[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 213 (Friday, November 1, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56525-56526]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-28278]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of the Secretary


Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Relating to Certain 
Authorizations To Export Electricity and Construct and Operate Related 
Facilities

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of delegation and assignment.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the delegation and assignment by the 
Secretary of Energy to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of the 
authority to carry out functions vested in the Secretary relating to 
certain authorizations issued by the Secretary to construct, operate, 
maintain or connect border transmission facilities and to transmit 
electricity to a foreign country.

EFFECTIVE DATE: November 1, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anthony J. Como, Department of Energy, 
Office of Fossil Energy. Telephone: (202) 586-9624.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Secretary of Energy (Secretary) has the 
authority under the Department of Energy Organization Act (DOE Act) 
(Pub. L. 95-91) to approve or disapprove applications to transmit 
electricity to a foreign country pursuant to section 202(e) of the 
Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824a(e)). Moreover, the Secretary has the 
authority to approve or disapprove applications to construct, operate, 
maintain, or connect transmission facilities at the border between the 
United States and a foreign country pursuant to Executive Order 10485 
as amended by Executive Order 12038.
    Both of these functions were originally vested in the Federal Power 
Commission. Subsection 301(b) of the DOE Act transferred to, and vested 
in, the Secretary all the functions of the Federal Power Commission not 
specifically vested by the DOE Act in the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission (Commission). Sections 401-407, 503, and 504 of the DOE Act 
set forth the jurisdiction and authority of the Commission, an 
independent body within the Department of Energy (DOE). The Federal 
Power Commission's functions with respect to transmission of 
electricity to a foreign country and transmission facilities at the 
border were not specifically vested in the Commission. Furthermore, 
subsection 402(f) of the DOE Act provides that no function vested in 
the Commission which regulates the export or import of electricity 
shall be within the jurisdiction of the Commission unless the Secretary 
assigns such a function to the Commission.
    As a general matter, section 642 of the DOE Act permits the 
Secretary to delegate any of the Secretary's functions to any officer 
or employee of the Department the Secretary may designate, including 
the Commission. More specifically, the Secretary's authority to 
regulate exports of electricity may be assigned in whole or in part to 
the Commission under subsections 402 (e) and (f) of the DOE Act, after 
public notice of the assignment.

[[Page 56526]]

    Pursuant to these provisions of the DOE Act, public notice is 
hereby given that the Secretary delegates and assigns to the Commission 
the authority to carry out certain functions vested in the Secretary. 
The assignment is in the form of a delegation.
    The Commission, on October 4, 1996, issued an order in FERC Docket 
No. EL96-74-000 responding to a request from Enron Power Marketing, 
Inc. (EPMI) for transmission access across transmission facilities of 
El Paso Electric Company (EPE). In that order, the Commission required 
EPE to comply with its open access tariff by providing EPMI with 
transmission service from EPMI's designated points of receipt on EPE's 
transmission system to EPE's Diablo and Ascarate substations near the 
United States-Mexico border. The Commission further concluded that the 
Secretary has the jurisdiction, under section 202(e) of the Federal 
Power Act (FPA) and under the Executive Orders authorizing issuance of 
Presidential Permits for construction, operation, maintenance or 
connection of border facilities, to act on requests for transmission 
access over the U.S. portion of the lines connecting the Diablo and 
Ascarate substations in the United States with the Insurgentes and 
Riverena substations in Mexico.
    In its Order No. 888, the Commission required open and comparable 
transmission access across the transmission lines of public utilities 
in order to promote competition. The Commission's October 4 order found 
a gap in the Commission's authority to require open access directly to 
the border of the United States with Mexico. As a matter of policy, the 
Department strongly supports the emergence of a more competitive 
wholesale electricity market and considers open and comparable 
transmission access a critical factor in creating and sustaining a 
competitive market, and thus the Department supports the Commission's 
policy in this area. Because the Commission, under its current 
jurisdiction, regulates transmission access and the rates, terms and 
conditions of transmission service for most of the transmission 
facilities owned by EPE, and to permit uniform implementation of the 
Commission's open access policy, the Department has concluded that the 
Commission is the most appropriate agency to address the transmission 
access and related regulatory issues with respect to the EPE border 
facilities. Accordingly, the Secretary is delegating to the Commission 
her authority under the Federal Power Act and Executive Order 10485, as 
amended by Executive Order 12038, to modify or condition EPE's 
Presidential Permits for its border facilities (DOE Docket No. PP-48-3 
and PP-92) or EPE's authorization to export (DOE Docket No. EA-48-I) or 
both to provide for third-party access to transmission service over the 
facilities covered by the Presidential Permits, and to regulate the 
rates, terms and conditions for such service. Specifically, the 
delegation order authorizes the Commission to impose terms and 
conditions, and to issue such supplemental orders, as the Commission 
deems necessary and appropriate in the following DOE dockets:

El Paso Electric Company

DOE Docket No. PP-48-3--Presidential Permit
DOE Docket No. PP-92--Presidential Permit
DOE Docket No. EA-48-I--Export Authorization

    The delegation amends to this limited extent, but does not 
otherwise rescind or supersede, the Secretary's prior delegation of 
authority to regulate exports of electricity to the Assistant Secretary 
for Fossil Energy (DOE Delegation Order No. 0204-127, February 7, 
1989), subdelegated to the Director of the Office of Coal and 
Electricity (Delegation Order dated September 24, 1993).
    DOE has issued export authorizations to four entities (other than 
EPE), including EPMI, that authorize export over EPE's border 
facilities. Further applications from other parties for authorization 
to export over these facilities may be received. DOE will retain its 
jurisdiction over these authorizations, and will consider making 
modifications, if necessary, to reflect any action taken by the 
Commission with regard to this matter.

    Issued in Washington, D.C. on October 29, 1996.
Hazel R. O'Leary,
Secretary.

Delegation Order No. 0204-163

    Pursuant to the authority vested in me as the Secretary of Energy 
(Secretary) by sections 642 and 402(e) of the Department of Energy 
Organization Act (Pub. L. 95-91) (DOE Act), there is hereby delegated 
and assigned to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) 
the authority to carry out such functions as are vested in the 
Secretary to regulate access to, and the rates, terms and conditions 
for, transmission services over facilities owned, controlled or 
operated by the El Paso Electric Company and covered by Presidential 
Permits PP-48-3 and PP-92.
    In exercising the authority delegated by this Order the Commission 
is specifically authorized to modify, revoke, or attach terms and 
conditions to Presidential Permits PP-48-3 and PP-92 and Export 
Authorization EA-48-I under Executive Order 10485, as amended by 
Executive Order 12038, and section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act 
(FPA) and such other sections of the FPA vested in the Secretary as may 
be relevant, and to issue such supplemental orders in these dockets, as 
the Commission finds necessary and appropriate to the public interest. 
This authority is delegated to the Commission for the sole purpose of 
authorizing the Commission to take actions necessary, if any, to 
effectuate open access transmission over the United States portion of 
the lines connecting the Diablo and Ascarate substations in the United 
States with the Insurgentes and Riverena substations in Mexico.
    The authority delegated to the Commission may be further delegated 
within the Commission, in whole or in part, as may be appropriate.
    All actions taken pursuant to authority delegated prior to this 
Order or pursuant to any authority delegated by this Order taken prior 
to and in effect on the date of this Order are hereby confirmed and 
ratified, and shall remain in full force and effect as if taken under 
this Order, unless and until rescinded, amended, or superseded.
    Nothing in this Order shall preclude the Secretary from exercising 
or further delegating any of the authority hereby delegated, whenever, 
in the Secretary's judgment, the exercise or further delegation of such 
authority is necessary or appropriate to administer the functions 
vested in the Secretary.

    This Order is effective on November 1, 1996.
Hazel R. O'Leary,
Secretary of Energy.
[FR Doc. 96-28278 Filed 10-30-96; 2:50 pm]
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