[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 13, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1960-1962]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-763]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Information Collection and Dissemination Activities

AGENCY: Energy Information Administration, DOE.

ACTION: Agency electric power information collection and dissemination 
activities: comment request on provisions for confidentiality.

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SUMMARY: The Energy Information Administration (EIA) is soliciting 
comments concerning the confidentiality treatment that will be given to 
electric power data collected in surveys conducted by the EIA.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before March 16, 1998. 
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 contact listed below of your intention to do so 
as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to John Colligan, Energy Information 
Administration, EI-524, Forrestal Building, U.S. Department of Energy, 
Washington, D.C. 20585-0650, (202) 426-1174, e-mail 
[email protected], and FAX (202) 426-1311.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the electric power forms and instructions 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. No. 93-275) and the Department of 
Energy Organization Act (Pub. L. No. 95-91), the Energy Information 
Administration (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

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data and information related to energy resource reserves, production, 
demand, 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, with respect to its information 
collections, EIA must have approval by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) under Section 3507(h) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (Pub. L. No. 104-13, Title 44, U.S.C. Chapter 35).
    The EIA conducts surveys to collect electric power data from 
electric utilities, electric power marketers, nonutility electric power 
producers (cogenerators, small power producers, and other nonutility 
electric power generators), and the North American Electric Reliability 
Council regions. The electric power data collected include, but are not 
limited to: ownership, accounting/financial, generation, fuels 
consumed, capacity, heat rates, demand, purchases, sales, peak loads, 
imports/exports, revenues, plants, equipment, distribution systems, 
reliability, load management, and environmental data. EIA also collects 
projections of load, capacity, and other related information.
    EIA surveys currently used to collect this information are:
    EIA-411, ``Coordinated Bulk Power Supply Program Report'';
    EIA-412, ``Annual Report of Public Electric Utilities'';
    EIA-417R, ``Electric Power Systems Emergency Report'';
    EIA-759, ``Monthly Power Plant Report'';
    EIA-767, ``Steam-Electric Plant Operations and Design 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.''
    (The surveys used by EIA to collect electric power information may 
change in the future as EIA adjusts its collections to the deregulation 
occurring in the electric power industry.)

II. Current Actions

    Given the changes in the electric power industry as it moves from 
regulation to open competition, the EIA is reviewing the 
confidentiality treatment of electric power data collected and is 
soliciting comments from both data providers (i.e., survey respondents) 
and data users. EIA is soliciting comments to determine what data 
should be treated as confidential trade secrets or proprietary 
information whose release would cause substantial competitive harm to 
the survey respondents. EIA would also like to determine what data 
should be treated as nonconfidential and whose release at the 
respondent-level is in the public interest.
    For data determined to be confidential, EIA would adhere to the 
provisions for confidentiality discussed in Appendix A to this notice. 
When releasing aggregate data collected in surveys where 
confidentiality was pledged, EIA uses statistical disclosure avoidance 
techniques to ensure that confidential, company-identified data are not 
disclosed. EIA identifies table data cells where, if published, the 
data could be used to determine confidential, company-identified data. 
For such a data cell, EIA suppresses the cell and, if necessary, other 
data cells to ensure that the data remains confidential.
    Comments received will be used by EIA to develop a new 
comprehensive policy for the treatment of electric power data collected 
by EIA.
    Currently, EIA treats data collected on forms EIA-411, 412, 417R, 
759, 767, 826, 860, and 861 as nonconfidential. EIA treats some data 
reported by nonutilities on the EIA-867 as nonconfidential and other 
data (e.g., fuels consumed, generation, purchases of electricity, 
sales, electricity used at the facility, customers, maximum contract 
amount by customer, deliveries by customer, environmental information, 
and electric generator information) as confidential. All data reported 
by nonutilities on Form EIA-900 are treated as confidential.
    Any proposed revised provisions for confidentiality of electric 
power data will be included with the surveys submitted for OMB's 
approval in 1998. Those surveys, if approved by OMB, will be 
implemented to collect data beginning in January 1999.
    Also, during 1998 EIA will issue a separate notice requesting 
comments from both data providers and data users on the electric power 
data that EIA should collect in the future. That notice will be part of 
EIA's presurvey consultation program.

III. Request for Comments

    Prospective respondents, data users, 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. 
Responses should contain detailed explanations of what data elements 
should be treated as confidential and what elements should be treated 
as nonconfidential. The reasons for the suggested confidentiality 
treatment should also be provided. Please make your comments as 
specific as possible with respect to forms, categories of data, data 
elements, and types of respondents supplying the data.

Issues

    A. What electric power data should be treated as nonconfidential 
when collected by EIA and, thus, be available for dissemination in 
company-specific form? Please explain how release of individually-
identifiable data is in the public interest and where release overrides 
any possible competitive harm to the company that provided the data.
    B. What electric power data should be treated as confidential by 
EIA and, thus, should be kept confidential and not disclosed in a 
disaggregated form to the public to the extent that it satisfies 
applicable statutes and regulations? Please explain how release of 
these data at the respondent level would cause competitive harm.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice may be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the electric power 
surveys. 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., January 7, 1998.
Lynda T. Carlson,
Director, Statistics and Methods Group, Energy Information 
Administration.

Appendix A--EIA's Standard Provisions for Confidentiality

    When the EIA treats data as confidential, it follows the 
provisions for confidentiality below.
    The Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice 
concluded on March 20, 1991, that the Federal Energy

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Administration Act requires the EIA to provide company-specific data 
to the Department of Justice, or to any other Federal agency when 
requested for official use, which may include enforcement of Federal 
law. The information contained on the form may also be made 
available, upon request, to another component of the Department of 
Energy (DOE); to any Committee of Congress, the General Accounting 
Office, or other Congressional agencies authorized by law to receive 
such information. A court of competent jurisdiction may obtain this 
information in response to an order.
    The information contained on the form will be kept confidential 
and not disclosed to the public to the extent that it satisfies the 
criteria for exemption under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 
5 U.S.C. 552, the DOE regulations, 10 CFR 1004.11, implementing the 
FOIA, and the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C 1905.
    Upon receipt of a request for this information under the FOIA, 
the DOE shall make a final determination whether the information is 
exempt from disclosure in accordance with the procedures and 
criteria provided in the regulations. To assist us in this 
determination, respondents should demonstrate to the DOE that, for 
example, their information contains trade secrets or commercial or 
financial information whose release would be likely to case 
substantial harm to their company's competitive position. A letter 
accompanying the submission that explains (on an element-by-element 
basis) the reasons why the information would be likely to cause the 
respondent substantial competitive harm if released to the public 
would aid in this determination. A new justification does not need 
to be provided each time information is submitted on the form, if 
the company has previously submitted a justification for that 
information and the justification has not changed.

[FR Doc. 98-763 Filed 1-12-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P