite of their near-zero emissions profiles;  New basin resources are often situated proximate to markets that used to be distant from the resource base, creating challenges and opportunities for pipeline networks;  Local economic growth that has been greeted by environmental and safety concerns – is groundwater protected, are wellhead emissions sufficiently controlled, are there seismic implications – challenges policy makers to balance extractive rewards with environmental stewardship and governmental, commercial and regulatory issues; and  Whether and how today’s natural gas and power markets should realign to both support new infrastructure and maximize current assets, while meeting generator and distribution utility needs at costs that are reasonable for consumers. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ International Electricity Infrastructure Assurance Forum Secretariat P.O. Box 10880 Glendale, AZ 85318 USA 1 623.561.5176 Rev.1  Please note: Presenters for these topics are solicited with this announcement. Interested presenters can contact John Allen for further details at [email protected]. The Special Session is open to industry and infrastructure stakeholders and government representatives. Attendees and presenters are solicited to attend this unique opportunity to interact with infrastructure and policy representatives from the five countries of the IEIA Forum. Attendance to the Special Session is by invitation only. Attendance to the full meeting session (in addition to the Fracking Special Session) is avaialbe upon request. There are no conference fees. To register for the 2014 IEIA Forum Special Session, send an email to [email protected] or fax to 1 623.561.5695. Please put SYDNEY/FRACKING SESSION in the subject line and include the following information:  Name  Title  Company name/government agency  Contact number(s)  Email address Please indicate in registration a request to attend the full annual meeting commencing immediately upon completion of the Fracking Special Session. Confirmation will be sent by return email. 2 P.O. Box 10880 Glendale, AZ 85318-0880 USA 1 623.561.5176 Rev.1