[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