[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 127 (Friday, June 30, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 40618]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-16556]



[[Page 40618]]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[FE Docket No. PP-226]


Application for Presidential Permit Brownsville Public Utilities 
Board

AGENCY: Office of Fossil Energy, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of application.

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SUMMARY: Brownsville Public Utilities Board (BPUB) has applied for a 
Presidential permit to construct, connect, operate and maintain double-
circuit electric transmission facilities across the U.S. border with 
Mexico.

DATES: Comments, protests, or requests to intervene must be submitted 
on or before July 31, 2000.

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-
586-9624 or Michael T. Skinker (Program Attorney) 202-586-2793.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The construction, operation, and connection 
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.
    On June 23, 2000, BPUB, the municipal electric utility of the City 
of Brownsville, Texas, filed an application with the Office of Fossil 
Energy (FE) of the Department of Energy (DOE) for a Presidential 
permit. BPUB proposes to construct a double circuit 138,000 volt (138-
kV) transmission line, on wood poles, from its existing Silas Ray Power 
Plant in Brownsville, Texas, and extending approximately 3,000 feet to 
the U.S.-Mexico border. At the border the transmission circuits would 
interconnect with similar facilities of the Comision Federal de 
Electricidad (CFE), the national electric utility of Mexico, and 
continue an additional 1.7 miles into Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. As 
an instrumentality of the State of Texas, BPUB is not subject to 
section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act (FPA), and therefore, not 
required to submit an application to DOE for authorization to export 
electric energy to Mexico.
    BPUB is proposing to develop this project in three phases. In phase 
one, BPUB would energize only one of the two 138-kV circuits and 
operate it at 69-kV. This would give BPUB the ability to transmit up to 
100 megawatts (MW) of power to Mexico. In phase two, BPUB would 
energize both 138-kV circuits at 69-kV by installing a circuit breaker 
and related relaying equipment (by approximately the year 2002). This 
modification would give BPUB the ability to transmit up to 200 MW of 
electric power to Mexico. In phase three, BPUB would convert all 69-kV 
facilities at Silas Ray to 138-kV (by approximately the year 2005) by 
replacing power transformers, circuit breakers, switches, and related 
equipment within the existing switchyard. BPUB would then operate both 
circuits at 138-kV and be capable of transmitting up to 400 MW to 
Mexico.
    In its application, BPUB asserts that the proposed international 
transmission facilities will be operated in such a way that the BPUB 
and CFE systems will not be operated in parallel.
    Since 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 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 
(Promotion Wholesale Competition Through Open Access Non-Discriminatory 
Transmission Services by Public utilities; FERC Stats. & Regs. para. 
31,036 (1996)), as amended. In furtherance of this policy, on July 27, 
1999, (64 FR 40586) DOE initiated a proceeding in which it noticed its 
intention to condition existing and future Presidential permits, 
appropriate for third party transmission, on compliance with a 
requirement to provide non-discriminatory open access transmission 
service. That proceeding is not yet complete. However, in this docket 
DOE specifically requests comment on the appropriateness of applying 
the open access requirement on BPUB's proposed facilities.

Procedural Matters

    Any person desiring to become a party to this proceeding or to be 
heard by filing comments or protests to this application 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 
each petition and protest should be filed with the DOE on or before the 
date listed above.
    Additional copies of such petitions to intervene or protests also 
should be filed directly with: John S. Bruciak, Brownsville Public 
Utilities Board, 1425 Robin Hood Drive, P.O. Box 3270, Brownsville, TX 
78520.
    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. In addition, DOE 
must consider the environmental impacts of the proposed action (i.e., 
granting the Presidential permit, with any conditions and limitations, 
or denying the permit) pursuant to NEPA. 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.
    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 ``Electricity'' from the options menu, and 
then ``Pending Proceedings.''

    Issued in Washington, DC, on June 27, 2000.
Anthony J. Como,
Deputy Director, Electric Power Regulation, Office of Coal & Power Im/
Ex Office of Fossil Energy.
[FR Doc. 00-16556 Filed 6-29-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P