[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 155 (Thursday, August 10, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48990-48992]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-19974]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. RM95-9-014]


Open Access Same-Time Information System and Standards of Conduct

Issued August 1, 2000.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Order revising OASIS standards and communication protocols 
document adopted in Order No. 889 and announcement of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (the Commission) 
adopts ``OASIS Standards and Communication Protocols Document (Version 
1.4)'' that contains technical revisions to Version 1.3 of that same 
document. This document is available (see ADDRESSES below).

EFFECTIVE DATE: The requirements of this order will take effect January 
8, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the OASIS Standards are available at the Office of 
the Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, 
NE., Washington, DC 20426. E-Mail address:''[email protected]''.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Marvin Rosenberg (Technical Information), Office of Markets, Tariffs, 
and Rates, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208-1283.
Paul Robb (Technical Information), Office of Markets, Tariffs, and 
Rates, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 219-2702.
Gary D. Cohen (Legal Information), Office of the General Counsel, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208-0321.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

United States of America; Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

    Before Commissioners: James J. Hoecker, Chairman; William L. 
Massey, Linda Breathitt, and Curt Hebert, Jr.; Open Access Same-Time 
Information System and Standards of Conduct

[[Page 48991]]

[Docket No. RM95-9-014]

Order Revising OASIS Standards and Communication Protocols Document 
Adopted in Order No. 889

Issued August 1, 2000.

I. Introduction

    In this Order, the Commission adopts Version 1.4 of the OASIS 
Standards and Communication Protocols Document (S&CP Document, Version 
1.4), consisting of revisions to Version 1.3 of that document. The 
Commission is adopting these changes after consideration of the 
comments filed in response to the notice of proposed changes issued in 
this proceeding on May 19, 2000. Open Access Same-Time Information 
System and Standards of Conduct, 65 FR 36283, FERC Stats. & Regs. para. 
35,039 (2000) (May 19 Notice).\1\
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    \1\ The May 19 Notice originally was issued as a notice of 
proposed rulemaking (NOPR). It later was determined that a notice 
would be more appropriate than a NOPR because the document did not 
propose any changes in the Commission's regulations. Thus, an errata 
notice was issued on June 7, 2000, relabeling the NOPR as a notice, 
and the May 19 Notice was published in the Federal Register on that 
same day.
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II. Background

    As explained in the May 19 Notice, the Commission first issued the 
S&CP Document (Version 1.0) on April 24, 1996, as a separate document 
that accompanied Order No. 889.\2\ In Order No. 889, we announced that 
we would periodically update and revise the S&CP Document as needed.\3\ 
On September 10, 1996, the Commission issued a revised S&CP Document 
(Version 1.1) in Open Access Same-Time Information System and Standards 
of Conduct, 76 FERC para. 61,243 (1996). On June 18, 1998, the 
Commission again issued a revised S&CP Document (Version 1.2) in Open 
Access Same-Time Information System and Standards of Conduct, 83 FERC 
para. 61,360 (1998). On September 29, 1998, the Commission issued a 
third revised S&CP Document (Version 1.3) in Open Access Same-Time 
Information System and Standards of Conduct, 84 FERC para. 61,329 
(1998).
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    \2\ See Open Access Same-Time Information System and Standards 
of Conduct, Order No. 889, 61 FR 21737 (May 10, 1996), FERC Stats. & 
Regs. para. 31,035 at 31,586 (April 24, 1996), order on reh'g, Order 
No. 889-A, 62 FR 12484 (March 14, 1997), FERC Stats. & Regs. para. 
31,049 (March 4, 1997), order on reh'g, Order No. 889-B, 81 FERC 
para. 61,253 (1997), order on reh'g, Order No. 889-C, 82 FERC para. 
61,046 (1998).
    \3\ Order No. 889, FERC Stats. & Regs. para. 31,035 at 31,591.
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    The May 19 Notice was published at 65 FR 36283, with comments due 
on or before July 7, 2000. Timely comments were filed by the OASIS How 
Working Group (How Group). These comments incorporate ideas that were 
also raised in a report jointly filed by the How Group and the Market 
Interface Committee (an industry group sponsored by the North American 
Electric Reliability Council (NERC)) on June 16, 2000 in response to 
requests made by the Commission to these industry working groups in 
Order No. 638.\4\
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    \4\ Open Access Same-Time Information System and Standards of 
Conduct, Order No. 638, FERC Stats. & Regs. para. 31,093 (2000).
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III. Discussion

    The May 19 Notice proposed the following changes to Version 1.3 of 
the S&CP Document: (1) Post procedures associated with capacity benefit 
margin; (2) post references on curtailment information, interruptions, 
and system studies; (3) make modifications to the TRANSREQUEST 
template; (4) remove the TRANSALT, CURTAIL, and AUDIT templates; (5) 
add templates for SECURITY, REDUCTION, and SYSTEMDATA; (6) rename the 
SCHEDULE template as SCHEDULEDETAIL; (7) revise procedures for posting 
information in the TRANSOFFERING template; (8) add a unique reference 
to continuation records; (9) revise OASIS performance response times 
(section 5.3) to add specific required response times; and (10) issue 
corrections to support the above changes and update the table of 
contents.
    In addition, the May 19 Notice explained that further changes might 
be needed to reflect the Commission's findings in Order No. 638. Thus, 
comments were invited on both the merits of the proposed revisions to 
the S&CP Document as well as on the following:

    1. If we adopt the proposed revisions to the S&CP Document, are 
changes needed to reflect our findings in Order No. 638?
    2. Specifically, do any provisions of the proposed S&CP revisions 
conflict with provisions of Order No. 638? If so, how should those 
conflicts be resolved?
    3. With regard to section 4.3.4.4 on System Data (Recommended S&CP 
Document Version 1.4 at page 55), this section states that a 
transmission provider is obligated to post values for one or more of 
the defined system attributes, but does not state that all system 
attributes can be requested at the same time. We therefore request 
comment on whether the description of the template in section 4.3.4.4 
should be revised to clarify that all system attributes can be 
requested at the same time.
    4. With regard to section 5.3.3 on Measurement Criteria for OASIS 
Node Functions (Recommended S&CP Document Version 1.4 at page 108), we 
see three possible problems. First, section 5.3.3, as recommended, 
provides performance standards (time limits) for responding to queries 
regarding TRANSSTATUS and TRANSOFFERING. It does not establish 
comparable requirements regarding response times for any other queries. 
We therefore invite comment on whether the proposed performance 
standards meet customer needs today and for the near term future.
    Second, we also note that the recommended performance standards in 
section 5.3.3 are so specific that they may become obsolete and fail to 
keep pace with changing technology, market conditions, and user needs. 
We therefore invite comment on whether it would be preferable to adopt 
a more general performance standard, such as one that would require a 
node's response to be sufficient to meet the legitimate needs of its 
customers.
    Third, we also would be open to consideration of other possible 
revisions to section 5.3.3 that might contain a novel approach 
preferable to either that proposed in this Notice or that contained in 
Version 1.3.\5\
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    \5\ Notes omitted, May 19 Notice at 35,201-202.

    The sole comments filed in response to the May 19 Notice were those 
filed by the How Group. The How Group's comments address questions 1 
and 2 above by offering a new section 4.2.10.4 to clarify how comment 
attributes are to be used, as well as offering suggested revisions to 
sections 4.2.10, 4.2.13.6, 4.2.13.7, 4.3.6.3 and Data Element 
Dictionary attributes ``CUSTOMER__COMMENTS,'' ``SELLER__COMMENTS,'' 
``PRIMARY__PROVI- DER__COMMENTS,'' AND ``STATUS__COMMENTS'' to add more 
characters, adding attributes ``COMPETING__REQUEST__FLAG,'' ``SELLER__ 
REF,'' and revising the attributes ``NERC__ CURTAILMENT__PRIORITY,'' 
``POINT__ OF__RECEIPT/POINT__OF__DELIVERY,'' and ``TS__WINDOW.''
    As to question 3 above, the How Group's comments explain that ``if 
the variable SYSTEM__ATTRIBUTE is not provided in the query template 
SYSTEMDATA then all system attributes will be requested and provided in 
the response.'' If a query does not provide a given query variable, 
then information will be provided

[[Page 48992]]

without regard to that variable. This comment does not necessitate or 
request any revisions to the S&CP Document.
    As to the questions above concerning section 5.3.3 of the BPS, the 
How Group stands by the performance standards proposed in the May 19 
Notice. It argues that these performance standards should be adopted 
now and can later be modified if new technology becomes available that 
would make them obsolete.
    In Open Access Same-Time Information System and Standards of 
Conduct, Order No. 605, FERC Stats. & Regs. para. 31,075 (1999), the 
Commission stressed the importance of providing customers with 
information on curtailments.\6\ The MIC/How Groups responded to this 
concern by submitting comments on September 23, 1999 (September 23 
Filing) in Docket No. RM98-3-000 suggesting that the S&CP Document 
should be revised to include a new scheduling template 
``SCHEDULEDETAIL'' that incorporates information previously supplied in 
the ``CURTAILMENT'' template. The September 23 Filing argued that a 
seven-day lag should be permitted before this information is posted 
based on concerns over the commercial sensitivity of the underlying 
information and because the Commission's regulation at 18 CFR 37.6(f) 
already provides a seven-day lag prior to the posting of information on 
transmission service schedules. Notice of the September 23 Filing was 
issued on October 6, 1999, inviting comments on or before November 8, 
1999. None was filed.
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    \6\ FERC Stats. & Regs. para. 31,075 at 30,482.
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    Although not separately reiterated in the cover letter accompanying 
the January 31, 2000 submittal from the MIC/How Groups, which was the 
basis for much of the May 19 Notice, the revised templates were 
included in the S&CP Document, Version 1.4 proposed in the May 19 
Notice and set out in Attachment A to that document. On review of this 
matter, we will accept the suggested seven-day lag before posting 
because this lag is already permitted with regard to much of the 
information and because the lag should not interfere with the review of 
this information by customers and the Commission to detect 
discriminatory practices. However, we make no finding as to the claim 
that this information is commercially sensitive and our decision does 
not rely on that argument.
    Finally, in addition to the changes recommended by the MIC/How 
Groups, we will take this opportunity to correct two typographical 
errors that we have discovered in the S&CP Document. In Section 4.2.12 
and in the Data Dictionary under ANC__SVC__LINK we are changing 
``ANC__SVC__TYPE'' to ``AS__TYPE.'' This change is reflected in the 
revised S&CP Document, which is available at an address under 
ADDRESSES.

IV. Effective Date and Congressional Notification

    The How Group has requested that the industry be given six months 
to prepare for the implementation of Version 1.4 of the S&CP Document 
before it becomes effective. Based on the assumption that there will 
probably be a lag of thirty days between adoption of this order by the 
Commission and its publication in the Federal Register, we will direct 
that Version 1.4 of the S&CP Document will take effect 150 days from 
the publication of this order in the Federal Register.
    The Commission has determined, with the concurrence of the 
Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of 
the Office of Management and Budget, that this order does not 
constitute a ``major rule'' within the meaning of section 351 of the 
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Act of 1996. The Commission will 
submit this order to both houses of Congress and the Comptroller 
General prior to its publication in the Federal Register.
    The Commission orders:
    The revised S&CP Document (Version 1.4) is hereby adopted for use 
by Transmission Providers, to become effective on January 8, 2001, as 
discussed in the body of this order.

By the Commission.
David P. Boergers,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 00-19974 Filed 8-9-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P