[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 187 (Tuesday, September 27, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59668-59669]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-24782]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[OE Docket No. PP-230-4]


Notice of Extension of Comment Period; International Transmission 
Company, d/b/a ITC Transmission

AGENCY: Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of Extension of Comment Period.

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SUMMARY: International Transmission Company, d/b/a ITCTransmission 
(ITC), filed a request to extend the comment period on its supplemental 
filing of operational documents in an ongoing Presidential permit 
proceeding regarding the ITC application to amend Presidential Permit 
No. PP-230-3.

DATES: Comments must be submitted and received by DOE on or before 
October 14, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to: Christopher Lawrence, 
Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Mail Code: OE-
20, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC 20585-0350. Because of delays in handling conventional 
mail, it is recommended that documents be transmitted by overnight 
mail, by electronic mail to [email protected], or by 
facsimile to 202-586-8008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Lawrence (Program Office) 
at 202-586-5260, or by e-mail to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 5, 2009, ITC applied to the DOE 
to amend Presidential Permit No. PP-230-3 by authorizing ITC to replace 
a failed 675-MVA transformer with two 700-MVA phase-shifting 
transformers connected in series at ITC's Bunce Creek Station in 
Marysville, Michigan.
    DOE issued a notice of ITC's application in the Federal Register on 
February 10, 2009 (74 FR 6607), requesting that any comments, protests, 
or motions to intervention be filed by March 12, 2009. Numerous 
responsive documents were filed, including late requests to intervene. 
The filings raised various issues, including the need to review the 
operational protocols for the facilities with the installation of the 
new transformers, also known as phase angle regulators (PARs).
    On August 9, 2011, DOE received Supplemental Reply Comments from 
ITC, which completed the ITC response to earlier comments filed in the 
proceeding by the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator 
(MISO), Inc. and the Independent Electricity System Operator of 
Ontario. According to ITC, the supplemental filing provided the 
operational agreements required to complete ITC's application in the 
amendment proceeding, including a letter of agreement between ITC and 
MISO assigning functional control of the subject facilities at the 
Bunce Creek Station to MISO.

[[Page 59669]]

    ITC requested that DOE accept this filing as sufficient to allow 
DOE to approve its application to amend the ITC Presidential permit on 
an expedited basis without further notice so that the transformers can 
be placed into service and benefits from controlling the Lake Erie loop 
flow can begin. ITC has also indicated that placing the PARs into 
service now will also allow the parties to better assess the various 
impacts of PARs operations and thus, better determine if the current 
operational procedures would need to be modified.
    DOE issued a notice in the Federal Register on August 18, 2011 (76 
FR 52945) inviting comments from prior participants in the proceeding 
and other interested persons on the ITC supplemental filing until 
September 23, 2011. Specifically, DOE was interested in obtaining the 
views of other affected utilities and system operators on the 
sufficiency of the operating principles provided by ITC.
    On September 15, 2011 ITC filed a motion to extend the current 
comment period on its supplemental filing for three additional weeks 
until October 14, 2011, in order to allow more time for the parties in 
the case to finalize ongoing settlement discussions. Therefore, DOE is 
granting an extension of the current comment period on the ITC 
supplemental filing until October 14, 2011.
    Procedural Matters: Any person desiring to be heard in response to 
this notice should file written comments with DOE. Five copies of such 
comments should be sent to the address provided above on or before the 
date listed above.
    Additional copies of such petitions to intervene or protests also 
should be filed directly with: Stephen J. Videto, ITCTransmission, 
27175 Energy Way, Novi, MI 48377 and John R. Staffier, Stuntz, Davis & 
Staffier, P.C., 555 Twelfth Street, NW., Suite 630, Washington, DC 
20004.
    All of the documents filed in the OE Docket No. PP-230-4 proceeding 
may be viewed by going to the Pending Applications page at http://energy.gov/node/11845 on the DOE Web site and scrolling to the PP-230-4 
section under Pending Presidential Permit Applications.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on September 21, 2011.
Brian Mills,
Director, Permitting and Siting, Office of Electricity Delivery and 
Energy Reliability.
[FR Doc. 2011-24782 Filed 9-26-11; 8:45 am]
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