[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 119 (Friday, June 20, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33620-33622]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-16187]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[Docket No. EA-48-L]


Issuance of Temporary Order; El Paso Electric Company

AGENCY: Office of Fossil Energy, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of Issuance of Temporary Order and Request for Comments.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that of DOE has issued El Paso Electric 
Company (EPE) a Temporary Order in FE Docket EA-48-L that authorizes 
EPE to increase the level of electricity exports to Mexico from 200 MW 
to 210 MW for the summer months of 1997.

DATES: Comments, protests or requests to intervene must be submitted on 
or before July 7, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments, protests or requests to intervene should be 
addressed as follows: Office of Coal & Power Im/Ex (FE-27), Office of 
Fossil Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, 
Washington, DC 20585-0350 (FAX 202-287-5736).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Russell (Program Office) 202-
586-5883 or Michael Skinker (Program Attorney) 202-586-6667.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Exports of electricity from the United 
States to a foreign country are regulated and

[[Page 33621]]

require authorization under section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act 
(FPA) (16 U.S.C. Sec. 824a(e)).
    On June 9, 1997, EPE filed an application with the Office of Fossil 
Energy (FE) of the Department of Energy (DOE) to temporarily exceed the 
authorized transmission rate of 200 megawatts (MW) for electricity 
exports to Mexico over two international transmission lines owned and 
operated by EPE in the vicinity of El Paso, Texas. This request, to 
export up to 210 MW of electric power through August, 1997, is to 
accommodate hourly fluctuations in CFE's summer load requirement.
    DOE has determined that the immediate nature of CFE's need for 
electric energy this summer justifies an abbreviated public comment 
period and the issuance of a temporary order prior to completion of the 
comment period.
PROCEDURAL MATTERS: DOE is publishing this notice concurrent with 
issuance of the Order in Docket EA-48-L attached as Appendix A to this 
Notice. Any persons desiring to become a party to this proceeding or to 
be heard by filing comments or protests regarding this Order should 
file a petition to intervene, comment or protest at the address 
provided above in accordance with Secs. 385.211 or 385.214 of the 
FERC's Rules of Practice and Procedures (18 CFR 385.211, 385.214). 
Fifteen copies of such petitions and protests should be filed with the 
DOE on or before the date listed above. Additional copies are to be 
filed directly with: Pedro Serrano, Jr., Assistant Vice President, El 
Paso Electric Company, P.O. Box 982, El Paso, Texas 79960.
    Copies of the EPE application and Order EA-48-L will be made 
available, upon request, for public inspection and copying at the 
address provided above.

    Issued in Washington, D.C., June 13, 1997.
Anthony J. Como
Manager, Electric Power Regulation, Office of Coal & Power Im/Ex, 
Office of Coal & Power Systems, Office of Fossil Energy.

Appendix A

El Paso Electric Company, Order No. EA-48-L

I. Background

    Exports of electric energy from the United States to a foreign 
country are regulated and require authorization under section 202(e) of 
the Federal Power Act (FPA) (16 U.S.C. Sec. 824a(e)).
    On June 9, 1997, El Paso Electric Company (EPE) filed a letter 
application with the Office of Fossil Energy (FE) of the Department of 
Energy (DOE) requesting that EPE's electricity export authorization be 
amended to increase the allowable level of exports to Mexico from 200 
megawatts (MW) to 210 MW through August 1997. EPE's request was 
occasioned by a recent request from the Comision Federal de 
Electricidad (CFE), the national electric utility of Mexico, for 
additional purchases of capacity to accommodate hourly fluctuations in 
the CFE load requirements during the summer. The increased exports 
would be delivered to CFE over EPE's two existing 115-kV international 
transmission lines previously authorized by Presidential Permits PP-48 
and PP-92.
    The EPE and CFE normally are operated asynchronously. During 
periods when EPE is either exporting electric energy to, or importing 
from CFE, synchronism between the two systems can only be maintained 
when either a portion of CFE's Ciudad Juarez system is not connected to 
CFE's national interconnected electrical system or El Paso's system is 
not interconnected with the rest of the Western System Coordinating 
Council (WSCC) system. When CFE receives electric energy from EPE, it 
must isolate a portion of its system from the remainder of the CFE 
system and rely on EPE to supply the full electrical requirements of 
that isolated portion. When supplying electrical service to that 
isolated portion of the CFE system, EPE must be able to accommodate the 
hourly fluctuation in load. EPE has estimated that these hourly 
fluctuations could require EPE to supply up to 210 MW of electric power 
to the isolated portion of the CFE system. Since EPE's existing export 
authorization (EA-48-I) limits exports to CFE to 200 MW, EPE has 
requested a 10-MW increase in the authorized level of exports for the 
summer months.
    DOE is issuing this Order concurrent with the public notice in the 
Federal Register. DOE's intent in so doing is to accommodate an 
immediate need for power in Mexico that can only be satisfied by this 
accelerated process.

II. Discussion and Analysis

    On October 29, 1996, the Secretary of Energy signed Delegation 
Order No. 0204-163, which delegated and assigned to the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission (FERC) authority to carry out such functions 
vested in the Secretary to regulate access to, and the rates, terms and 
conditions for, transmission services over EPE's international 
transmission facilities. This authority was delegated to FERC for the 
sole purpose of carrying out the Department's policy of comparable 
open-access, non-discriminatory transmission service over international 
transmission lines and, thus, authorized FERC to take any further 
actions that may be necessary to effectuate open access transmission 
over the United States portion of EPE's international lines. Notice and 
a copy of the Delegation Order were published in the Federal Register 
on November 1, 1996, at 61 FR 56525.
    The Delegation Order did not preclude the Secretary from exercising 
or further delegating any of the authority therein delegated. 
Accordingly, the instant application by EPE is being processed by DOE. 
In addition, because of the immediate nature of the CFE request, the 
limited notice provided to EPE of the added energy requirement, and the 
technical inability of CFE to obtain the required relief from other 
domestic or U.S. sources, DOE is expediting its normal process to 
provide CFE maximum relief.
    DOE calls EPE's attention to the repetitive nature of summer 
emergency and short term requests to export at increased power levels 
to Mexico. Because of these historic trends in the operation of the 
EPE/CFE interconnection, DOE encourages EPE to prepare, prior to the 
1998 peak load season, studies to support an application to permanently 
increase the authorized rate of transmission to CFE above the current 
200 MW limit to handle future emergency needs of CFE during the summer 
months.

III. Finding and Decision

    The circumstances described in the letter application in FE Docket 
EA-48-L to amend Order EA-48-I by temporarily increasing the authorized 
rate of transmission to 210 MW for the summer months of 1997 are 
similar to other temporary emergency authorizations issued EPE in the 
past. DOE has determined that the electric reliability review prepared 
on March 19, 1992, in FE Docket FE-48-I, and its review of EPE's June 
9, 1997 Study of System Impacts that modeled the proposed increase in 
transmission to CFE, fulfills the statutory requirements of the FPA. 
Specifically, this review determined that operating these facilities in 
compliance with the system criteria of EPE and WSCC, combined with the 
EPE/CFE interconnection agreement that permits EPE to reduce or 
terminate exports to CFE (even emergency sales) during any system 
operating conditions on the EPE system which would create a potential 
reliability problem, would not adversely impact on the reliability of 
the U.S. electric power supply system.
    Similarly, DOE finds that it has adequately satisfied its 
responsibility under the National Environmental

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Policy Act of 1969 through adoption of the Finding of No Significant 
Impact dated April 15, 1992, and contained in FE Docket EA-48-I.

IV. Order

    Based on the above discussion and findings, paragraph (A) of Order 
EA-48-I is amended by adding the following sentence: From the date of 
this Order until August 31, 1997, EPE is authorized to export electric 
energy to Mexico at a maximum allowable rate of transmission of 210 MW.

    Issued in Washington, D.C., on June 13, 1997.
Anthony J. Como,
Manager, Electric Power Regulation, Office of Coal & Power Im/Ex, 
Office of Coal & Power Systems, Office of Fossil Energy.
[FR Doc. 97-16187 Filed 6-19-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P