[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 4, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12191-12193]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-04740]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC14-9-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-520, FERC-561, 
FERC-566); Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of information collection and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the 
currently approved information collections FERC-520 (Application for 
Authority to Hold Interlocking Directorate Positions), FERC-561 (Annual 
Report of Interlocking Positions), and FERC-566 (Annual Report of a 
Utility's 20 Largest Purchasers).

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due May 5, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC14-9-
000) by either of the following methods:
     eFiling at Commission's Web site: http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp
     Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20426.
    Instructions: All submissions must be formatted and filed in 
accordance with submission guidelines at: http://www.ferc.gov/help/submission-guide.asp. For user assistance contact FERC Online Support 
by email at [email protected], or by phone at: (866) 208-3676 
(toll-free), or (202) 502-8659 for TTY.
    Docket: Users interested in receiving automatic notification of 
activity in this docket or in viewing/downloading comments and 
issuances in this docket may do so at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/docs-filing.asp.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Brown may be reached by email at 
[email protected], telephone at (202) 502-8663, and fax at (202) 
273-0873.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Titles: FERC-520 (Application for Authority to Hold Interlocking 
Directorate Positions), FERC Form 561 (Annual Report of Interlocking 
Positions), and FERC-566 (Annual Report of a Utility's 20 Largest 
Purchasers).
    OMB Control Nos.: FERC-521 (1902-0083); FERC-561 (1902-0099); FERC-
566 (1902-0114).
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-521, FERC Form 
561, and FERC-566 information collection requirements with no changes 
to the current reporting requirements.
    Abstract: The Federal Power Act (FPA), as amended by the Public 
Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA), mandates federal 
oversight and approval of certain electric corporate activities to 
ensure that neither public nor private interests are adversely 
affected. Accordingly, the FPA proscribes related information filing 
requirements to achieve this goal. Such filing requirements are found 
in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), specifically in 18 CFR Parts 
45, 46, and Section 131.31 and serve the basis for FERC-520, Form 561, 
and FERC-566.
    Overview of the Three Data Collections. FERC-520, Form 561 and 
FERC-566 provide views into complex electric corporate activities and 
serve to safeguard public and private interests, as the FPA requires. 
The Commission can use its enforcement authority when violations and 
omissions of FPA requirements occur.
    FERC-520: FERC-520 is divided into two types of applications: Full 
and informational. The full application, as specified in 18 CFR 45.8, 
implements the FPA requirement under Section 305(b) that it is unlawful 
for any person to concurrently hold the positions of officer or 
director of more than one public utility; or a public utility and a 
bank or financial institution that underwrites or markets public 
utility securities; or a public utility and an electrical equipment 
supplier to that public utility unless authorized by order of the 
Commission. In order to obtain authorization, an applicant must 
demonstrate that neither public nor private interests will be adversely 
affected by the holding of the position. The full application provides 
Commission staff with a list of certain information about any 
interlocking position for which he/she seeks authorization including, 
but not limited to, a description of duties, estimated time devoted to 
the position, and any indebtedness to the public utility. The 
informational application, as specified in 18 CFR 45.9, allows an 
applicant to receive automatic authorization for an interlocked 
position upon receipt of filing with the FERC. The informational 
application applies only to those individuals who seek authorization as 
(1) an officer or director of two or more public utilities where the 
same holding company owns, directly or indirectly, that percentage of 
each utility's stock (of whatever class or classes) which is required 
by each utility's by-laws to elect directors; (2) an officer or 
director of two public utilities, if one utility is owned, wholly or in 
part, by the other and, as its primary business, owns and operates 
transmission or generation facilities to provide transmission service 
or electric power for sale to its owners; or (3) an officer or director 
of more than one public utility, if such person is already authorized 
under Part 45 to hold different positions as officer or director of 
those utilities where the interlock involves affiliated public 
utilities.
    Pursuant to 18 CFR 45.5, in the event that an applicant resigns or 
withdraws from all Commission-authorized interlocked positions within a 
corporate structure or is not re-elected or re-appointed to any 
interlocked position within that corporate structure, FERC requires 
that the applicant submit a notice of change within 30 days from the 
date of the change.
    FERC Form 561: The Commission uses FERC Form 561 to implement the 
FPA requirement that those who are authorized to hold interlocked 
directorates annually disclose all the interlocked positions they held 
the prior year. The positions that must be disclosed in the Form 561 
are those

[[Page 12192]]

public utility officers and directors that hold positions with 
financial institutions, insurance companies, utility equipment and fuel 
providers, and with any of an electric utility's twenty largest 
purchasers of electric energy. The FPA specifically defines most of the 
information elements in the Form 561, including the information that 
must be filed, the required filers, the directive to make the 
information available to the public, and the filing deadline. The 
Commission determined administrative aspects of the Form 561 such as 
the filing format and instructions for filling out the form.
    FERC-566: FERC-566 implements FPA requirements that each public 
utility annually publish a list of the purchasers of the 20 largest 
annual amounts of electric energy sold by such public utility during 
any one of 3 previous calendar years pursuant to rules prescribed by 
the Commission. The public disclosure of this information provides 
officers and directors with the information necessary to determine 
whether any of the entities with whom they are related are any of the 
largest 20 purchasers of the public utility with which they are 
affiliated. Similar to the statutory detail in the FPA for Form 561, 
the FPA identifies who must file the FERC-566 report and sets the 
filing deadline. Additionally, the FPA specifies that those entities 
required to report who have a holding company system can calculate 
their total volumes of energy sold by including the amounts sold by 
utilities within their holding company system. The FERC details in its 
regulations special rules about the information to be provided in the 
FERC-566 report. For example, FERC allows required filers to file 
estimates of volumes based on actual information available to them if 
actual volumes are not available by the statutory due date. However, 
the FERC also requires revisions of those filed estimates with final 
numbers by March 1st.
    Type of Respondents: Individuals who plan to concurrently become 
board members of regulated electric utilities and of related or similar 
businesses must request authorization by submitting a FERC-520. Those 
who are authorized to hold interlocked directorates must annually 
disclose all the interlocked positions that they held in the prior 
calendar year by submitting a Form 561. Lastly, each public utility 
must annually publish the FERC-566 to list the purchasers of the 20 
largest annual amounts of electric energy sold by such public utility 
during any one of 3 previous calendar years pursuant to rules 
prescribed by the Commission.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \1\ The Commission estimates the total 
Public Reporting Burden for this information collection as:
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    \1\ The Commission defines burden as the total time, effort, or 
financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, 
retain, or disclose or provide information to or for a Federal 
agency. For further explanation of what is included in the 
information collection burden, reference 5 Code of Federal 
Regulations 1320.3.

                                     FERC-521 (Application for Authority To Hold Interlocking Directorate Positions)
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                                                                                                              Average      Total annual
                                                             Number of    Annual  number   Total number     burden/cost    burden hours      Cost per
                                                            respondents    of responses    of responses         per        (total annual  respondent ($)
                                                                          per respondent                    response\2\        cost)
                                                                     (1)             (2)     (1)*(2)=(3)             (4)     (3)*(4)=(5)         (5)/(1)
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Full....................................................              10               1              10            51.8             518          $3,652
                                                                                                                $3,651.9         $36,519
Informational...........................................             454               1             454              16           7,264           1,128
                                                                                                                  $1,128        $512,112
Notice of Change........................................             254               1             254            0.25            63.5          $17.63
                                                                                                                  $17.63          $4,477
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    Total...............................................  ..............  ..............             718  ..............         7,845.5        4,797.63
                                                                                                                                $553,108
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    \2\ The estimates for cost per response are derived using the 
following formula: Total Annual Cost (Column 5) / Total Number of 
Responses (Column 3) = Average Cost per Response
    \3\ Total Annual Burden Hours * $70.50.

                                                 FERC Form 561 (Annual Report of Interlocking Positions)
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                                                                           Annual number                                   Total annual
                                                             Number of     of responses    Total number   Average burden/  burden hours      Cost per
                                                            respondents         per        of responses      cost per      (total annual  respondent ($)
                                                                            respondent                     response \4\      cost) \5\
                                                                     (1)             (2)     (1)*(2)=(3)             (4)     (3)*(4)=(5)         (5)/(1)
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FERC Form 561...........................................           2,675               1           2,675            0.25          668.75          $17.63
                                                                                                                  $17.63         $47,147
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    \4\ The estimates for cost per response are derived using the 
following formula: Total Annual Cost (Column 5) / Total Number of 
Responses (Column 3) = Average Cost per Response.
    \5\ Total Annual Burden Hours * $70.50.

[[Page 12193]]



                                              FERC-566 (Annual Report of a Utility's 20 Largest Purchasers)
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                                                                                                                           Total annual
                                                             Number of     Annual number   Total number   Average burden/  burden hours      Cost per
                                                            respondents    of responses    of responses      cost per      (total annual  respondent ($)
                                                                          per respondent                   response \6\      cost) \7\
                                                                     (1)             (2)     (1)*(2)=(3)             (4)     (3)*(4)=(5)         (5)/(1)
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FERC-566................................................           1,082               1           1,082               6           6,492            $423
                                                                                                                    $423        $457,686
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    \6\ The estimates for cost per response are derived using the 
following formula: Total Annual Cost (Column 5) / Total Number of 
Responses (Column 3) = Average Cost per Response.
    \7\ Total Annual Burden Hours * $70.50.
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    Comments: Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Commission, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden and 
cost of the collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information collection; and (4) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.

    Dated: February 26, 2014.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-04740 Filed 3-3-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P