[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 169 (Tuesday, September 1, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46425-46426]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-23481]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[FE Docket No. PP-190]


Application to Amend Presidential Permit Niagara Mohawk Power 
Corporation

AGENCY: Office of Fossil Energy, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of application.

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SUMMARY: Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation has applied to amend an 
existing Presidential permit which authorized construction of electric 
transmission facilities at the United States border with Canada in the 
vicinity of Buffalo, New York. The amendment is requested in order to 
upgrade the existing facilities.

DATES: Comments, protests, or requests to intervene must be submitted 
on or before October 1, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments, protests, or requests to intervene should be 
addressed as follows: Office of Coal & Power Import and Export (FE-27), 
Office of Fossil Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence 
Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585-0350.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Russell (Program Office) 202-
586-9506 or Michael T. Skinker (Program Attorney) 202-586-6667.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The construction, connection, operation, and 
maintenance of facilities at the international border of the United 
States for the transmission of electric energy between the United 
States and a foreign country is prohibited in the absence of a 
Presidential permit issued pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 10485, as 
amended by EO 12038.
    Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation (Niagra Mohawk), a generation and 
transmission-owning regulated public utility in New York State, owns 
several international electric transmission facilities that were 
authorized by Presidential permits issued by the Federal Power 
Commission (FPC).1 Some of the cross-border facilities 
permitted to Niagara Mohawk in FPC Docket IT-6797 (FE Docket PP-31) 
include four, 3-phase, 38-kV, 25 Hz transmission lines at Buffalo--Ft. 
Erie.
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    \1\ Authority to issue Presidential permits was transferred from 
the Federal Power Commission to the Department of Energy on October 
1, 1977.
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    On July 21, 1998, Niagara Mohawk filed an application with the 
Office of Fossil Energy (FE) of the Department of Energy (DOE) for 
amendment of the Presidential permit issued in FPC Docket No. IT-6797 
in order to upgrade one of the four Buffalo-Ft. Erie 38-kV, 25 Hz lines 
(identified as Huntley-Linde line No. 46) to 115-kV, 60 Hz. When the 
upgrade is completed, the resulting 115-kV facilities will be 
maintained as an emergency interconnection with Canadian Niagara Power 
Company, Limited (CNP) and will be used to supply electric energy to 
CNP only when CNP looses its normal source of power from Ontario Hydro, 
the provincial electric utility of the Province of Ontario, Canada.
    In order to accomplish the upgrade, Niagara Mohawk proposes to 
construct two underground concrete pipes (10-inch diameter, each) from 
Niagara Mohawk's existing ``structure 13'' near Dearborn Street and 
extending approximately 9,250 feet south along West Street to Terminal 
House B. Niagara Mohawk will then extend an existing 115-kV line (which 
originates at the Huntley substation and presently terminates at 
``structure 13'') through one of the underground concrete pipes and 
connect this line to the existing 38-kV border crossing at Terminal 
House B. The physical change to the portion of the existing 38-kV line 
which crosses the border will be only reinsulation.
    Since the restructuring of the electric power industry began, 
resulting in the introduction of different types of competitive 
entities into the marketplace, DOE has consistently expressed its 
policy that cross-border trade in electric energy should be subject to 
the same principles of comparable open access and non-discrimination 
that apply to transmission in interstate commerce. DOE has stated that 
policy in export authorizations granted to entities requesting 
authority to export over international transmission facilities. 
Specifically, DOE expects transmitting utilities owning border 
facilities constructed pursuant to Presidential permits to provide 
access across the border in accordance with the principles of 
comparable open access and non-discrimination contained in the FPA and 
articulated in Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Order No. 888, as 
amended (Promoting Wholesale Competition Through Open Access Non-
Discriminatory Transmission Services by Public Utilities). In 
furtherance of this policy, DOE intends to condition any Presidential 
permit issued in this proceeding on compliance with these open access 
principles.

Procedural Matters

    Any person desiring to be heard or to protest this application 
should file a petition to intervene or protest at the address provided 
above in accordance with section 385.211 or 385.214 of the Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (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 of such 
petitions to intervene or protest also should be filed directly with: 
Susan Hodgson, Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation, 300 Erie Boulevard 
West, Syracuse, NY 13202 and Scott Klurfeld, Swidler & Berlin, Chtd., 
3000 K Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20007.
    Before a Presidential permit may be issued or amended, the DOE must 
determine that the proposed action will not adversely impact on the 
reliability of the U.S. electric power supply system and also consider 
the environmental impacts of the proposed action pursuant to the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. DOE also must obtain the 
concurrence of the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense 
before taking final action on a Presidential permit application.

[[Page 46426]]

    Copies of this application will be made available, upon request, 
for public inspection and copying at the address provided above. In 
addition, the application may be reviewed or downloaded from the Fossil 
Energy Home Page at: http://www.fe.doe.gov. Upon reaching the Fossil 
Energy Home page, select ``Regulatory'' and then ``Electricity'' from 
the options menu.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on August 25, 1998.
Anthony J. Como,
Manager, Electric Power Regulation, Office of Coal & Power Im/Ex, 
Office of Fossil Energy.
[FR Doc. 98-23481 Filed 8-31-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P