[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 6, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14521-14527]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-05152]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration


Agency Information Collection Extension With Changes

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

ACTION: Notice and request for OMB review and comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: EIA, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and with 
the approval of the Office of Management and Budget, intends to extend 
for 3 years, with changes, the following forms:
     Form EIA-63B, ``Annual Photovoltaic Cell/Module Shipments 
Report,''
     Form EIA-411, ``Coordinated Bulk Power Supply Program 
Report,''
     Form EIA-826, ``Monthly Electric Utility Sales and Revenue 
Report with State Distributions,''
     Form EIA-860, ``Annual Electric Generator Report,''
     Form EIA-860M, ``Monthly Update to the Annual Electric 
Generator Report,''
     Form EIA-861, ``Annual Electric Power Industry Report,''
     Form EIA-861S, ``Annual Electric Power Industry Report 
(Short Form),'' and
     Form EIA-923, ``Power Plant Operations Report.''
    In addition, EIA proposes to create the following new form:
     Form EIA-930, ``Balancing Authority Operations Report.''
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways 
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology.

DATES: Comments regarding this proposed information collection must be 
received on or before May 6, 2013. If you anticipate difficulty in 
submitting comments within that period, contact the person listed in 
ADDRESSES as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Rebecca Peterson. To ensure receipt of the 
comments by the due date, email is recommended ([email protected]). The 
postal mailing address is U.S. Department of Energy, U. S. Energy 
Information Administration, Mail Stop EI-23, Forrestal Building, 1000 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Ms. Peterson at the email address listed above. 
Alternatively, Ms. Peterson may be contacted on (202)-586-4509. The 
proposed forms and instructions, along with related information on this 
clearance package, can be viewed at http://www.eia.gov/survey/changes/electricity/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This information collection request contains 
the following:

(1) OMB No. 1905-0129 \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ This form has been under OMB No. 1905-0196. Due to a 
reorganization of EIA offices, the renewables data collection 
program is now housed with the electricity data collection program. 
Therefore, EIA proposes to change the OMB number to 1905-0129.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For the Forms EIA-411, 826, 860, 860M, 861, 861S, 923, and 930, EIA 
proposes to protect all contact information associated with the 
``Survey Contact'' and the ``Supervisor of Contact Person for Survey'' 
on Schedule 1, including name, email address, telephone, and Fax number 
to the extent that it satisfies the criteria for exemption under the 
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552, the Department of 
Energy (DOE) regulations; 10 CFR 1004.11, implementing the FOIA, and 
the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. 1905. The name and business address of 
the survey respondents shown in Schedule 1 will continue to be released 
as public information.
    For the Forms EIA-63B, 411, 826, 860 and 923, EIA proposes to 
discontinue applying disclosure limitation rules that test aggregate 
statistics for the risk of disclosing identifiable information. EIA 
intends to add the following paragraph to the section on data 
confidentiality: ``Disclosure limitation procedures are not applied to 
the statistical data published from the survey information reported on 
this form. There may be some statistics that are based on data from 
fewer than three respondents, or that are dominated by data from one or 
two large respondents. In these cases, it may be possible for a 
knowledgeable person to closely estimate the information reported by a 
specific respondent.''

[[Page 14522]]

(2) Information Collection Request Title: Form EIA-63B, ``Annual 
Photovoltaic Cell/Module Shipments Report''

    (3) Type of Request: Extension, with changes, of a currently 
approved collection.
    (4) Purpose: The Form EIA-63B tracks photovoltaic cell/module 
manufacturing, shipments, technology types, revenue and related 
information. The data collected on this form appear in various EIA 
publications. The data are used by the U.S. Department of Energy, the 
Congress, other government and non-government entities, and the public 
to monitor the current status and trends of the photovoltaic industry 
and to evaluate the future of the industry.
    (5) Estimated Number of Survey Respondents: Currently there are 
about 168 respondents.
    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: The annual 
estimated number of total responses is about 168.
    (7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: The annual estimated 
burden is 840 hours.
    (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: 
Additional costs to respondents are not anticipated beyond costs 
associated with response burden hours.

(1) OMB No.: 1905-0129

(2) Information Collection Request Title: Form EIA-411, ``Coordinated 
Bulk Power Supply Program Report''

    (3) Type of Request: Extension, with changes, of a currently 
approved collection
    (4) Purpose: The Form EIA-411 collects information relating to the 
reliability of the electric power system in the lower 48 states, 
including regional electricity supply and demand projections for a 10-
year advance period, the characteristics and frequency of outages 
occurring on the Bulk Electric System, and other information on the 
transmission system and supporting facilities. The data are collected 
from the regional reliability entities by the North American Electric 
Reliability Corp. (NERC), \2\ which then organizes and edits the 
information and submits the data to EIA. The proposed changes include:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ NERC is the official national Electric Reliability 
Organization as designated by FERC pursuant to the Energy Policy Act 
of 2005. EIA has had a long-standing relationship with NERC and its 
predecessor for the collection of the EIA-411 data.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Schedule 6, Part B, Characteristics of Projected 
Transmission Lines: EIA proposes to remove several questions on 
conductor size and material, bundling arrangements, and type of pole or 
tower. This information has been determined to have limited value that 
is outweighed by respondent burden.
     Schedule 7, Part A, Annual Data on Transmission Line 
Outages for AC Lines: The transmission line sustained outage section of 
the form will have a new voltage category: below 199kV. This change 
will make the form consistent with the expansion of the Bulk Electric 
System definition requested by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
(FERC) and specific recommendations from NERC. In this section, there 
are other minor refinements to the outage data collected, such as 
disaggregating outages into the three principal classifications.
     New Schedule 8, Annual Data on Generating Unit Outages, 
Deratings and Performance Indexes: This new Schedule will present 
information on generating unit reliability, supplementing the 
reliability information on the transmission grid and the power supply/
demand balance historically collected by this survey. The information 
will be extracted by NERC directly from its existing Generating 
Availability Data System (GADS). The additional burden on respondents 
is therefore 0.
     New Schedule 9, Smart Grid Transmission System Devices and 
Applications, will collect information on smart grid technologies now 
being deployed to improve the reliability of the transmission system. 
This includes phasor measurement units, which are used for real-time 
monitoring of the condition of the grid and for forensic review of grid 
performance and events. Information will also be collected on dynamic 
capability rating systems on transmission circuits. These systems 
provide operators with information on the true operational limits of 
transmission lines.
    (5) Estimated Number of Survey Respondents: Nine respondents (the 
eight NERC regional entities and NERC Headquarters).
    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: The annual 
estimated number of total responses is 9.
    (7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: The annual estimated 
burden is 1,098 hours.
    (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: 
Additional costs to respondents are not anticipated beyond costs 
associated with response burden hours.

(1) OMB No.: 1905-0129

(2) Information Collection Request Title: Form EIA-826, ``Monthly 
Electric Sales and Revenue with State Distributions Report''

    (3) Type of Request: Extension, with changes, of a currently 
approved collection.
    (4) Purpose: Form EIA-826 collects monthly information from a 
sample of electric utilities, energy service providers, and 
distribution companies that sell or deliver electric power to end 
users. Data collected on this form includes sales and revenue for all 
end-use sectors (residential, commercial, industrial, and 
transportation). This survey is the monthly complement to the annual 
data collection from the universe of respondents made by the short and 
long form versions of the Form EIA-861 survey (see below). EIA proposes 
to make the following changes to the form:
     Schedule 3, Part A, Green Pricing: Remove the green 
pricing schedule. EIA's understanding is that green pricing programs 
currently have a minimal presence in the retail power market and that 
this situation is not expected to change. The value of the data 
collection is therefore outweighed by the burden on respondents. EIA 
plans to continue to monitor this market and if necessary will propose 
reintroduction of this data collection in the future.
     Schedule 3, Part C, Advanced Metering: Separate Advanced 
Metering Infrastructure (AMI) into two subgroups--AMI operated solely 
as Automated Meter Reading (AMR) equipment, and AMI operated as AMI.
    (5) Estimated Number of Survey Respondents: There are approximately 
526 respondents.
    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: The annual 
estimated number of total responses is 6,312.
    (7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: The annual estimated 
burden is 8,647.
    (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: 
Additional costs to respondents are not anticipated beyond costs 
associated with response burden hours.

(1) OMB No.: 1905-0129

(2) Information Collection Request Title: Form EIA-860, ``Annual 
Electric Generator Report''

    (3) Type of Request: Extension, with changes, of a currently 
approved collection.
    (4) Purpose: Form EIA-860 collects data on existing and planned 
electric generation plants and associated

[[Page 14523]]

equipment including generators, boilers, cooling systems, and 
environmental control systems. Data are collected from all existing 
units and from planned units scheduled for initial commercial operation 
within 10 years of the specified reporting period (depending on the 
type of plant). EIA proposes the following changes:
     Schedule 1, Identification: collect the ownership type of 
the reporting entity (e.g., investor owned utility, electric power 
cooperative, etc.). This information is frequently requested within DOE 
and by outside analysts.
     Schedule 2, Power Plant Data, and Schedule 3, Part C, 
Generator Information--Proposed Generators: These schedules currently 
collect data from plants and generators expected to begin commercial 
operation within 10 years of the survey year. EIA proposes to reduce 
this time horizon to 5 years for all types of plants other than coal, 
nuclear, and conventional and pumped-storage hydroelectric power 
plants. This change reflects the relatively short planning and 
construction horizon for the predominant types of power plants now 
being proposed in the United States, such as combined cycle, wind, and 
solar generators. Coal, nuclear, and hydroelectric plants, in contrast, 
have long planning and construction periods.
     Schedule 2, Power Plant Data:
    i. Collect the name of each plant's balancing authority instead of 
its regional transmission organization (RTO) or independent system 
operator (ISO). This change reflects an effort by EIA to align its data 
collections with the actual operation of the electric power system, 
which is based on approximately 100 ``balancing authorities'' that 
manage the grid. No information will be lost because EIA can use 
balancing authority designations to assign plants to RTOs and ISOs.
    ii. Collect information on ash impoundments. The condition of ash 
impoundments has been an area of increasing environmental concern at 
the federal and state levels. The data to be collected include whether 
any impoundments exist at a plant, the impoundments' statuses, and 
whether they are lined.
    iii. Put space on the schedule to collect up to three grid voltages 
at the power plant's point of interconnection with the grid. In the 
current form plants with multiple interconnection voltages must enter 
information into the comments section of the form, a cumbersome 
procedure. The revised question will simply provide space on the survey 
form to directly enter three voltages.
    iv. Stop collection of the datum associated with a plant's 
geographic coordinates. EIA has found that many and probably most 
respondents are unable to provide a correct answer to this question.
    v. Stop collection of plant geographic coordinates in minutes and 
seconds. The form will ask for coordinates only in modern digital 
format.
    vi. Collect information on whether a plant that has a primary 
purpose other than electricity generation for sale is net metered. This 
information is needed to improve the accuracy with which EIA can 
determine small renewable capacity, particularly solar.
    vii. Collect information on whether a plant or any of the 
individual generating units at the plant is a blackstart unit. For 
those units that are blackstart units, the survey will collect 
information on nameplate capacity and whether any of the units are 
identified as a ``Blackstart Resource'' in a Transmission Operator's 
System Restoration Plan (pursuant to NERC Reliability Standards EOP-
005-1 and EOP-005-2). These new questions are intended to enhance the 
information on power system reliability made available by EIA to 
analysts and policy makers.
     Schedule 3, Part A, Generator Information--Generators:
    i. Collect whether a combined-cycle unit can operate in simple-
cycle mode by bypassing the heat recovery steam generator. These 
questions relate to the reliability and operational flexibility of 
combined cycle generators, which account for a growing share of 
generation capacity and actual generation. Operational flexibility is 
an issue of growing importance due to the introduction of variable 
renewable technology (solar and wind) and wider use of demand response 
programs. The combination of more renewable power and demand response 
puts a premium on the ability of generating units to rapidly start, 
stop, and change output to meet variations in load.
    ii. Delete three questions on whether the generator is an electric 
utility, the date of a unit's sale, and whether the unit can deliver 
power to the transmission grid. EIA has determined that these questions 
are either duplicative or provide information of limited value.
     Schedule 3, Part B, Generator Information--Existing 
Generators:
    i. Collect information on whether an uprate or derate was completed 
during the reporting period. This information is needed in particular 
to confirm when an uprate became operational at nuclear units, a 
subject of great interest to power market analysts and modelers.
    ii. Collect data on nameplate power factor. This information, which 
is an indicator of the maximum potential output from a generator, will 
be used in verifying the reported nameplate and net capacity of the 
unit.
    iii. Collect data on generator minimum load and minimum time 
required to reach full load from standby and shutdown. These questions 
address the operating flexibility of the power system, a topic of 
increased interest due to the introduction of renewable power with 
variable output and demand response programs. These questions are 
limited to units burning combustible fuels.
    iv. Delete the questions relating to reactive power. EIA has been 
unable to collect consistent or clearly correct data on reactive power. 
NERC, which originally requested these data, has informed EIA that the 
need no longer exists.
    v. Reduce the number of questions relating to fuel switching and 
multi-fuel operation from 13 questions to eight. The remaining 
questions relate to oil and gas units only. This change is made to 
reduce respondent burden by focusing on the fuel switching questions of 
greatest interest, which is essentially the issue of backup fuel for 
gas and oil fired units.
    vi. Add new questions on the characteristics of wind turbines such 
as turbine manufacturer, designed average annual wind speed, wind 
quality class, and average hub height; and add new questions on the 
characteristics of solar energy systems such as identification of 
tracking, concentrating and collector technology, and photovoltaic 
panel material. These questions will provide important information on 
the renewable technologies which increasingly account for the additions 
to the nation's generating fleet.
     Schedule 3, Part C, Generator Information--Proposed 
Generators: Consistent with changes discussed above to Part B (existing 
generators), EIA proposes to delete questions relating to reactive 
power, fuel switching and multi-fuel operations at planned units.
     Schedule 5, Generator Cost Information:
    i. Delete all questions relating to interconnection costs.
    ii. Add new questions on generator construction and financing 
costs. There is no public source of information on the actual cost of 
building new power plants. Nonetheless, cost estimates are critical 
elements to projections of, for example, power industry capital 
requirements and forecasts of new builds. The proposed questions will

[[Page 14524]]

collect construction and financing costs as of the time of completion 
for most generating units. Long-lead coal and nuclear units will be 
required to provide annual estimates of the total cost to completion. 
All of the data will be treated as sensitive and protected to the 
extent that it satisfies the criteria for exemption under the Freedom 
of Information Act.
     Schedule 6, Boiler Information:
    i. Part A, Plant Configuration: Reorganize the manner in which data 
on environmental equipment are collected to reflect that fact that a 
single pollution control technology can reduce emissions of more than 
one pollutant.
    ii. Part C, Boiler Information: Delete the question that collects 
boiler manufacturer. EIA cannot identify a need for this information.
    iii. Part D, Nitrogen Oxide Emission Controls, and Part E, Mercury 
Emission Controls: Collect information on the operating status, and 
installed cost of nitrogen oxide and mercury control systems.
    iv. Part F, Cooling System Information--Design Parameters: Add a 
new question that collects the name of the cooling water discharge body 
if it is different than the intake body. This information was requested 
as part of EIA's joint review with U.S. Geological Survey of data 
relating to the energy/water nexus (an initiative recommended by the 
Government Accountability Office).
    v. Part H, Flue Gas Desulfurization Unit Information: Delete the 
question that collects the flue gas desulfurization unit manufacturer. 
This information had value in the past when scrubber technology was 
still in the developmental stage, which is no longer the case.
    vi. Part I, Stack and Flue Information--Design Parameters: Delete 
the questions that collect the geographic coordinate datum of stacks. 
As noted above, EIA's experience is that many and probably most 
respondents cannot provide a correct answer to this question.
    (5) Estimated Number of Survey Respondents: There are approximately 
3,500 respondents.
    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: The annual 
estimated number of total responses is 3,500.
    (7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: The annual estimated 
burden is 29,617 hours.
    (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: 
Additional costs to respondents are not anticipated beyond costs 
associated with response burden hours.
    (1) OMB No.: 1905-0129
    (2) Information Collection Request Title: Form EIA-860M, ``Monthly 
Update to the Annual Electric Generator Report''
    (3) Type of Request: Extension, with change, of a currently 
approved collection.
    (4) Purpose: Form EIA-860M collects data on the status of proposed 
new generators scheduled to begin commercial operation within the 
forward 12-month period; existing generators scheduled to retire from 
service within the forward 12-month period; and existing generators 
that have proposed modifications that are scheduled for completion 
within one month. The information is needed to ensure a complete and 
accurate inventory of the nation's generating fleet, for such purposes 
as reliability and environmental analyses.
    (5) Estimated Number of Survey Respondents: During a typical year a 
total of about 412 entities will file the form for at least one month. 
Note, however, that in any given month only about 170 entities fall 
within the reporting threshold (i.e., have a new generator that is 
within 12 months of entering commercial operation) and are therefore 
required to file the survey. Most respondents file fewer than 12 forms 
a year; the average is currently about 5.6 filings per year per 
respondent.
    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: The annual 
estimated number of total responses is 2,307.
    (7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: The annual estimated 
burden is 692 hours.
    (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: 
Additional costs to respondents are not anticipated beyond costs 
associated with response burden hours.
    (1) OMB No.: 1905-0129
    (2) Information Collection Request Title: Form EIA-861, ``Annual 
Electric Power Plant Report''
    (3) Type of Request: Extension, with changes, of a currently 
approved collection.
    (4) Purpose: Form EIA-861 collects annual information on the retail 
sale, distribution, transmission and generation of electric energy in 
the United States, its territories, and Puerto Rico. The data include 
related activities such as energy efficiency and demand response 
programs. In combination with the Form EIA-861S short form (see below) 
and the monthly Form EIA-826, this annual survey provides coverage of 
retail sales of electric power and related activities
    The Form EIA-861 requests a full array of data from approximately 
2,200 larger power companies. EIA proposes the following:
     For most schedules that request information by state, add 
a requirement to report by state and balancing authority combination. 
This reflects an effort by EIA to align data collection with the actual 
operation of the power system, which is managed by about 100 balancing 
authorities. As a consequence of this proposal, in states that have 
more than one balancing authority, the respondent may have more than 
one schedule reported per state.
     Schedule 2, Part C, Green Pricing: Remove the green 
pricing schedule. As discussed above in relation to the Form EIA-826 
monthly survey the limited presence of green pricing in the retail 
power market does not appear to justify the burden of this schedule on 
respondents.
     Schedule 4, Part A, Sales to Ultimate Customers, Full 
Service: Add questions about ``rate decoupling,'' a form of ratemaking 
intended to keep utilities revenue-neutral in a situation in which 
sales are dropping due to energy efficiency and demand response 
programs. These programs have been common for retail sales of natural 
gas and are now being implemented for electricity sales.
     Schedule 6, Parts A and B, Demand Side Management 
Programs: Over the past 18 months EIA consulted with government, 
academic, and other experts on steps to improve the collection of 
Energy Efficiency data. The primary objective of the changes is to 
focus on the data respondents are best able to provide and to improve 
the consistency of responses. The specific changes to Part A, Energy 
Efficiency Programs, are as follows:
    i. Change the collection of Net Energy Savings to Gross Energy 
Savings (MWh);
    ii. Change the collection of Annualized Incremental Effects and 
Actual Annual Effects to Incremental Annual Savings and Incremental 
Life Cycle Savings.
    iii. Replace Annual Costs with Reporting Year Incremental Costs and 
Incremental Life Cycle Costs; also reduce the number of cost components 
collected.
    iv. Add the collection of the Weighed Average Life of a portfolio 
of Energy Efficiency programs and provide an automated spreadsheet to 
calculate this number based on program data entered into the 
spreadsheet.
    v. Remove questions about verification and reporting on another 
company's form.
    vi. Add question about Web site address to energy efficiency 
reports.

[[Page 14525]]

     For Part B, Demand Response Programs, add the numbers of 
customers enrolled and reduce the number of cost components collected.
     Schedule 2, Part D, Net Metering: Increase the capacity 
limit for reporting net metering installations from 2 MWs to unlimited. 
This change will help identify the amount of net metering capacity by 
technology type and, combined with other changes to generation capacity 
data collection, help EIA to identify all the renewable capacity 
installed.
     Schedule 6, Part C, Dynamic Pricing Programs: Dynamic 
pricing is a form of ratemaking that exposes retail customers to short-
term changes in power prices. These rate structures, particularly in 
combination with smart meters, are of increasing interest as a 
integrated part of overall Demand Side Management Programs and as a 
means to improve the operation of restructured power markets. 
Consistent with the increased interest in this topic, EIA proposes to 
enhance the demand response questions, for example by asking 
respondents to identify how many customers they have signed up in these 
types of programs and also whether they have customers signed up for 
any of five major time-based rate programs, i.e. Time-of-Use Pricing, 
Real Time Pricing, Variable Peak Pricing, Critical Peak Pricing, and 
Critical Peak Rebate.
     Schedule 6, Part C, Advanced Metering and Customer 
Communications: Separate AMI into two subgroups--AMI operated as AMR 
and AMI operated as AMI. In addition, the definitions of advanced 
metering infrastructure (AMI, or ``smart meters'') and automated meter 
reading technologies have been adjusted to provide better estimates of 
total AMI meter installations. This statistic is of interest because of 
federal and state programs intended to encourage the use of smart 
meters and the possible value of smart meters in energy efficiency and 
demand response programs. EIA also proposed to add to the data 
collection the total number of meters (of all types including 
mechanical ones), number of customers that receive certain types of 
communication from the service provider, frequency of this 
communication, and the number of customers participating in direct load 
control programs.
     Schedule 6, Parts E and Part F, Distribution System 
Information and Reliability Information: Parts E and F add new 
questions dealing with distribution system automation and the 
reliability of electric power distribution systems. This information 
expands EIA's coverage of power system reliability, which has 
historically been limited to the transmission grid (see discussion of 
Form EIA-411, above), to the distribution level at which most customer 
interruptions actually occur. The initial recommendation to add these 
questions came from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which 
identified the lack of a central repository of distribution system 
reliability statistics. The need for this data collection is further 
indicated by requests EIA has received for these data from 
Congressional and state energy offices. The impact on respondent burden 
is expected to be minimal because respondents can respond with 
statistics that are typically computed in the normal course of 
business. Utilities that do not collect this information do not have to 
respond.
    (5) Estimated Number of Survey Respondents: There are approximately 
2,200 respondents.
    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: The annual 
estimated number of total responses is 2,200.
    (7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: The annual estimated 
burden is 24,706 hours.
    (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: 
Additional costs to respondents are not anticipated beyond costs 
associated with response burden hours.
    (1) OMB No.: 1905-0129
    (2) Information Collection Request Title: Form EIA-861S, ``Annual 
Electric Power Plant Report (Short Form)''
    (3) Type of Request: Extension, with changes, of a currently 
approved collection.
    (4) Purpose: Form EIA-861S collects a limited set of information 
annually from 1,100 small companies involved in the retail sale of 
electricity. A complete set of annual data is collected from 2,200 
larger companies on the Form EIA-861 and monthly data are collected on 
the Form EIA-826 (see above). EIA proposes changes to the Form EIA-861S 
to comport with those planned for the EIA-861 long form, specifically:
     For most schedules that request information by state, add 
a requirement to report by state and balancing authority combination. 
As noted earlier, this reflects an effort by EIA to align data 
collection with the actual operation of the power system, which is 
managed by about 100 balancing authorities. As a consequence of this 
proposal, in states that have more than one balancing authority, the 
respondent may have more than one schedule reported per state.
     Schedule 2, Part C, Remove the green pricing schedule. As 
discussed above, the limited presence of green pricing in the retail 
power market does not appear to justify the burden of this schedule on 
respondents.
     Schedule 2, Part D, Net Metering: Add a Yes or No question 
concerning whether the respondent has a net metering program.
     Schedule 6, Part D, Advanced Metering and Customer 
Communications: Separate AMI into two subgroups--AMI operated as AMR 
and AMI operated as AMI. In addition, the definitions of advanced 
metering infrastructure and automated meter reading technologies have 
been adjusted to provide better estimates of total AMI meter 
installations. This statistic is of interest because of federal and 
state programs intended to encourage the use of smart meters and the 
possible value of smart meters in energy efficiency and demand response 
programs.
     Schedule 6, Part C, Time-Based Rate Programs (Dynamic 
Pricing Programs): Add a single Yes/No question asking if the 
respondent operates any time-based rate programs.
    (5) Estimated Number of Survey Respondents: There are approximately 
1,100 respondents.
    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: The annual 
estimated number of total responses is 1,100.
    (7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: The annual estimated 
burden is 2,200 hours.
    (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: 
Additional costs to respondents are not anticipated beyond costs 
associated with response burden hours.
    (1) OMB No.: 1905-0129
    (2) Information Collection Request Title: Form EIA-923, ``Power 
Plant Operations Report''
    (3) Type of Request: Extension, with changes, of a currently 
approved collection.
    (4) Purpose: Form EIA-923 collects information from electric power 
plants in the United States. Data collected include electric power 
generation, energy source consumption, end of reporting period fossil 
fuel stocks, as well as the quality and cost of fossil fuel receipts. 
EIA proposes to make the following changes:
     Schedule 2, Cost and Quality of Fuel Purchases: Add to the 
collection of coal quality characteristics two additional elements: 
coal moisture and chloride content. These factors relate to the 
propensity of the coal to produce acid gases and assist in assessment 
of the quality of the various coal ranks.
     Schedule 2, Cost and Quality of Fuel Purchases: Add the 
collection of the names of the pipeline systems connected to natural 
gas burning power

[[Page 14526]]

plants. This information is needed to help reconcile natural gas sales 
information collected on other surveys with the data collected on the 
Form EIA-923, and by doing so help ensure that EIA has a complete 
picture of the disposition of natural gas.
     Schedule 4, Fossil Fuel Stocks at the End of the Reporting 
Period: EIA collects coal stocks held for power plant use to measure 
the adequacy of short-term coal supply for power generation. The 
proposed change will add questions to clarify the relationship between 
stocks held off-site at coal terminals with the plants the terminals 
serve.
     Schedule 3, Boiler and Generator Information for Steam-
Electric Combustible-Fueled Plants: This change would simplify the form 
by combining two schedules dealing with generation and fuel consumption 
(Schedules 3 and 5) into one schedule.
     Schedule 6, Nonutility Annual Source and Disposition of 
Electricity: add ``Energy provided under tolling arrangements'' to the 
Disposition of Electric Energy; and request identification of the 
nature of ``other incoming'' and ``other out-going'' electric energy. 
These changes are needed to distinguish power delivered under tolling 
agreements from the more generic category of ``other out-going power.'' 
Plants selling power under tolling agreements have increased from about 
a dozen in 2007 to over 200 in 2012.
     Schedule 7, Annual Revenues from Retail Sales and/or Sales 
for Resale: This schedule will collect data on retail sales by entities 
(power plants) that normally sell power at wholesale. These data are 
needed to complete the disposition of electricity by inclusion of 
retail sales by nonutility plants (utilities report retail sales on the 
Form EIA-861, but independent power producers are not required to 
complete the Form EIA-861).
     Schedules 8, Annual Environmental Information, Parts C, E 
and F: Reconfigure these schedules to be equipment-oriented, rather 
than emission type oriented, because installed environmental controls 
can reduce more than one type of air emission.
    (5) Estimated Number of Survey Respondents: There are approximately 
6,295 respondents. The monthly form is filed by 2,052 respondents; the 
annual form is filed by 4,243 respondents; and the supplemental form is 
filed by 1,625 respondents. (Those same 1,625 respondents also file the 
monthly form and are included in the 2,052 respondents on the monthly 
form.)
    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: The annual 
estimated number of total responses is 30,492.
    (7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: The annual estimated 
burden is 69,602 hours.
    (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: 
Additional costs to respondents are not anticipated beyond costs 
associated with response burden hours.
    (1) OMB No.: 1905-0129
    (2) Information Collection Request Title: Form EIA-930, ``Balancing 
Authority Operations Report''
    (3) Type of Request: New data collection.
    (4) Purpose: Form EIA-930 is a new survey of hourly electric power 
operating data from Balancing Authorities in the contiguous United 
States \3\ and from selected electric utilities in Alaska and 
Hawaii.\4\ The data include:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ A Balancing Authority is ``The responsible entity that 
integrates resource plans ahead of time, maintains load-interchange-
generation balance within a Balancing Authority Area, and supports 
Interconnection frequency in real time.'' (NERC, Glossary of Terms 
Used in NERC Reliability Standards, December 21, 2012.) In most, but 
not all cases, a balancing authority is an electric utility company 
or a Regional Transmission Organization. The electric power grid in 
the contiguous United States is managed on a moment to moment basis 
by 98 Balancing Authorities. If the Southwest Power Pool RTO 
proceeds as planned to consolidate its 17 member Balancing 
Authorities, the number of Balancing Authorities will drop to 82.
    \4\ Alaska and Hawaii do not have integrated electric power 
grids as in the contiguous United States. Alaska has numerous small 
regional electric power systems. In the case of Alaska, EIA proposes 
to collect data from 1) the six interconnected systems in the 
Railbelt Intertie extending from the Kenai Peninsula north to 
Fairbanks, including Chugach Electric Association, Anchorage 
Municipal Light & Power, Matanuska Electric Association, Golden 
Valley Electric Association, Homer Electric Association, and Seward 
Electric System; and 2) Alaska Electric Light & Power, which 
provides power to Juneau. These utilities are believed by EIA to 
account for over 75 percent of electric power load in Alaska.
    In the case of Hawaii, EIA proposes to collect data from the 
Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. operating companies, including 
Hawaii Electric Co., Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc. and Maui 
Electric Company, Ltd. These companies provide service to the 
islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, and Molokai, encompassing 
about 95% of Hawaiian electric power customers. This approach 
provides acceptable coverage of Alaska and Hawaii without incurring 
the costs and burden of collecting complete data for these states.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Hourly demand,
     Hourly next-day demand forecast,
     Hourly net generation,
     Hourly actual interchange with each interconnected 
Balancing Authority.
    The purpose of this survey is to provide basic operating statistics 
for the nation's electric power systems on a current basis. While 
electric utilities individually and as an industry have primary 
responsibility for system operations, many other entities, such as 
other industry participants, policymakers, legislators, regulators, 
emergency and disaster response officials, entrepreneurs, economic 
analysts, industry researchers, and the public, have a direct interest 
in electric systems operations and the associated data. There is 
currently no central or comprehensive source for hourly electric 
industry operating statistics.
    The burden of providing these data is extremely low relative to 
their value, particularly since the information requested is already 
collected by or known to the proposed respondents in the course of 
their normal operations, and a number of proposed respondents are 
already posting much of it. Based on the information in the respondent 
postings, EIA would make available a comprehensive set of the current 
day's system demand data on an hourly basis and the prior day's basic 
hourly electric system operating data on a daily basis.
    Respondents will post hourly demand data at a web address in a 
standard format within ten minutes of the end of the reported hour. 
They will also post separately the prior day's hourly demand, demand 
forecast, net generation, and actual interchange data in a standard 
format by 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time the next day. The posting web address 
must be accessible by EIA and respondents may, at their discretion, 
provide the public with access to this address. In either case, EIA 
will treat this data as public. EIA requests comment on alternatives or 
supplements to the web posting requirement and the format for the 
posted data.
    The same-day, soon after the reporting hour posting of demand 
provides a basic measure of the current status of electric systems and 
the United States electric industry as a whole. Comparing actual system 
demand with the day-ahead forecast provides a measure of the accuracy 
of forecasting used to commit resources.
    Data regarding the time-varying nature of electricity supply and 
demand is essential to addressing smart grid related issues such as 
integrating wind and solar generation, better coordination of natural 
gas and electric short-term operations, and expanding the use of demand 
response, storage, and electric vehicles in electric system operations.
    Due to the lack of sufficient cost-effective electricity storage, 
electricity must be produced at the moment it is used. This presents 
the electric industry with significant challenges in delivering its 
primary product: electricity on-demand. The industry meets the

[[Page 14527]]

challenge by always having more capacity available than needed and 
relying on certain entities to ensure the moment-to-moment balancing of 
supply and demand. Electric utilities that perform the balancing 
function are called Balancing Authorities. Due to the interconnected 
nature of power grids, collecting operating information from only a 
subset of the entities involved significantly undermines the usefulness 
of the survey.
    Balancing Authority operators monitor their systems continuously 
and may act whenever necessary to maintain reliability. However, 
Balancing Authority operating procedures, such as scheduling supply, 
demand and interchange (the flow of electricity between Balancing 
Authorities), and the mandatory reliability standards that apply to 
them, use the hour as the primary operating period. Consequently, the 
proposed survey uses the operating hour as its data measurement 
interval.
    The proposed survey is specifically designed to minimize burden on 
electric system operators. The surveyed data is typically produced in 
the normal course of business by Balancing Authority energy management 
systems. Hourly demand and demand forecast data is currently posted on 
public Web sites in the proposed posting timeframes by a number of 
Balancing Authorities, including most Regional Transmission 
Organizations. These balancing authorities supply over half of end-use 
electricity consumption in the United States. A few Balancing 
Authorities post publicly more detailed operating data.
    Under Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order 890, 
Transmitting Utilities are required to post on their Open Access Same-
time Information System (OASIS) Web sites prior-day's peak hour demand 
and the associated demand forecast value. Most Balancing Authorities 
are also Transmitting Utilities. Therefore, the Balancing Authorities 
subject to Order 890 already have in place the means for posting some 
of the data requested by the proposed survey.
    The proposed survey does not duplicate existing data collections. 
EIA currently collects monthly and annual production from electric 
generators and demand from load-serving entities. The data are 
published about 52 days after the end of a month for major generators 
and systems, and about eight months after the end of the year for 
smaller entities.
    FERC currently collects demand, net generation and actual 
interchange from Balancing Authorities on an annual survey, the FERC 
Form 714. The reporting is on a monthly and annual basis. In addition, 
Balancing Authorities report actual interchange received and delivered 
with each directly interconnected Balancing Authority on an annual 
basis. Monthly or annual values for demand, net generation and actual 
interchange do not provide relevant information about the time-varying 
nature of these operating values as would be provided by the proposed 
survey.
    The FERC Form 714 also collects historical hourly demand by 
Planning Area. Most Balancing Authorities are also Planning Areas, but 
not all. The hourly demand data is collected annually and posted with 
the rest of the form data in August of the year following the reporting 
year. The FERC Form 714 data is both less complete and far less timely 
than the data collected by the proposed survey, and does not offer 
current information on the status of the nation's electric system that 
the proposed survey would provide.
    Certain real-time system information is made available by NERC to 
DOE's Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability. However, 
this data is not made available to the public and under the agency's 
agreement with NERC the data is not recorded or otherwise retained by 
DOE.
    EIA does not believe that this information is business sensitive. 
As noted above, Regional Transmission Organizations that serve as 
Balancing Authorities and some other Balancing Authorities currently 
post publicly hourly operating data. A potential commercial issue is 
whether these data will reveal whether a specific utility is short on 
available generating capacity and may be willing to pay premium prices 
for electricity to meet load. The proposed survey data, including same-
day posting of hourly demand, does not provide information about the 
availability of generating units. The next-day posting of operating 
data is after the relevant short-term wholesale power markets have 
closed.
    Multiple power plants supply most Balancing Authorities. Therefore, 
the generation data reported under the proposed survey will not reveal 
which specific generators are operating or a history of their operating 
trends. However, some individual generators and small utilities with 
little or no generation have chosen for commercial reasons to operate 
as Balancing Authorities. Most Balancing Authorities of this type are 
embedded within another Balancing Authority and have a single 
interconnection with that Balancing Authority.
    While the proposed survey data does not provide information about 
the current availability of a single-generator Balancing Authority 
power plant, it does provide a history of the plant's hourly output. 
There is little value in collecting system level operating data from 
these Balancing Authorities. However, their information is needed to 
provide comprehensive operating statistics. EIA requests comments on 
how to exempt these Balancing Authorities or limit their reporting 
while maintaining the comprehensiveness of the survey.
    (5) Estimated Number of Survey Respondents: The annual estimated 
number of respondents is 107. This includes 98 Balancing Authorities in 
the contiguous United States, 6 electric utilities in Alaska, and 3 
electric utilities in Hawaii.
    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: The annual 
estimated number of total responses is 39,055.
    (7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: The annual estimated 
burden is 7,534 hours for the first year (to include start-up 
activities) and 3,254 hours each subsequent year.
    (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: 
Additional costs to respondents are not anticipated beyond costs 
associated with response burden.

    Statutory Authority:  Section 13(b) of the Federal Energy 
Administration Act of 1974, Pub. L. 93-275, codified at 15 U.S.C. 
772(b).

    Issued in Washington, DC, on February 27, 2013.
Renee Miller,
Acting Director, Office of Survey Development and Statistical 
Integration, U.S. Energy Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 2013-05152 Filed 3-5-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P