[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 80 (Thursday, April 26, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 20723-20725]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-7772]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Parts 141 and 385

[Docket No. RM07-14-000; Order No. 695]


Electronic Filing of FERC Form No. 714

Issued April 19, 2007.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: In this Final Rule, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
(Commission) is amending its regulations to provide for electronic 
filing of the FERC Form No. 714, Annual Electric Control and Planning 
Area Report. Paper filings will no longer be accepted. No substantive 
changes are being made to the information reported in the FERC Form No. 
714; however, the Commission has made minor formatting changes to the 
form to facilitate the development of the form submission software. 
Finally, as an administrative revision, the term ``Control Area'' will 
be changed to ``Balancing Authority Area,'' in line with current 
industry practice. In a separate notice, a forty-five day extension, to 
July 16, 2007, will be granted this first year under the new system to 
allow additional time to file.

DATES: Effective Date: The Final Rule will become effective May 29, 
2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lawrence Greenfield (Legal 
Information), Office of the General Counsel--Energy Markets, Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 
20426, Telephone: (202) 502-6415, E-mail: [email protected].
    Patricia W. Morris (Technical Information), Division of 
Administration, Budget and Strategic Planning, Office of Energy Markets 
and Reliability, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First 
Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, Telephone: (202) 502-8730, E-mail: 
[email protected].
    Craig Hill (Software Information), Division of Administration, 
Budget and Strategic Planning, Office of Energy Markets and 
Reliability, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, 
NE., Washington, DC 20426, Telephone: (202) 502-8621, E-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Before Commissioners: Joseph T. Kelliher, Chairman; Suedeen G. Kelly; 
Marc Spitzer; Philip D. Moeller; and Jon Wellinghoff.

    1. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is amending its 
regulations to provide for electronic filing of the FERC Form No. 714, 
Annual Electric Control and Planning Area Report (Form 714).\1\ Paper 
filings will no longer be accepted. No substantive changes are being 
made to the information reported in the Form 714; however, the 
Commission has made minor formatting changes to the form to facilitate 
the development of form submission software. Finally, as an 
administrative revision, the term ``Control Area'' will be changed to 
``Balancing Authority Area,'' in line with current industry practice. 
In a separate notice, a forty-five day extension, to July 16, 2007, 
will be granted this first year under the new system to allow 
additional time to file.
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    \1\ See 18 CFR 141.51.
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Background

    2. Form 714 gathers utility operating and planning information, 
primarily on

[[Page 20724]]

a control area basis,\2\ for the purpose of evaluating utility 
operations with regard to mergers and dispositions, jurisdictional 
services, jurisdictional rates, energy market oversight, and wholesale 
market changes in light of evolving competitive forces.
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    \2\ In line with electric industry developments, ``Control 
Area'' will changed to ``Balancing Authority Area.''
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    3. Form 714 is submitted annually by approximately 173 utilities 
who operate balancing authority areas and planning areas. Currently, 
Form 714 is submitted in a paper format.

Discussion

    4. The Commission's regulations provide for electronic filing, 
using web-enabled software technology, of numerous reports currently 
submitted by entities subject to Commission jurisdiction, some of which 
are: FERC Form No. 1, Annual Report of Major Electric Utilities, 
Licensees and Others; FERC Form No. 516, Electric Quarterly Report; 
FERC Form No. 423, Monthly Report of Cost and Quality of Fuels for 
Electric Plants; FERC Form No. 3Q, Quarterly Financial Report of 
Electric Utilities, Licensees, and Natural Gas Companies; and FERC Form 
No. 60, Annual Report of Centralized Service Companies.\3\ The 
electronic filing of these reports yields significant benefits, 
including reduced cost of data entry and retrieval, overall reduction 
of reporting burden, faster and more precise data validation, more 
timely analysis and publication of data, and increased data analysis 
capability.\4\ And, in general, filers and users alike agree that 
electronic filing of these reports yields significant benefits in terms 
of process simplification and savings of time and expense.\5\
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    \3\ See, e.g., 18 CFR 385.2011.
    \4\ See, e.g., Electronic Filing of FERC Form No. 1, Order No. 
574,. 60 FR 1716 (Jan. 5, 1995), FERC Stats. & Regs. ]31,013 at 
31,257 (1995).
    \5\ Id. at 31,256-57.
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    5. With respect to Form 714, the Commission seeks similar benefits. 
The Commission, therefore, will require utilities to file the Form 714 
electronically, using the Commission's web-enabled software, beginning 
with the 2006 reporting year, to be filed this first year by an 
extended filing date of July 16, 2007.
    6. In addition, the term ``Control Area'' will be changed to 
``Balancing Authority Area'' in the title and throughout the form and 
instructions in keeping with this change in industry. By using either 
term, the Commission is referring to the area operator that is 
responsible for matching generation and load, that is responsible for 
maintaining scheduled interchange with other Balancing Authority Areas, 
and that is responsible for maintaining the frequency in real-time of 
the electric power system.
    7. No substantive changes are being made to the information 
reported in Form 714. However, the Commission will make minor 
formatting changes to Form 714 to facilitate the development of the 
form submission software. These minor changes will include updating 
certain attachments so that the data is reported in a structured 
format, updating the General Instructions to Form 714 to clarify that 
the respondents will no longer file paper copies of Form 714, but 
rather the respondents will be required to use the Commission's form 
submission software to file the information, and lastly allowing only 
utilities subject to the reporting requirements to submit a Form 714 
via the software. Ergo, the Commission will not register the software 
to a regional transmission system organization operator who is not a 
Balancing Authority Area operator or Planning Area operator. Entities 
that are neither Balancing Authority Area operators nor Planning Area 
operators, but who are authorized by their members to compile Form 714 
data on their behalf, are required to make the data available to their 
Balancing Authority Area operators or Planning Area operators in order 
that those area operators may file the data with the Commission.
    8. In a separate notice, filers will be directed to the 
Commission's Web site where instructions will be provided concerning 
how a utility may register as a respondent and download the form 
submission software for use in filing Form 714.

Information Collection Statement

    9. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations require OMB to 
approve certain information collection requirements imposed by an 
agency.\6\ The Final Rule will not change the reporting requirements in 
Form 714. This rule, therefore, is not subject to OMB review. The 
Commission is submitting a copy of the Final Rule to OMB for 
information purposes only. When the collection is next up for OMB 
renewal (2009), the Commission will report a reduction in burden (1) 
Due to a reduction in the number of filers from the previous 250 to the 
current 173, a result of the formation of regional transmission 
organizations (and other similar entities) encompassing numerous former 
Control Areas (Balancing Authority Areas) and (2) due to the switch 
from a paper and diskette filing to an all-electronic filing.
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    \6\ 5 CFR 1320.11.
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    10. Interested persons may obtain information on these reporting 
requirements by contacting the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 
888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426 [Attn: Michael Miller, 
Information Services Division (202) 502-8415, fax: (202) 273-0873]. 
Comments on the requirements of this rule can be sent to the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB [Attn: Desk Officer for the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; phone, (202) 395-4650, fax: (202) 
395-7285, e-mail: [email protected]].

Environmental Analysis

    11. Commission regulations require that an Environmental Assessment 
or an Environmental Impact Statement be prepared for any Commission 
action that may have a significant adverse effect on the human 
environment.\7\ The Commission has categorically excluded certain 
actions from this requirement as not having a significant effect on the 
human environment. No environmental consideration is necessary for the 
promulgation of a rule concerning information gathering, analysis or 
dissemination, or that is merely procedural.\8\ Because the electronic 
filing requirement for Form 714 adopted in this Final Rule concerns 
information gathering, and is procedural, no environmental 
consideration is necessary.
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    \7\ Regulations Implementing the National Environmental Policy 
Act, Order No. 486, 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. & Regs. 
] 30,783 (1987) (codified at 18 CFR Part 380).
    \8\ 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii), (5).
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Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    12. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) \9\ generally 
requires either a description and analysis of a rule that will have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities 
or a certification that the rule will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities. Most utilities to 
which this Final Rule applies would not fall within the RFA's 
definition of small entity.\10\

[[Page 20725]]

Consequently, the Commission certifies that this Final Rule will not 
have a ``significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities.''
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    \9\ 5 U.S.C. 601-12.
    \10\ 5 U.S.C. 601(3), citing to section 3 of the Small Business 
Act, 15 U.S.C. 632. Section 3 of the Small Business Act defines a 
``small business concern'' as a business that is independently owned 
and operated and that is not dominant in its field of operation. The 
Small Business Size Standards component of the North American 
Industry Classification System (NAICS) defines a small electric 
utility as one that, including its affiliates, is primarily engaged 
in the generation, transmission, and/or distribution of electric 
energy for sale and whose total electric output for the preceding 
fiscal year did not exceed four million MWh. 13 CFR 121.201.
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Document Availability

    13. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an 
opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this document via the 
Internet through the Commission's Home Page (http://www.ferc.gov) and 
in the Commission's Public Reference Room during normal business hours 
(8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time) at 888 First Street, NE., Room 2A, 
Washington DC 20426.
    14. From the Commission's Home Page on the Internet, this 
information is available in the Commission's document management 
system, eLibrary. The full text of this document is available on 
eLibrary in PDF and Microsoft Word format for viewing, printing, and/or 
downloading. To access this document in eLibrary, type the docket 
number excluding the last three digits of this document in the docket 
number field.
    15. User assistance is available for eLibrary and the Commission's 
Web site during normal business hours. For assistance, please contact 
FERC Online Support at 1-866-208-3676 (toll free) or 202-502-6652 (e-
mail at [email protected]) or the Public Reference Room at 
202-502-8371, TTY 202-502-8659 (e-mail at 
[email protected]).

Administrative Findings and Effective Date

    16. The Administrative Procedure Act (APA)\11\ requires rulemakings 
to be published in the Federal Register. The APA also mandates that an 
opportunity for comments be provided when an agency promulgates 
regulations. However, notice and comment are not required under the APA 
when the agency for good cause finds that notice and public procedure 
thereon are impracticable, unnecessary or contrary to the public 
interest.\12\
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    \11\ 5 U.S.C. 551-59.
    \12\ 5 U.S.C. 553(B); See, e.g., Mid-Tex Electric Cooperative, 
Inc. v. FERC, 822 F.2d 1123 (D.C. Cir. 1987).
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    17. The Commission finds that notice and comment are unnecessary 
for this rulemaking. As explained above, this Final Rule is merely 
procedural in nature. The Commission is not substantively revising the 
information utilities file in the Form 714. The Commission is merely 
requiring electronic filing of the Form 714 using software analogous to 
software developed by the Commission for the collection of other 
information from the same utilities that currently file Form 714, e.g., 
Forms 1, 3Q and 516.
    18. This Final Rule is effective May 29, 2007.

Congressional Notification

    19. The provisions of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 
Fairness Act of 1996\13\ regarding Congressional review of Final Rules 
do not apply to this Final Rule, because the rule concerns agency 
procedure and practice and will not substantially affect the 
substantive rights of non-agency parties.\14\
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    \13\ 5 U.S.C. 801.
    \14\ 5 U.S.C. 804(3)(B).
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List of subjects

18 CFR Part 141

    Electric power, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

18 CFR Part 385

    Administrative practice and procedure, Electric power, Penalties, 
Pipelines, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    By the Commission.
Philis J. Posey,
Deputy Secretary.

0
In consideration of the foregoing, the Commission amends parts 141 and 
385, Chapter I, Title 18, Code of Federal Regulations, as follows:

PART 141--STATEMENTS AND REPORTS (SCHEDULES)

0
1. The authority citation for part 141 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 79; 16 U.S.C. 791a-828c, 2601-2645; 31 
U.S.C. 9701; 42 U.S.C. 7101-7352.


0
2. In Sec.  141.51, the section heading, and paragraphs (a)(1) and (c) 
are revised to read as follows:


Sec.  141.51  FERC Form No. 714, Annual Electric Balancing Authority 
Area and Planning Area Report.

    (a) Who must file. (1) Any electric utility, as defined by section 
3(4) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, 16 U.S.C. 2602, 
operating a balancing authority area, and any group of electric 
utilities, which by way of contractual arrangements operates as a 
single balancing authority area, must complete and file the applicable 
schedules in FERC Form No. 714 with the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission.
* * * * *
    (c) What to file. FERC Form No. 714, Annual Electric Balancing 
Authority Area and Planning Area Report, must be filed with the Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission as prescribed in Sec.  385.2011 of this 
chapter and as indicated in the General Instructions set out in this 
form.

PART 385--RULES OF PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE

0
3. The authority citation for part 385 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 551-557; 15 U.S.C. 717-717z, 3301-3432; 16 
U.S.C.791a-825v, 2601-2645; 28 U.S.C. 2461; 31 U.S.C. 3701, 9701; 42 
U.S.C. 7101-7352, 16441, 16451-16463; 49 U.S.C. 60502; 49 App. 
U.S.C. 1-85 (1988).

0
4. In Sec.  385.2011, paragraph (a)(10) is added and paragraph (c)(3) 
is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  385.2011  Procedures for filing on electronic media (Rule 2011).

    (a) * * *
    (10) FERC Form No. 714, Annual Electric Balancing Authority Area 
and Planning Area Report.
* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (3) With the exception of the FERC Form Nos. 1, 2, 2-A, 6, 60, and 
714, the electronic media must be accompanied by the traditional 
prescribed number of paper copies.
* * * * *
 [FR Doc. E7-7772 Filed 4-25-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P