[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 112 (Tuesday, June 13, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27062-27063]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-12171]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Southwestern Power Administration


Integrated System Rate Schedules

AGENCY: Southwestern Power Administration, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of public review and comment on proposed extension.

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SUMMARY: The Administrator, Southwestern Power Administration 
(Southwestern), completed an annual review of the continuing adequacy 
of the existing hydroelectric power rates for the Integrated System 
which are in effect through September 30, 2017. This review, included 
within the 2017 Integrated System Power Repayment Study (PRS), 
indicated the need for a revenue adjustment of 0.7 percent to continue 
to satisfy cost recovery criteria. Because the 0.7 percent revenue 
adjustment is within Southwestern's established  2 percent 
rate adjustment threshold, the Administrator has deferred the revenue 
adjustment and is proposing, to the Deputy Secretary for interim 
approval, a two-year extension of the Integrated System Rate Schedules 
for the period October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2019. Southwestern's 
current Integrated System Rate Schedules P-13, NFTS-13A, and EE-13 are 
set to expire September 30, 2017.

DATES: Written comments are due on or before July 13, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted to Marshall Boyken, Senior Vice 
President and Chief Operating Officer, Office of Corporate Operations, 
Southwestern Power Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, One West 
Third Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74103, (918) 595-6646, 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marshall Boyken, Senior Vice President 
and Chief Operating Officer, Office of Corporate Operations, 
Southwestern Power Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, One West 
Third Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74103, (918) 595-6646, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Originally established by Secretarial Order 
No. 1865 of the Secretary of the Interior dated August 31, 1943, 
Southwestern is a Federal Power Marketing Administration within the 
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), transferred to DOE by the Department 
of Energy Organization Act, Public Law 95-91, dated August 4, 1977. 
Guidelines for rate extensions are under Title 10, subpart A of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR 903.23). Procedures for the 
confirmation and approval of rates for the Federal Power Marketing 
Administrations are found at Title 18, chapter I, subchapter L of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (18 CFR part 300).
    Southwestern markets power from 24 multi-purpose reservoir projects 
with hydroelectric power facilities constructed and operated by the 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). These projects are located in the 
states of Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. Southwestern's 
marketing area includes these states plus Kansas and Louisiana. The 
costs associated with the hydropower facilities of 22 of the 24 
projects are repaid via revenues received under the Integrated System 
rates, as are the costs associated with Southwestern's transmission 
facilities that consist of 1,380 miles of high-voltage transmission 
lines, 27 substations, and 46 microwave and VHF radio sites. Costs 
associated with the Sam Rayburn and Robert D. Willis Dams, two Corps 
projects that are isolated hydraulically, electrically, and financially 
from the Integrated System, are repaid by separate rate schedules and 
are not addressed in this notice.

Decision Rationale

    Southwestern's current Integrated System Rate Schedules (P-13, 
NFTS-13A, and EE-13) are based on the 2013 PRS. Each subsequent annual 
PRS, through 2017, has indicated the need for a revenue adjustment that 
fell within a plus or minus two percent range. It is Southwestern's 
practice to defer revenue adjustments for the Integrated System if such 
adjustments are within plus or minus two percent of the revenue 
estimated from the current Integrated System Rate Schedules. The 
deferral of a revenue adjustment (rate change) provides for rate 
stability and savings on the administrative cost of implementation, and 
recognizes that the revenue sufficiency will be re-examined in the 
following year's PRS. Therefore, in line with the annual PRS results, 
Southwestern has deferred revenue adjustments in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 
2017. The most recent deferral was in response to the 2017 Integrated 
System PRS, which concluded that the annual revenues needed to be 
increased by 0.7 percent. It was determined to be prudent to defer the 
increase in accordance with the established  2 percent 
threshold, allowing the current Integrated System Rate Schedules, which 
are set to expire September 30, 2017, to remain in effect.
    Therefore, Southwestern is proposing an extension of the current 
Integrated System Rate Schedules, for the period October 1, 2017 to 
September 30, 2019. In accordance with 10 CFR 903.22(h) and 
903.23(a)(3), the Deputy Secretary of Energy may extend existing rates 
on an interim basis beyond the period specified by the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission (FERC).
    The current Integrated System Rate Schedules were placed in effect 
on an interim basis by the Deputy Secretary of Energy effective 
September 1, 2013, and were confirmed and approved by the

[[Page 27063]]

FERC on a final basis on January 9, 2014, for a period that ends 
September 30, 2017. Since the current Integrated System Rate Schedules 
were first placed in effect, there has been one change. A specific 
section (2.3.6) within Non-Federal Transmission Service (NFTS) rate 
schedule NFTS-13 was added to replace the stated-rate for customers 
taking Southwest Power Pool (SPP) Network Integration Transmission 
Service (NITS) with a revenue-requirement based methodology that 
includes determining the SPP NITS Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) 
portion of Southwestern's NFTS ARR. The rate schedule was re-designated 
NFTS-13A to reflect the change to the initial rate schedule. This rate 
schedule change was placed in effect on an interim basis by the Deputy 
Secretary of Energy effective January 1, 2017, and confirmed and 
approved on a final basis by the FERC on March 9, 2017, under docket 
EF14-1-001. This revision had no impact on the revenue requirements for 
Southwestern's Integrated System. No change was made to the original 
expiration date, September 30, 2017.
    The Administrator will review and consider all written comments and 
the information gathered when submitting the finalized Integrated 
System Rate Schedules Extension to the Deputy Secretary of Energy for 
confirmation and approval on an interim basis.

    Dated: May 31, 2017.
Scott Carpenter,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2017-12171 Filed 6-12-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P