[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 117 (Monday, June 18, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28227-28228]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-12942]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC18-10-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-921); Comment 
Request; Extension

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of information collection and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or 
FERC) is soliciting public comment on the currently approved 
information collection FERC-921 (Ongoing Electronic Delivery of Data 
from Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System 
Operators) and submitting the information collection to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review. Any interested person may file 
comments directly with OMB and should address a copy of those comments 
to the Commission as explained below. On April 4, 2018, the Commission 
published a Notice in the Federal Register in Docket No. IC18-10-000 
requesting public comments. The Commission received comments from one 
commenter, a subject respondent, who expressed clear support for the 
extension request.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due July 18, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB, identified by OMB Control No. 1902-
0257, should be sent via email to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs: [email protected]. Attention: Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission Desk Officer.
    A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Commission, in 
Docket No. IC18-10-000, by either of the following methods:
     eFiling at Commission's website: 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], telephone at (202) 502-8663, and fax at (202) 
273-0873.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: FERC-921, Ongoing Electronic Delivery of Data from Regional 
Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0257.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-921 information 
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting 
requirements.
    Abstract: The collection of data in the FERC-921 is an effort by 
the Commission to detect potential anti-competitive or manipulative 
behavior or ineffective market rules by requiring Regional Transmission 
Organizations (RTO) and Independent System Operators (ISO) to 
electronically submit, on a continuous basis, data relating to physical 
and virtual offers and bids, market awards, resource outputs, marginal 
cost estimates, shift factors, financial transmission rights, internal 
bilateral contracts, uplift, and interchange pricing. Individual 
datasets that the Commission is requesting may be produced or retained 
by the market monitoring units (MMUs). The Commission directed each RTO 
and ISO either to: (1) Request such data from its MMU, so that the RTO 
or ISO can deliver such data to the Commission; or (2) request its MMU 
to deliver such data directly to the Commission. All data for this 
collection has (and is expected to continue to) come from each RTO or 
ISO and not the MMUs. Therefore, any associated burden is counted as 
burden on RTO and ISO.
    Each RTO or ISO may make changes to their individual markets with 
Commission approval. Each RTO or ISO may also change the data being 
sent to the Commission to ensure compliance with Order No. 760. Such 
changes typically require respondents to alter the ongoing delivery of 
data under FERC-921. For this reason, the burden estimate has been 
updated to reflect the incremental burden associated with such changes. 
The burden associated with a changes varies considerably based on the 
significance of the specific change, therefore, the estimate reflects 
the incremental burden for an average change. Based on historical 
patterns of change, staff estimates there to be about one and a half 
changes per RTO or ISO per year.
    Public Comments on 60-day Notice and FERC Response: The Commission 
received comments from one commenter who is also a subject respondent, 
the New York Independent System Operator, Inc. They wrote: ``The 
Commission should continue to require the ongoing delivery of data in 
the same manner that the data is currently delivered, in accordance 
with FERC Order No. 760 and FERC-921.'' This comment clearly supports 
the Commission's request to extend the information collection without 
change.
    Type of Respondents: Regional transmission organizations and 
independent system operators.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \1\ The Commission estimates the average 
annual burden and cost \2\ for this information collection as follows.
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    \1\ Burden is defined 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. Refer to 
5 CFR 1320.3 for additional information.
    \2\ Costs (for wages and benefits) are based on wage figures 
from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for May 2016 (at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm) and benefits information (for 
December 2017, issued March 20, 2018, at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm).

[[Page 28228]]



                                                                        FERC-921
                     [Ongoing electronic delivery of data from regional transmission organizations and independent system operators]
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                                                        Annual number                                                                       Annual cost
               Category                   Number of     of responses    Total number    Average burden and cost    Total annual burden    per respondent
                                         respondents   per respondent   of responses         per response             hours and cost            ($)
                                                  (1)             (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4).....................  (3) * (4) = (5)........       (5) / (1)
                                                                                  (3)
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Ongoing electronic delivery of data..               6               1           \3\ 6  52 hrs.; $2,460 \4\.....  312 hrs.; $14,758......          $2,460
Changes to the delivered data made by               6               1           \5\ 6  480 hrs.; $37,848 \6\...  2,880 hrs.; $227,088...          37,848
 the RTO/ISO.
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    Total............................               6               2              12  532 hrs.; $40,308.......  3,192 hrs.; $241,846...          40,308
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    \3\ Each RTO/ISO electronically submits data daily. To match 
with past filings, we are considering the collection of daily 
responses to be a single response per respondent each year.
    \4\ The ongoing electronic delivery of data requires a computer 
support specialist (code 15-1150), at an hourly cost (wages plus 
benefits) of $47.30 (rounded).
    \5\ Each RTO/ISO is estimated to make one and a half changes 
yearly. To be consistent with the formulation that the submissions 
over the course of a year constitute a single response and for the 
purpose of this calculation, we are assuming that each response 
requires one and a half changes over the course of the year and 
estimating burden accordingly.
    \6\ Changes to the delivered data require a database 
administrator (code 15-1141), legal review (code 23-0000), and 
executive review (code 11-1000). The hourly costs (wages plus 
benefits) are $65.07, $143.68, and $96.68, respectively. We weighted 
the hourly cost figure to account for the fraction of time for each 
skill set per response, and used an estimate of \3/4\, \1/8\, and 
\1/8\ respectively. We used the following formula for the weighted 
hourly cost figure: $65.07 (0.75) + $143.68 (0.125) + $96.68 (0.125) 
= $78.85 (rounded).
    We estimate the total time required per change to be 320 hours. 
Because a response encompasses one year where there are, on average, 
1.5 changes, the total time per response is 480 hours (1.5 * 320 
hours).
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    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: June 11, 2018.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-12942 Filed 6-15-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P