[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 145 (Tuesday, July 29, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40512-40514]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-19922]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Energy Information Administration, DOE.

ACTION: Agency information collection activities: Proposed collection; 
comment request.

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SUMMARY: The Energy Information Administration (EIA) is soliciting 
comments concerning the proposed modifications and extensions of the 
following Electric Power Forms:

EIA-411, ``Coordinated Bulk Power Supply Program Report,''
EIA-412, ``Annual Report of Public Electric Utilities,''
NN-417R, ``Electric Power Systems Emergency Report,''
EIA-759, ``Monthly Power Plant Report,''
EIA-826, ``Monthly Electric Utility Sales and Revenue Report with State 
Distributions,''
EIA-860, ``Annual Electric Generator Report,''
EIA-861, ``Annual Electric Utility Report,''
EIA-867, ``Annual Nonutility Power Producer Report,'' and
EIA-900, ``Monthly Nonutility Sales for Resale Report.''

    EIA is also requesting comments on a proposed new Form EIA-417A, 
``Annual Summary of Emergency Occurrences.''

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before September 29, 
1997. If you anticipate that you will be submitting comments, but find 
it difficult to do so within the period of time allowed by this notice, 
you should advise the DOE contact listed below of your intention to do 
so as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to John G. Colligan, Energy Information 
Administration, Coal and Electric Data and Renewables Division, EI-524, 
U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, 
D.C. 20585-0650; telephone (202) 426-1174; e-mail [email protected]; 
and FAX (202) 426-1311.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of forms and instruction sets should be directed to John 
Colligan at the address listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background
II. Current Actions
III. Request for Comments

I. Background

    In order to fulfill its responsibilities under the Federal Energy 
Administration Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-275) and the Department of 
Energy Organization Act (Pub. L. 95-91), the EIA is obliged to carry 
out a central, comprehensive, and unified energy data and information 
program. As part of this program, EIA collects, evaluates, assembles, 
analyzes, and disseminates data and information related to energy 
resource reserves, production, demand,

[[Page 40513]]

and technology, and related economic and statistical information 
relevant to the adequacy of energy resources to meet demands in the 
near and longer term future for the Nation's economic and social needs.
    The EIA, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and 
respondent burden (required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(Pub. L. 104-13)), conducts a presurvey consultation program to provide 
the general public and other Federal agencies with an opportunity to 
comment on proposed and/or continuing reporting forms. This program 
helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired 
format, reporting burden is minimized, reporting forms are clearly 
understood, and the impact of collection requirements on respondents 
can be properly assessed. Also, EIA will later seek approval by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the collections under Section 
3507(h) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, Title 
44, U.S.C. Chapter 35).

II. Current Actions

    The EIA requests (a) a 3-year extension, through December 31, 2000, 
for all forms listed, and (b) modifications as well as time 
extension(s) to the specific forms as described below. The proposed 
changes the EIA is requesting through this action reflect the current 
state of the electric power industry. Additional changes may be 
required, prior to the new expiration date, in order to be up-to-date 
with the rapidly changing industry.
    Form EIA-411, ``Coordinated Bulk Power Supply Program,'' no change.
    Form EIA-412, ``Annual Report of Public Electric Utilities,'' no 
change.
    Form EIA-417A, ``Annual Summary of Emergency Occurrences,'' a new 
form will be added to the EIA electric power survey program. This 
collection will request statistical data on the type, duration, impact, 
and nature of electric emergency occurrences and power outages. The 
data will be reported annually by all entities operating/owning any 
portion of the integrated electrical system, and Alaska, Hawaii, and 
the trust territories. A simple check-off system technique of reporting 
will be available to respondents who (1) experienced no incidents and 
(2) were not impacted by external occurrences during the year.
    Form NN-417R, ``Electric Power Systems Emergency Report.'' The form 
number and name will be changed to the EIA-417R, ``Electric Power 
Systems Emergency Report.'' The survey frame and reporting schedule 
will remain unchanged.
    EIA-759, ``Monthly Power Plant Report,'' no change.
    Form EIA-826, ``Monthly Electric Utility Sales and Revenue Report 
with State Distributions.'' The form name will be changed to ``Monthly 
Electric Industry Sales and Revenue Report with State Distributions,'' 
to more accurately define the survey respondent frame. This will permit 
reporting of sales and revenues by electric utilities and power 
marketers. The collection of these data is required as the retail 
marketing of electric power is growing under the restructuring of the 
electric power industry.
    EIA-860, ``Annual Electric Generator Report,'' no change.
    Form EIA-861, ``Annual Electric Utility Report.'' The form and 
instructions will be modified as delineated below.
    (a) Change the form name to ``Annual Electric Energy Industry 
Report,'' to more clearly identify the respondent population consisting 
of electric utilities and power marketers which constitutes the frame 
of this survey.
    (b) Expand reporting to include generation (in megawatthours) in 
(1) the existing service territory and (2) in the marketing territory 
as well.
    (c) Reduce the number of Demand-Side Management (DSM) questions, 
(Schedule V), to 1 page (eliminated 2 pages), and thereby reduce 
respondent reporting requirements and burden. The need for DSM data are 
diminishing as restructuring/unbundling throughout the industry takes 
place.
    (d) Request more explicit identification of electric industry 
participants. Parent and subsidiary company relationships are essential 
as new and different types of electric energy entities come into being 
during the restructuring.
    (e) Add questions regarding completed mergers and acquisitions. 
This is necessary to maintain the respondent universe control and to 
accurately purge the respondent list of organizations no longer having 
reporting responsibilities.
    (f) Request reporting of service territories by State and County, 
once every three years. These data are needed to establish and maintain 
an accurate baseline of existing and expanding distribution systems.
    (g) Request respondents with sales for resale under full power 
requirement contracts to record the highest firm required demand, and 
for full requirement, whose power is supplied by others under long term 
contract are asked to identify the ending dates of the contract. The 
data will be used to analyze changes affecting reliability.
    (h) Add questions to report sales for resale, and end use sales by 
NERC region.
    Form EIA-867, ``Annual Nonutility Power Producer Report.'' The form 
and instructions will be modified to convert Standard Industrial 
Classification (SIC) codes to the North American Industry 
Classification System (NAICS) codes, the international standard of 
industrial classification. This conversion is necessary to sustain 
coherence and standardization of industry identification for both 
domestic and foreign sales and transfers of electric generation.
    Form EIA-900, ``Monthly Nonutility Sales for Resale Report.'' The 
form and instructions will be modified to: (a) Add a question to 
collect monthly gross generation. (b) Add a question to collect monthly 
sales to other end users.

III. Request for Comments

    Prospective respondents and other interested parties should comment 
on the actions discussed in item II. The following guidelines are 
provided to assist in the preparation of responses. Please indicate to 
which form(s) your comments apply.

General Issues

    A. Are the proposed collections of information necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the agency? Does the information 
have practical utility? Practical utility is defined as the actual 
usefulness of information to or for an agency, taking into account its 
accuracy, adequacy, reliability, timeliness, and the agency's ability 
to process the information it collects.
    B. What enhancements can EIA make to the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected?

As a Potential Respondent

    A. Are the instructions and definitions clear and sufficient? If 
not, which instructions require clarification?
    B. Can data be submitted by the due date?
    C. Public reporting burden estimates for each form collection are 
shown below. Burden includes the total time, effort, or financial 
resources expended to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or 
provide the information.
    EIA-411, ``Coordinated Bulk Power Supply Program Report,''--20.77 
hrs. per response (no change from previous estimate).
    EIA-412, ``Annual Report of Public Electric Utilities,''--30.3 hrs. 
per

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response (no change from previous estimate).
    EIA-417R, ``Electric Power Systems Emergency Report and Annual 
Summary of Emergency Occurrences,''--2.89 hrs. per response (no change 
from previous estimate). (Note: The frequency, magnitude, and duration 
of emergency occurrences are hard to predict, therefore making 
reporting times hard to predict.)
    EIA-417A, ``Annual Summary of Emergency Occurrences,''--3.0 hrs. 
per response (new form).
    EIA-759, ``Monthly Power Plant Report,''--1.4 hrs. per response (no 
change from previous estimate).
    EIA-826, ``Monthly Electric Utility Sales and Revenue Report with 
State Distributions,''--1.4 hrs. per response (previous estimate was 
1.3 hrs.).
    EIA-860, ``Annual Electric Generator Report,''--15.3 hrs. per 
response (no change from previous estimate).
    EIA-861, ``Annual Electric Energy Industry Report,''--7.9 hrs per 
response (previous estimate was 6.85 hrs.).
    EIA-867, ``Annual Nonutility Power Producer Report,''--2.12 hrs. 
per response (no change from previous estimate).
    EIA-900, ``Monthly Nonutility Sales for Resale Report,''--.30 hrs. 
per response (previous estimate was .25 hrs.).
    Please comment on (1) the accuracy of our estimates and (2) how the 
agency could minimize the burden of the collections of information, 
including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.
    D. EIA estimates that respondents will incur no additional costs 
for reporting other than the hours required to complete the 
collections. What is the estimated: (1) total dollar amount annualized 
for capital and start-up costs, and (2) recurring annual costs of 
operating and maintaining and purchasing service costs associated with 
these data collections?
    E. Do you know of any other Federal, State, or local agency that 
collects similar data? If you do, specify the agency, the data 
element(s), and the methods of collection.

As a Potential User

    A. Can you use data at the levels of detail indicated on the forms?
    B. For what purpose would you use the data? Be specific.
    C. Are there alternate sources of data and do you use them? If so, 
what is their deficiencies and/or strengths?
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the form. They also 
will become a matter of public record.

    Statutory Authority: Section 3506 (c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. No. 104-13).

    Issued in Washington, D.C. July 23, 1997.
Jay H. Casselberry,
Agency Clearance Officer, Statistics and Methods Group, Energy 
Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 97-19922 Filed 7-28-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P