[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 131 (Wednesday, July 9, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38870-38872]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-15993]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC14-9-000]


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

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Comment request.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D), the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission (Commission or FERC) is submitting its 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) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review of 
the information collection requirements. Any interested person may file 
comments directly with OMB and should address a copy of those comments 
to the Commission as explained below. The Commission previously issued 
a Notice in the Federal Register (79 FR 12191, 3/4/2014) requesting 
public comments. The Commission received four comments on the FERC-520, 
FERC-561, and FERC-566 information collections. The Commission 
addresses these comments in this notice and in its submittal to OMB.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due August 8, 
2014.

ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB, identified by the OMB Control Nos. 
1902-0083, 1902-0099, and 1902-0114, should be sent via email to the 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs: [email protected], 
Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Desk Officer. The Desk 
Officer may also be reached via telephone at 202-395-4718.
    A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Commission, in 
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], by telephone at (202) 502-8663, and by fax at 
(202) 273-0873.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: 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 No.: FERC-521 (1902-0083), FERC-561 (1902-0099), and 
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 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 as the basis for FERC-520, Form 
561, and FERC-566.
    Overview of the Three Data Collections. FERC-520, Form 561 and 
FERC-566 provide information related to 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 Section 
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 
financial institution that is authorized to underwrite or participate 
in the marketing of 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 the Commission with information 
about any interlocking position for which the applicant seeks 
authorization including, but not limited to, a description of duties 
and the estimated time devoted to the position.
    An informational application, specified in 18 CFR Section 45.9, 
allows an applicant to receive automatic authorization for an 
interlocked position upon receipt of the filing by the Commission. 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 or 
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 Commission-authorized interlocked positions or is not 
re-elected or re-appointed to such interlocked positions, the 
Commission requires that the applicant submit a notice of change

[[Page 38871]]

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 certain 
interlocked positions annually disclose the interlocked positions they 
held the prior year. The positions that must be disclosed in the Form 
561 include those which public utility officers and directors hold with 
other public utilities, with financial institutions, insurance 
companies, electrical equipment and fuel providers, and with any of the 
public utility's 20 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.
    FERC-566: FERC-566 implements FPA requirements that each public 
utility annually publish a list of the 20 purchasers which purchased 
the largest annual amounts of electric energy sold by such public 
utility during any of the three previous calendar years. The public 
disclosure of this information provides the information necessary to 
determine whether an interlocked position is with any of the 20 largest 
purchasers of electric energy. Similar to the Form 561, the FPA 
identifies who must file the FERC-566 report and sets the filing 
deadline.
    Type of Respondents: Individuals who plan to concurrently become or 
concurrently are officers or directors of public utilities and of 
certain other entities must request authorization to hold such 
interlocking positions by submitting a FERC-520. Those who are 
authorized to hold interlocked positions must annually disclose 
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 of 
the last three calendar years.
    Estimates of Annual Burden: \1\ The Commission estimates the annual 
public reporting burdens for the information collections 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.
    \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-520
                                         [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 response    (total annual    respondent
                                                                          per respondent                        \2\          cost) \3\          ($)
                                                                     (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
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...............................................  ..............  ..............             718  ..............         7,845.5       $4,797.63
                                                          ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............        $553,108
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                                                                      FERC Form 561
                                                        [Annual Report of Interlocking Positions]
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                                                                                                              Average      Total annual
                                                             Number of    Annual  number   Total number     burden/cost    burden hours      Cost per
                                                            respondents    of  responses   of responses    per response    (total annual    respondent
                                                                          per respondent                        \2\          cost) \3\          ($)
                                                                     (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         $47,147
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                                                                        FERC-566
                                                  [Annual Report of a Utility's 20 Largest Purchasers]
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                                                                          Annual  number                      Average      Total annual
                                                             Number of     of  responses   Total number     burden/cost    burden hours      Cost per
                                                            respondents         per        of responses    per response    (total annual    respondent
                                                                            respondent                          \2\          cost) \3\          ($)
                                                                     (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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[[Page 38872]]

    Public Comments and FERC Responses: A summary of the comments filed 
by the public in response to the 30-day notice for the FERC-520, FERC-
561, and FERC-566 information collections and FERC's responses are 
provided below.
    Public Comments: A number of commenters request changes to Form 
561. For example, the Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA) argues 
that the Commission should modify Form 561 to allow individuals holding 
interlocking positions pursuant to automatic authorization to check a 
box indicating that they hold interlocking positions solely with 
affiliated entities. Similarly, NRG Energy (NRG) argues that, instead 
of requiring the Form 561, the Commission should consider an annual 
report where those holding covered positions are permitted to check a 
box indicating that they are the officer or director of affiliated 
entities, whether the entities are public utilities, electrical 
equipment suppliers, fuel suppliers or none of the categories. White & 
Case LLP (White & Case) submits that the Commission should only require 
the re-filing of an updated Form 561 after a year in which the 
individual changed reportable positions from those previously reported 
in a prior Form 561.
    Commenters also request certain exemptions from the FERC-520 and 
FERC-566 reporting requirements. White & Case suggests that the 
Commission should not require an informational report under Part 45 for 
automatic authorization to hold officer/director positions with more 
than one public utility in a corporate family when the corporate family 
does not include any franchised public utility with captive customers. 
White & Case also recommends that the Commission eliminate the 
requirement to file notices of change under section 45.5 of the 
Commission's regulations and the requirement to file FERC-566 for 
public utilities that do not make any reportable sales. NYISO argues 
that it should be exempted from the requirement to submit FERC-566. 
EPSA and NRG suggest that the Commission should exempt electric 
wholesale generators (EWG) from the FERC-566 filing requirement.
    FERC's Response: The Commission shares commenters' interest in 
identifying and implementing burden reductions to the benefit of filers 
as well as the Commission. Nevertheless, commenters' suggestions raise 
issues that require additional study. Moreover, should the Commission 
determine after further study to pursue changes to these information 
collections, those changes would be more appropriately addressed in a 
forum and through a process that is better suited to full public 
identification of and deliberation on possible proposed changes. Any 
changes to the Commission's regulations would need to be made through 
the Commission's formal rulemaking process. Given competing demands on 
the resources of both the Commission and industry, we estimate that it 
would take more than two years to complete the rulemaking process for 
the three information collections. That period includes the 
development, preparation and issuance of a Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking, review of the submitted comments, the preparation and 
promulgation of a Final Rule and the development and implementation of 
any necessary software changes. As a result, the Commission is 
requesting that OMB extend the three collections for three years and 
thus provide the Commission with the necessary time to consider the 
issues and, if it decides that changes may be warranted, to promulgate 
any necessary rulemakings.
    Additional 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: July 1, 2014.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-15993 Filed 7-8-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P