[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 82 (Friday, April 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 25164]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-10218]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. RM12-4-000]


Revision to Transmission Vegetation Management Reliability 
Standard; Notice Inviting Comments on Report

    The Commission is posting and inviting comment upon a report 
prepared by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) on 
``Applicability of the `Gallet Equation' to the Vegetation Clearances 
of NERC Reliability Standard FAC-003-2'' (PNNL Report).
    The Report was commissioned by the Commission's Office of Electric 
Reliability, for the purpose of obtaining an independent analysis of 
certain technical questions raised by the Minimum Vegetation Clearance 
Distances as proposed in the North American Electric Reliability 
Corporation's Reliability Standard FAC-003-2 (Transmission Vegetation 
Management). Specifically, PNNL was commissioned to prepare a report 
addressing the following:

    The overall scope of this project shall include analysis of the 
mathematics and documentation of the technical justification behind 
the application of the Gallet equation and the assumptions used in 
the technical reference paper [Exh. A of NERC's filing]. To put the 
analysis into perspective, are the assumptions made in the 
development of the Gallet Equation and their application in NERC-
approved Reliability Standard FAC-003-2 reasonable to address the 
minimum distance requirements needed to avoid sustained vegetation-
related outages? What variations in Gallet distance may occur when 
comparing the original testing (use of switching impulses and corona 
free electrodes) against the variety of impulses a line may be 
subject to and the concentrations of coronal effects when using 
vegetation instead of corona-free electrodes? Do the equations 
adequately address the limiting conditions (i.e., the expected 
extremes in prevailing ambient conditions including temperatures, 
humidity, conductor position, amplification of any coronal effects 
and wind speed) that are important to the insulation performance of 
a line to prevent flashover to nearby vegetation during real-time 
operating conditions? The limiting conditions will be identified, 
outlined, and applied in the analysis.
    This analysis shall also include a discussion of the 
appropriateness of using one clearance for all lines with the same 
operating voltage as opposed to linking the clearance to ``as 
built'' and design conditions. Finally, the analysis shall identify 
if the proposed clearance will provide the minimum clearance needed 
to avoid a flashover with regard to vegetation. (Footnotes omitted.)

    The PNNL Report will be posted on the Commission's Web site at 
http://www.ferc.gov.
    Comments on the PNNL Report should be filed with the Commission 
within 30 days of the issuance of this Notice. The Commission 
encourages electronic submission of comments in lieu of paper using the 
``eFiling'' link at http://www.ferc.gov. Persons unable to file 
electronically should submit an original and 14 copies of the comment 
to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20426.
    All filings in this docket are accessible on-line at http://www.ferc.gov, using the ``eLibrary'' link and will be available for 
review in the Commission's Public Reference Room in Washington, DC. 
There is an ``eSubscription'' link on the Web site that enables 
subscribers to receive email notification when a document is added to a 
subscribed docket. For assistance with any FERC Online service, please 
email [email protected], or call (866) 208-3676 (toll free). 
For TTY, call (202) 502-8659.
    Questions regarding this Notice should be directed to: David 
O'Connor, Office of Electric Reliability, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, 202-502-6695, 
[email protected].

    Dated: April 23, 2012.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012-10218 Filed 4-26-12; 8:45 am]
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