[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 124 (Friday, June 27, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36498-36500]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-15091]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. RD14-4-000]


Proposed Agency Information Collection

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Notice and Request for Comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) invites 
public comment in Docket No. RD14-4-000 on a proposed collection of 
information that the Commission is developing for submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995. 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 August 26, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Comments, identified by docket number, may be filed in the 
following ways:
     Electronic Filing through http://www.ferc.gov. Documents 
created electronically using word processing software should be filed 
in native applications or print-to-PDF format and not in a scanned 
format.
     Mail/Hand Delivery: Those unable to file electronically 
may mail or hand-deliver an original of their comments to: Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First 
Street NE., Washington, DC 20426.

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: The proposed information collection in 
Docket No. RD14-4-000 relates to a proposed revision to the Interchange 
Scheduling and Coordination (INT) group of Reliability Standards, 
developed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation 
(NERC), and submitted to the Commission for approval. The proposed 
revision modifies the Interchange Scheduling and Coordination 
Reliability Standards in response to Commission directives in Order No. 
693,\1\ as well as some other clarifying revisions relating to the ten 
revised definitions and four new definitions to be added to the NERC 
Glossary of Terms Used in NERC Reliability Standards (NERC Glossary). 
The information collection requirements contained in the Interchange 
Scheduling and Coordination group of Reliability Standards are 
contained in FERC-725A (OMB Control Number 1902-0244).
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    \1\ Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System, 
Order No. 693, 72 FR 16416 (Apr. 4, 2007), FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 
31,242, at PP 819, 821, 843, 848, 872, 875 & 887, order on reh'g, 
Order No. 693-A, 120 FERC ] 61,053 (2007).
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    On March 16, 2007, the Commission issued Order No. 693, approving 
83 of the 107 Reliability Standards and

[[Page 36499]]

associated definitions filed by NERC, including the Interchange 
Scheduling and Coordination group of Reliability Standards INT-001, 
INT-003, INT-004, INT-005, INT-006, INT-007, INT-008, INT-009, and INT-
010.\2\ In Order No. 693, the Commission directed NERC to make changes 
through the Reliability Standards development process to address 
certain directives. Specifically, the Commission directed NERC to: (1) 
Develop a modification to INT-001-2 that includes a requirement that 
interchange information must be submitted for all point-to-point 
transfers entirely within a balancing authority area, including all 
grandfathered and ``non-Order No. 888'' transfers; and (2) to develop a 
modification to INT-006-1 through the Reliability Standards development 
process to make the standard applicable to reliability coordinators and 
transmission operators, and require reliability coordinators and 
transmission operators to review energy interchange transactions from 
the wide-area and local area reliability viewpoints respectively and, 
where their review indicates a potential detrimental reliability 
impact, communicate to the sink balancing authorities necessary 
transaction modifications.
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    \2\ Order No. 693, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,242 at PP 814-887.
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    In its February 27, 2014 petition, NERC seeks Commission approval 
of proposed revisions to the currently effective Reliability Standards, 
as well as one new Reliability Standard to address the Commission's 
directives. NERC asserts that, collectively, the five proposed 
Reliability Standards, consisting of fourteen requirements, consolidate 
the body of Interchange Scheduling and Coordination Reliability 
Standards. In its petition, NERC also seeks approval for the retirement 
of the currently effective Reliability Standards.\3\ NERC also seeks 
approval of ten revised definitions and four new definitions to be 
added to the NERC Glossary. NERC proposes to add the term 
``Interchange'' to the existing definition for ``Operational Planning 
Analysis.'' \4\ NERC States that ``by explicitly including 
`Interchange' in the definition of `Operational Planning Analysis,' the 
Reliability Coordinator must consider Interchange when performing the 
analysis required in Reliability Standard IRO-008-1.'' \5\ Therefore, 
the estimates for this information collection are based on the proposed 
modifications.
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    \3\ NERC Petition at 4.
    \4\ ``Interchange'' is defined in the NERC Glossary as ``Energy 
transfers that cross Balancing Authority Boundaries.
    \5\ NERC Petition at 32.
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    The Commission estimates a modest increase in information 
collection and reporting that would result from implementing NERC's 
proposed revision to the NERC Glossary definition of ``Operational 
Planning Analysis'' and new proposed Reliability Standard INT-011-1. 
The estimate reflects NERC's proposal to include a requirement that 
interchange information must be submitted for all point-to-point 
transfers entirely within a balancing authority area, including all 
grandfathered and ``non-Order No. 888'' transfers; and NERC's 
alternative proposal to address the Commission's concern regarding INT-
006-1, as described above.
    NERC explains that ``by explicitly including `Interchange' in the 
definition of `Operational Planning Analysis,' the Reliability 
Coordinator must consider Interchange when performing the analysis 
required in Reliability Standard IRO-008-1.'' \6\ These administrative 
burdens fall into three categories of ``Submit Interchange 
Information,'' ``Communicate Transaction Modification'' and ``Submit a 
Request for Interchange'' as described in NERC's petition.\7\ NERC's 
technical justification has shown that when the results of reliability 
coordinator studies indicate the need for action, the reliability 
coordinator is required to share the results per Requirement R3 of 
Reliability Standard IRO-008-1. NERC explains that because energy 
transfers within a balancing authority area that use point-to-point 
transmission service can impact transmission congestion, proposed 
Reliability Standard INT-011-1 ensures that these transfers are 
communicated and accounted for in congestion management procedures. If 
a transfer within a balancing authority area is submitted as a request 
for interchange or otherwise accounted for in congestion management 
procedures, it can be evaluated and processed comparable to a request 
for interchange that crosses balancing authority areas.\8\
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    \6\ NERC Petition at 32.
    \7\ NERC Petition, Exhibit E at 1-2.
    \8\ NERC Petition at 22.
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    Accordingly, we estimate an increase of one hour needed for 
``Submit Interchange Information'' for balancing authorities, 
``Communicate Transaction Modification'' for the reliability 
coordinators, and ``Submit a Request for Interchange'' for the load-
serving entities, respectively. With respect to the proposed revisions 
and retirement of the currently-effective Reliability Standards, the 
Commission estimates no material change in information collection 
because the consolidation of the standards does not impact the 
paperwork burden.
    Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this proposed 
collection is estimated as:

                                                                        FERC-725A
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                                                                                                              Average      Total annual
                                                 Number and type of       Annual  number   Total number    burden & cost  burden hours &     Cost per
                                                     respondents           of  responses   of responses    per response    total annual   respondent ($)
                                                                          per respondent                        \9\            cost
                                            (1).........................             (2)   (1)*(2) = (3)             (4)   (3)*(4) = (5)       (5) / (1)
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Submit Interchange Information............  114, Balancing authority                  52           5,928          1, $60          5,928,          $3,120
                                             (BA).                                                                              $355,680
Communicate Transaction Modification......  21, Reliability coordinator               12             252          1, $60    252, $15,120             720
                                             (RC).
Submit Request for Interchange (INT-011-1)  502, Load-serving entity                  12           6,024          1, $60          6,024,             720
                                             (LSE).                                                                             $361,440
Evidence Retention........................  637, BA/RC/LSE..............               1             637          1, $32    637, $20,384              32
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    Total.................................  ............................  ..............          12,841  ..............         12,841,  ..............
                                                                                                                                $752,624
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    \9\ The estimates for cost per response are derived using the 
following formula: Average Burden Hours per Response * XX per Hour = 
Average Cost per Response. The estimates for cost per hour (rounded 
to the nearest dollar) are derived as follows:
     $60/hour, the average salary plus benefits per engineer 
(from Bureau of Labor Statistics at http://bls.gov/oes/current/naics3_221000.htm).
     $82/hour, the salary plus benefits per manager (from 
Bureau of Labor Statistics at http://bls.gov/oes/current/naics3_221000.htm).
     $32/hour, the salary plus benefits per information and 
record clerks (from Bureau of Labor Statistics at http://bls.gov/oes/current/naics3_221000.htm).


[[Page 36500]]


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    Dated: June 18, 2014.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-15091 Filed 6-26-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P