[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 221 (Monday, November 17, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68426-68427]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-27055]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. RD14-12-000]


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. RD14-12-000 on a proposed change to a 
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 January 16, 2015.

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 changes 
in Docket No. RD14-12-000 relate to the proposed Reliability Standards 
FAC-001-2 (Facility Interconnection Requirements) and FAC-002-2 
(Facility Interconnection Studies), developed by the North American 
Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), and submitted to the 
Commission for approval. The Commission received NERC's petition to 
approve the proposed Reliability Standards on August 22, 2014.
    NERC summarizes the FAC group of standards as follows:

    The Facility Design, Connections, and Maintenance (``FAC'') 
Reliability Standards address topics such as facility 
interconnection requirements, facility ratings, system operating 
limits, and transfer capabilities.\1\
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    \1\ NERC Petition at 3.

    In its petition, NERC also summarizes the proposed Reliability 
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Standards' applicability and requirements:

    Proposed Reliability Standard FAC-001-2 requires that 
Transmission Owners and applicable Generator Owners document and 
make Facility interconnection requirements available so that 
entities seeking to interconnect have the necessary information. 
Proposed Reliability Standard FAC-002-2 ensures that the reliability 
impact of interconnecting new or materially modified Facilities is 
studied. Collectively, proposed Reliability Standards FAC-001-2 and 
FAC-002-2 ensure that there is appropriate coordination and 
communication regarding the interconnection of Facilities, which 
improves the reliability of the Bulk-Power System.\2\
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    \2\ Id. at 3.

    Finally, NERC also states that the proposed Reliability Standards 
improve reliability, clarify requirement language and eliminate 
redundant or unnecessary requirements.\3\
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    \3\ Id. at 4.
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    Burden Statement: Commission staff analyzed the proposed and 
currently enforced Reliability Standards and has concluded that 
proposed Reliability Standards merely clarify or eliminate redundancies 
and thus, the information collection requirements have not changed. 
Accordingly, the net overall burden and respondent universe \4\ remain 
unchanged, when compared to the burden of the existing standards being 
replaced.\5\
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    \4\ The affected entities for FAC-001-2 are Transmission Owners 
(TO) and applicable Generator Owners (GO). The affected entities for 
FAC-002-2 are Transmission Planners (TP), Planning Coordinators 
(PC), Generator Owners (GO), Transmission Owners (TO), Distribution 
Providers (DP), and Load-Serving Entities (LSE). Note that Planning 
Coordinator (PC) is the new name for Planning Authority--a term 
still used in NERC's Compliance Registry.
    \5\ The burden for the preceding versions of the standards being 
replaced was included in: (a) FERC-725M (OMB Control No. 1902-0263) 
for FAC-001-1, and (b) FERC-725A (OMB Control No. 1902-0244) for 
FAC-002-1.
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    The Commission intends to submit a request for approval to OMB 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) related to the proposed 
Reliability Standards. For PRA purposes, the information collection 
requirements in proposed Reliability Standards FAC-001-2 and FAC-002-2 
are identified as FERC-725D and OMB Control Number 1902-0247.
    The annual reporting burden for the implementation of Reliability 
Standards FAC-001-2 and FAC-002-2 is estimated as follows.
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    \6\ The number of respondents is based on the NERC Compliance 
Registry as of September 24, 2014. Although 2,163 entities are 
registered as TO, DP, LSE, or GO, we expect at the most 216 entities 
(ten percent) will seek to interconnect and go through the study 
phase that may require coordination in any given year.
    \7\ The estimates for cost per hour are derived as follows:
     $72.92/hour, the average of the salary plus benefits 
for a manager ($84.96/hour) and an electrical engineer ($60.87/
hour), from Bureau of Labor and Statistics at http://bls.gov/oes/current/naics3_221000.htm, as of 9/4/2014
     $29.01/hour, based on a Commission staff study of 
record retention burden cost.

[[Page 68427]]



                                                           FERC-725D, Modifications in RD14-12
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                                                                          Annual  number                      Average
                                                 Number and type of        of  responses   Total number     burden per     Total annual    Total annual
                                                   respondent \6\               per        of responses      response     burden (hours)     cost \7\
                                                                            respondent                        (hours)
                                            (1).........................             (2)   (1)*(2) = (3)             (4)   (3)*(4) = (5)             ($)
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                                                                        FAC-001-2
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Documentation & updates...................  GO 5........................               1               5              16              80       $5,833.60
                                            TO 332......................               1             332              16            5312      387,351.04
Record Retention..........................  GO 5........................               1               5               1               5          145.05
                                            TO 332......................               1             332               1             332        9,631.32
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                                                                        FAC-002-2
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Study.....................................  PC, TP 183..................               1             183              32            5856     427,019. 52
Record Retention..........................  PC, TP 183..................               1             183               1             183        5,308.83
Coordination..............................  TO, DP, LSE, GO 216.........               1             216              16            3456      252,011.52
Record Retention..........................  TO, DP, LSE, GO 216.........               1             216               1             216        6,266.16
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    Total.................................  ............................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............    1,093,567.04
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    The total estimated annual burden cost to respondents is: 
$1,093,567.04.

     Dated: November 7, 2014.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-27055 Filed 11-14-14; 8:45 am]
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