[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 15, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13782-13783]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-05773]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC15-7-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-915); Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Energy.

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 
collection FERC-915 (Public Utility Market-Based Rate Authorization 
Holders--Records Retention Requirements) 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 60-day notice (80 FR 28264, 5/18/
2015) and a 30-day notice (80 FR 52469, 8/28/2015) in the Federal 
Register requesting public comments. The Commission received no 
comments on the FERC-915 in response to its previous notices. The 
Commission is issuing this notice to clarify the burden and cost (not 
related to burden) for the FERC-915 information collection. The 
Commission is requesting comment on these clarifications.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due by March 25, 
2016.

ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB, identified by the OMB Control No. 
1902-0250 or collection number (FERC-915), 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 202-395-0710.
    A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Commission, in 
Docket No. IC15-7-000, 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-915, Public Utility Market-Based Rate Authorization 
Holders--Records Retention Requirements.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0250.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-915 information 
collection requirements with no changes to the reporting requirements.
    Abstract: The Commission has the regulatory responsibility under 
section 205 of the Federal Power Act (FPA) to ensure that wholesale 
sales of electricity are just and reasonable and provided in a non-
discriminatory manner. The Commission uses the information maintained 
by the respondents under FERC-915 to monitor the entities' sales, 
ensure that the prices are just and reasonable, maintain the integrity 
of the wholesale jurisdictional sales markets, and ensure that the 
entities comply with the requirements of the FPA and any orders 
authorizing market-based rate sales. FERC-915 information collection 
requirements are contained in 18 Code of Federal Regulations part 
35.41(d). The purpose of this notice is to clarify the burden and cost 
(not related to burden). Commission staff discovered that burden in the 
60 and 30-day notices was incorrectly presented. Specifically, labor 
costs (for 1,955 burden hours) associated with electronic record 
retention/storage cost ($27,370) was not included in the burden table 
(but was presented elsewhere in the notices). Additionally, the 
electronic record storage cost should be $29,814 (rather than $13,191). 
These clarifications are provided in the ``Estimate of Annual Burden.''
    Type of Respondents: Public Utility Market-Based Rate Authorization 
Holders.
    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-915--Public Utility Market-Based Rate Authorization Holders--Record Retention Requirements \2\
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                                                       Annual  number
                                          Number of     of  responses   Total number    Average  burden & cost     Total annual  burden      Cost per
                                         respondents         per        of responses         per response         hours &  total annual     respondent
                                                         respondent                                                        cost                 ($)
                                                  (1)             (2)   (1)*(2) = (3)  (4).....................  (3)*(4) = (5)..........       (5) / (1)
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Electric Utilities with Market-Based            1,955               1           1,955  1 hr.; $30.66...........  1,955 hrs.; $59,940....          $30.66
 Rate Authority (paper storage) \3\.
Electric Utilities with Market-Based            1,955           \5\ 1           1,955  0.5 hr.; $14 \6\........  977.5 hrs.; $27,370....             $14
 Rate Authority (electronic storage)
 \4\.
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[[Page 13783]]

 
    Total............................  ..............  ..............       \7\ 1,955  ........................  2,932.5 hrs.; $87,310..  ..............
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    Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents:
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    \2\ Each of these entities' records consist of 50% paper and 50% 
electronic records.
    \3\ The estimates for cost per response are derived using the 
following formula: Average Burden Hours per Response * $30.66 per 
Hour = Average Cost per Response. The hourly cost figure comes from 
the Bureau of Labor Statistics Web site (http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm). The occupation title is ``file clerk'' and 
the occupation code is 43-4071. 69.4 percent of this cost is hourly 
wages. The rest of the cost is benefits (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm).
    \4\ Upon further research, Commission staff discovered that both 
the 60-day (80 FR 28264, 5/18/2015) and 30-day (80 FR 52469, 8/28/
2015) notices had accounted for electronic storage cost incorrectly. 
The burden table has been corrected to include labor related to 
electronic storage in this row. The number of responses and related 
burden/cost has been adjusted.
    \5\ Only 50% of records for each entity are stored in electronic 
format.
    \6\ The Commission bases the $28/hour figure on a FERC staff 
study that included estimating public utility recordkeeping costs.
    \7\ The total number of responses will be 1,955 due to the 
Commisson's assumption that each entity has records in both paper 
and electronic storage.. The burden for each category of storage is 
separated by row in this burden table.
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     Record retention/storage cost for paper records (using an 
estimate of 48,891 cubic feet): $315,792 \8\
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    \8\ The Commission bases this figure on industry archival 
storage costs.
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     Electronic record storage cost: 1,955 respondents * 
$15.25/year \9\ = $29,814
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    \9\ The Commission bases the estimated $15.25/year for each 
entity on the estimated cost to service and to store 1 GB of data 
(based on the aggregated cost of an IBM advanced data protection 
server).
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    Total non-labor costs: $345,606 ($315,792 + $29,814 = $345,606)
    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: March 9, 2016.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-05773 Filed 3-14-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P