[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 64 (Wednesday, April 4, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16337-16341]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-6268]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Energy Information Administration (EIA), Department of Energy 
(DOE).

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

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SUMMARY: The EIA is soliciting comments on the proposed revisions and a 
three-year extension to the Forms:

EIA-411, ``Coordinated Bulk Power Supply Program Report,''
EIA-826, ``Monthly Electric Sales and Revenue with State Distributions 
Report,''
EIA-860M, ``Monthly Update to the Annual Electric Generator Report,''
EIA-860, ``Annual Electric Generator Report,''
EIA-861, ``Annual Electric Power Industry Report,'' and
EIA-923, ``Power Plant Operations Report.''

    Specifically, the EIA is soliciting comments on the following 
actions:
     First, merging the existing Form EIA-906 ``Power Plant 
Report,'' Form EIA-920, ``Combined Heat and Power Plant Report,'' and 
Form EIA-423, ``Monthly Cost and Quality of Fuels for Electric 
Plants,'' as well as transferring operational information on Schedules 
3A (excluding items 7 and 8), 3B, 4A, 4D (items 3, 6, and 7), 6A, and 
8A from the Form EIA-767, ``Steam-Electric Plant Operation and Design 
Report,'' to the proposed new Form EIA-923 ``Power Plant Operations 
Report,'' to be authorized for three years.
     Second, companies currently reporting on FERC Form-423, 
``Monthly

[[Page 16338]]

Report of Cost and Quality of Fuel for Electric Plants,'' would be 
required to report cost and quality of fuel information on Form EIA-
923.
     Third, transferring the static information collected on 
Form EIA-767, ``Steam-Electric Plant Operation and Design Report,'' 
from Schedules 2, 4B, 4C, 4D (except items 3, 6 and 7), 4E, 5 (items 3 
and 4) 6B, 7, 8B, and 9 to the Form EIA-860, ``Annual Electric 
Generator Report.''
     Fourth, discontinuing Form EIA-767, ``Steam-Electric Plant 
Operation and Design Report,'' Form EIA-423, ``Monthly Cost and Quality 
of Fuels for Electric Plants,'' Form EIA-906, ``Power Plant Report,'' 
and Form EIA-920, ``Combined Heat and Power Plant Report.''
     Fifth, changing the current provisions regarding 
confidentiality of information reported on the electric power surveys.

DATES: Comments must be filed by June 4, 2007. If you anticipate 
difficulty in submitting comments within that period, contact the 
person listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Mr. Jorge Luna-Camara. To ensure receipt of 
the comments by the due date, submission by FAX (202-287-1946) or e-
mail Mr. Luna-Camara at [email protected] is recommended. 
The mailing address is Energy Information Administration, Electric 
Power Division, EI-53, Forrestal Building, U.S. Department of Energy, 
Washington, DC 20585. Alternatively, Mr. Jorge Luna-Camara may be 
contacted by telephone at 202-287-1753.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of any forms and instructions should be directed to Mr. Jorge 
Luna-Camara at the address listed above. To review the proposed forms 
and instructions, please visit: http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/page/fednotice/elect_2008.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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

I. Background

    The Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-275, 15 
U.S.C. 761 et seq.) and the DOE Organization Act (Pub. L. 95-91, 42 
U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) require the EIA to carry out a centralized, 
comprehensive, and unified energy information program. This program 
collects, evaluates, assembles, analyzes, and disseminates information 
on energy resource reserves, production, demand, technology, and 
related economic and statistical information. This information is used 
to assess the adequacy of energy resources to meet near and longer term 
domestic demands.
    The EIA, as part of its effort to comply with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), 
provides the general public and other Federal agencies with 
opportunities to comment on collections of energy information conducted 
by or in conjunction with the EIA. Any comments received help the EIA 
to prepare data requests that maximize the utility of the information 
collected, and to assess the impact of collection requirements on the 
public. Also, the EIA will later seek approval by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) under Section 3507(a) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995.
    The EIA collects information about the electric power industry for 
use by government and private sector analysts. The survey information 
is disseminated in a variety of electronic products and files. For 
details on the EIA electric power information program, please visit the 
electricity page of the EIA Internet site at http://www.eia.doe.gov/fuelelectric.html.
    The EIA has completed an extensive review and update of the 
electric power survey collection instruments. The result of the update 
reflects input from the electric power industry, other industry users 
of the data, government agencies, consumer groups, and private sector 
analysts. Along with the form changes and proposed mergers, the EIA is 
proposing a revision to the commercially sensitive data elements that 
will be protected from release. These issues are explained below.
    This Federal Register notice solicits comments on proposed changes 
to five surveys and two proposed merger concepts. The first merger is 
for the Form EIA-906 ``Power Plant Report,'' Form EIA-920, ``Combined 
Heat and Power Plant Report,'' and Form EIA-423, ``Monthly Cost and 
Quality of Fuels for Electric Plants,'' to be merged into the new Form 
EIA-923, ``Power Plant Operations Report.'' Also, companies currently 
reporting on FERC Form-423, ``Monthly Report of Cost and Quality of 
Fuel for Electric Plants,'' would be required to file on Form EIA-923 
information on cost and quality of fuels. The proposed Form EIA-923 
combines receipts, consumption and fossil fuel stock information for 
all electric power producers on one form. Currently the data are 
collected on different forms, which are due at different times. By 
merging the forms, the information can be collected and checked at the 
same time. For example, the previous month's ending stocks, plus 
receipts, minus consumption must equal the current month's ending 
stocks. The consolidation into one form is expected to facilitate 
reporting and respondents will be able to review and correct their data 
prior to submission, thereby improving the quality and timeliness of 
the data. Also combining information collected by both EIA and the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on a single form has the potential 
to increase the overall efficiency of the Federal program to collect 
monthly fuel information as well as improve the utility of the 
resulting information products.
    In addition, it is proposed that the merged Form EIA-923 will also 
collect fuel consumption information at the boiler level for plants 
with steam turbines of 10 megawatts or greater capacity that burn 
fossil or organic fuels (excluding steam turbines whose source of steam 
is from nuclear, geothermal or solar resources), which was formerly 
collected on the Form EIA-767. This will maintain the existing data 
series for use in analysis and reduce the burden on the monthly 
respondents, as they will only have to provide these data once, rather 
than on both the Form EIA-767 and either Form EIA-906 or Form EIA-920. 
In addition, the other operational information collected on the Form 
EIA-767 will be transferred to the new Form EIA-923.
    The second merger is of the Form EIA-860, ``Annual Electric 
Generator Report,'' and the static information from the Form EIA-767, 
``Steam-Electric Plant Operation and Design Report.'' This merger would 
allow the respondents to report all of their static plant level 
information on one form (EIA-860), thereby reducing the level of 
overlap in filing multiple forms and making their submissions more 
consistent. With the mergers noted above, EIA will be able to eliminate 
four existing electric power survey forms.
    Please refer to the proposed forms and instructions for more 
information about the purpose, who must report, when to report, where 
to submit, the elements to be reported, detailed instructions, 
provisions for confidentiality, and uses (including possible non-
statistical uses) of the information. For instructions on obtaining 
materials, see the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

II. Current Actions

    The EIA proposes the following changes:

[[Page 16339]]

Form EIA-411, ``Coordinated Bulk Power Supply Program Report''

    The EIA proposes the following changes to the form:
     Eliminate Schedule 2, Capacity for Existing Generators in 
Reporting Year, as this information will be subsumed in Schedule 3.
     Modify Schedule 3. Historical and Projected Demand and 
Capacity. The categories will explain the differences between net 
capacity reported to EIA by its respondents on the Form EIA-860 and the 
Planned Capacity Resource data reported by the North American Electric 
Reliability Corporation (NERC) on Schedule 3, Reconciliation between 
Total Generation Regional Capacity and Planned Regional Capacity 
Resources (summer, winter).
    It is proposed that reporting on Form EIA-411 become mandatory for 
all electric generators who are connected to the electricity grid. Over 
time, as utilities have sold their generating assets, the Form EIA-411 
submission has become less inclusive of the entire electric power 
industry. Mandatory collection authority for Form EIA-411 is necessary 
for EIA to collect the comprehensive information needed for public and 
private analysts to accurately monitor the current status and trends of 
the electric power industry, as well as to evaluate the future of the 
industry. This change in the reporting obligation for the EIA-411 is 
consistent with NERC's data program requirements because membership in 
NERC is now mandatory and data filing requirements by its members are 
also mandatory.

Form EIA-826, ``Monthly Electric Sales and Revenue With State 
Distributions Report''

    It is proposed to reduce the due date for the form from 40 to 30 
calendar days after the end of the reporting month to aid in validating 
the data against other survey data and to release the data to the 
public sooner.
Schedule 1. Part C. Sales to Ultimate Customers, Delivery Only Service
    Additional requirement to provide the names of the energy service 
providers for whom distributors deliver electricity.

Form EIA-923, ``Power Plant Operations Report''

    In addition to the information previously reported to EIA on the 
forms being superseded by the EIA-923, EIA proposes to collect the 
following additional items:
Schedule 2. Plant-Level
     Commodity cost (only for coal and natural gas) for the 
quantity of fuel receipts.
     Mercury content for the quality of fuel received (only for 
coal).
     Primary and secondary mode of transportation (only for 
coal and natural gas).
     Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) 
identification number (for coal mine type and location).
     Also, all fossil fueled plants, including those which 
report to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on the FERC 
Form 423 and with a capacity of 1 megawatt and greater, would now file 
this information.
Schedule 3. Part A--Boiler-Level
    Consumption by energy source and heat content for plants with steam 
turbines of 10 megawatts or greater capacity that burn fossil or 
organic fuels (excluding steam turbines whose source of steam is from 
nuclear, geothermal or solar resources). Annual submitters would be 
required to provide 12 individual months worth of information. (Note: 
All other respondents would continue to provide prime mover level data 
on Schedule 4B.)
Schedule 5. Part A--Prime Mover-Level
    Net and gross generation for all steam-electric plants; gross 
generation for combined heat and power plants; and consumption by fuel 
type and heat content for plants with steam turbines of 10 megawatts or 
greater capacity that burn fossil or organic fuel (excluding steam 
turbines whose source of steam is from nuclear, geothermal or solar 
resources). (Note: All other respondents would continue to provide 
prime mover level data on Schedule 5B.)
    Schedule 7. Plant-Level for Annual Data Sources and Disposition 
proposes to collect revenues associated with the resale of electricity.
Schedule 8. Annual Environmental Information
     Part A. Byproduct Disposition.
     Part B. Financial Information.
     Part C. Nitrogen Oxide Emission Controls.
     Part D. Cooling System Information.
     Part E. Flue Gas Particulate Collection Information.
     Part F. Flue Gas Desulfurization Unit Information.

Form EIA-860, ``Annual Electric Generator Report''

    The EIA proposes to collect the following additional items:
Schedule 2. Power Plant Data
     Boiler status.
     Boiler type.
     Name of the owner of the transmission system to which the 
power plant is connected (for all plants).
Schedule 3. Generator Information
     Whether the generator is an electric utility or 
nonutility.
     Associated boiler IDs (steam-electric generators only).
     For combined cycle steam generators, whether there is an 
associated duct-burner.
     Leading and lagging reactive power output at net summer 
and at net winter capacity.
     Primary start-up and flame stabilization energy sources.
     Factors that limit the ability to switch from natural gas 
to oil for an extended period.
     Whether the generator is part of a site that was 
previously reported as indefinitely postponed or cancelled.
     Type of technology for proposed coal-fired generator.
Schedule 6: Boiler Information
     Part A. Plant configuration.
     Part B. Air emission standards.
     Part C. Design parameters.
     Part D. Nitrogen oxide emission controls.
     Part E. Mercury emission controls.
     Part F. Cooling system information--design parameters.
     Part G. Flue gas particulate collector information.
     Part H. Flue gas desulfurization unit--design parameters.
     Part I. Stack and flue information--design parameters.
    The EIA proposes to eliminate collecting the following items:
Schedule 3. Generator Information
     The name of the electric utility in whose service area the 
plant is located (applicable only to independent power producers and 
combined heat and power producers).
     Identification of distributed generators.
     The requirements to explicitly report the following for 
existing generators:
     Proposed for re-rating (EXCEPT nuclear generators).
     Proposed for deactivated shutdown status.
     Proposed for change in ownership.
     Proposed for fuel change.
     Proposed for reactivation from retirement.

[[Page 16340]]

Form EIA-860M, ``Monthly Update to the Annual Electric Generator 
Report''

Schedule B, Updates to Proposed Changes to Existing Generators
    As a result of the proposal to modify Form EIA-860 to remove the 
requirements for reporting the following proposed changes associated 
with existing generators, the following reporting requirement is also 
proposed to be eliminated from the EIA-860M:
     The requirements to explicitly report the following for 
existing generators:
     Proposed for re-rating (EXCEPT nuclear generators).
     Proposed for deactivated shutdown status.
     Proposed for change in ownership.
     Proposed for fuel change.
     Proposed for reactivation from retirement.

Form EIA-861, ``Annual Electric Power Industry Report''

    The EIA proposes to collect the following additional items:
Schedule 2C. Customer Service Programs
     Customer counts and green pricing revenue and volumes.
New Schedule 2D. Net Metering
     Net metering volumes.
     In addition to the number of customers served on net 
metering tariffs by end use class, the EIA will also capture 
electricity sales foregone by customers' use of net metering.
Schedule 6C. Demand Side Management
     Number of customers participating in incentive-based 
demand response programs.
     Number of customers participating in time-based rate 
programs.
Schedule 6D. Advance Metering
     The number of billing or revenue meters.
     The number of advanced customer meters and associated 
volumes.
Schedule 7A. Distributed and Dispersed Generation, Number and Capacity
     The number of generators and their capacity by State, and 
percent of capacity owned by respondent.

    EIA proposes to eliminate: Schedule 7C. Types of Energy Sources 
Used.
The EIA is proposing the following changes to the provisions regarding 
protected information reported on the electric power surveys.
    The EIA proposes not to apply disclosure limitation methods to the 
disseminated electric power survey data. EIA's disclosure limitation 
methods are designed to minimize the possibility that individually-
identifiable information reported by a survey respondent may be 
inferred from published statistics. Disclosure limitation methods 
consider how many respondents submitted information that was used to 
generate a statistic as well as whether any single respondent is 
responsible for a very large percentage of the value of a statistic. If 
disclosure limitation methods were applied, some electric power 
statistics would be suppressed from publication and unavailable to 
public and private analysts. By not applying disclosure limitation 
methods to electric power statistics, a knowledgeable person may be 
able to estimate the values of selected data elements reported by a 
specific respondent. The high utility of releasing aggregated 
statistics to the industry and the public supports the need not to 
apply disclosure limitation methods to the published statistics. 
However, EIA will not explicitly release individually identifiable 
data.
    The merging of several electric power survey forms along with the 
policy not to apply disclosure limitation methods to statistics based 
on these survey data will help ensure EIA's continuing ability to 
disseminate detailed information on the electric power sector, and 
allow others to evaluate the effectiveness of laws and regulations such 
as the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and those developed by the 
Environmental Protection Agency for implementing requirements from the 
Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.
    The EIA will continue to protect the following data elements listed 
below and will not disclose to the public individually-identifiable 
data 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 implementing the FOIA, 10 CFR 1004.11, and the Trade 
Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. 1905:
     Fuel cost (current Form EIA-423, proposed Form EIA-923).
     Fuel stocks (current Form EIA-906 and Form EIA-920, and 
the proposed Form EIA-923).
     Commodity cost (proposed Form EIA-923).
     Monthly retail sales, revenue, and number of customers 
(for energy service providers only) (Form EIA-826).
     Maximum tested heat rate under full load conditions (Form 
EIA-860).
     Maps and power flow cases (Form EIA-411).
    However, the EIA proposes to release the following data elements 
that either were protected before or will be collected for the first 
time:
     Monthly electric sales, revenue and number of customers 
for energy service providers on the Form EIA-826 nine (9) months after 
the end of the reporting year. These same annual data reported on the 
Form EIA-861 are currently not protected.
     Monthly fuel cost, commodity cost and fuel stocks on the 
proposed Form EIA-923 nine (9) months after the end of the reporting 
year.
     Latitude and longitude reported on the Form EIA-860. This 
information is available from many other external sources and is not 
considered vital to national security interests. These data will only 
be released upon request and will not be electronically available for 
the public to access through the Internet.
    The majority of the electric power survey data are currently non-
confidential. Protecting the monthly data on commodity and fuel costs 
and fuel stocks until nine (9) months after the end of the reporting 
year coincides with the release by the EIA of the reports State Energy 
Profiles and Electric Power Annual. These reports present data from 
1990 to the present on electricity generation; electric generating 
capacity; capacity resource margins; fuel consumption; emissions; 
electricity trade; retail electric customers, sales, revenue and price; 
electric utility revenue and expense statistics; and demand-side 
management. The policy to release these data nine (9) months after the 
end of the reporting year supports the EIA's mandate for carrying out a 
central, comprehensive, and unified energy data and information program 
responsive to users' needs. It also supports EIA's mandate to release 
credible, reliable, and timely energy information that will improve and 
broaden the understanding of market activity in the electric power 
generation and distribution system, and help assess the reliability of 
the electric power grid in the United States. In addition, this release 
would not harm the individual companies, as sufficient time will have 
passed after the reporting month so that the data will have aged enough 
to no longer be of competitive interest to any competitors. If EIA 
receives approval to publicly release the company-level monthly 
information mentioned above, nine months after the end of a reporting 
year, EIA may later also undertake the process to publicly release such 
information collected prior to 2008 under similar conditions.

[[Page 16341]]

III. Request for Comments

    Prospective respondents and other interested parties should comment 
on the proposals discussed in Item II. The following guidelines are 
provided to assist in the preparation of comments. 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 and 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 be made to the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected?
    C. Does EIA's proposed data protection treatment for electric power 
survey information maximize the utility of the data for users while 
adequately protecting sensitive information?

As a Potential Respondent to the Request for Information

    A. What actions could be taken to help ensure and maximize the 
quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of the information to be 
collected?
    B. Are the instructions and definitions clear and sufficient? If 
not, which instructions need clarification?
    C. Can the information be submitted by the due dates?
    D. Public reporting burden for the average collection time are 
estimated below.
    The estimated burden includes the total time necessary to provide 
the requested information. In your opinion, how accurate are these 
estimates? Form EIA-411, ``Bulk Power Supply Program Report,''--15.9 
hours per response; Form EIA-923, ``Power Plant Operations Report,''--
3.1 hours per response; Form EIA-826, ``Monthly Electric Sales and 
Revenue with State Distributions Report,'' 1.2 hours per response; Form 
EIA-860, ``Annual Electric Generator Report,''--8.5 hours per response; 
Form EIA-861, ``Annual Electric Power Industry Report,''--8.5 hours per 
response; Form EIA-860M, ``Monthly Update to the Annual Electric 
Generator Report,''--0.3 hour per response.
    E. The agency estimates that the only cost to a respondent is for 
the time it will take to complete the collection. Will a respondent 
incur any start-up costs for reporting, or any recurring annual costs 
for operation, maintenance, and purchase of services associated with 
the information collection?
    F. What additional actions could be taken to minimize the burden of 
this collection of information? Such actions may involve the use of 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    G. Does any other Federal, State, or local agency collect similar 
information? If so, specify the agency, the data element(s), and the 
methods of collection.

As a Potential User of the Information To Be Collected

    A. What actions could be taken to help ensure and maximize the 
quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of the information 
disseminated?
    B. Is the information useful at the levels of detail to be 
collected?
    C. For what purpose(s) would the information be used? Be specific.
    D. Are there alternate sources for the information and are they 
useful? If so, what are their weaknesses 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: Sections 3506(c)(2) and 3507(a) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. 3501, et 
seq.).

    Issued in Washington, DC, March 27, 2007.
Jay H. Casselberry,
Agency Clearance Officer, Energy Information Administration.
[FR Doc. E7-6268 Filed 4-3-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P