[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 34 (Wednesday, February 20, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5076-5077]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-02713]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC19-7-000]


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

February 11, 2019.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of proposed 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 approved information 
collection, FERC-915 (Public Utility Market-Based Rate Authorization 
Holders--Records Retention Requirements)

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due by April 22, 
2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC19-7-
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], 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 current record retention 
requirements.
    Abstract: In accordance with the Federal Power Act, the Department 
of Energy Organization Act (DOE Act), and the Energy Policy Act of 2005 
(EPAct 2005), the Commission regulates the transmission and wholesale 
sales of electricity in interstate commerce, monitors and investigates 
energy markets, uses civil penalties and other means against energy 
organizations and individuals who violate FERC rules in the energy 
markets, administers accounting and financial reporting regulations, 
and oversees conduct of regulated companies.
    The Commission imposes the FERC-915 record retention requirements, 
in 18 CFR 35.41(d), on applicable sellers to retain, for a period of 
five years, all data and information upon which they bill the prices 
charged for ``electric energy or electric energy products it sold 
pursuant to Seller's market-based rate tariff, and the prices it 
reported for use in price indices.''
    The record retention period of five years is necessary due to the 
importance of records related to any investigation of possible 
wrongdoing and related to assuring compliance with the codes of conduct 
and the integrity of the market. The requirement is necessary to ensure 
consistency with the rule prohibiting market manipulation (adopted in 
Order No. 670) and the generally applicable five-year statute of 
limitations where the Commission seeks civil penalties for violations 
of the anti-manipulation rules or other rules, regulations, or orders 
to which the price data may be relevant.
    Type of Respondent: Public Utility Market-Based Rate Authorization 
Holders.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \1\ The Commission estimates the annual 
public reporting burden and cost \2\ (rounded) for the 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. For 
further explanation of what is included in the information 
collection burden, refer to 5 CFR 1320.3.
    \2\ The estimated hourly cost (for wages plus benefits) provided 
in this section are based on the figures posted by the Bureau of 
Labor Statistics (BLS) for the Utilities section available (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). The hourly estimates for 
salary plus benefits are:
    File Clerk (Occupation code: 43-4071), $33.39 an hour. We are 
rounding the hourly cost to $33.00.

[[Page 5077]]



                                                FERC-915, Public Utility Market-Based Rate Authorization Holders--Records Retention Requirements
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                                                                                                    Annual number of                                           Total annual
                          FERC requirement                               Number of respondents       responses per     Total number of    Average burden &    burden hours &    Annual cost per
                                                                                                       respondent         responses      cost per response         cost          respondent ($)
                                                                                              (1)                (2)    (1) * (2) = (3)                (4)    (3) * (4) = (5)          (5) / (1)
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FERC-915...........................................................                         2,510                  1              2,510      1 hr.; $33.00        2,510 hrs.;             $33.00
                                                                                                                                                                      $82,830
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    Total..........................................................  ............................  .................              2,510  .................        2,510 hrs.;  .................
                                                                                                                                                                      $82,830
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    In addition, there are records storage costs. For all respondents, 
we estimate a total of 65,000 cu. ft. of records in off-site storage. 
Based on an approximate storage cost of $0.24 per cubic foot, we 
estimate total storage cost to be $15,600.00 (or $6.22 annually per 
respondent. The total annual cost for all respondents (burden cost plus 
off-site storage) is $98,430.00 (or $82,830 + $15,600); the average 
total annual cost per respondent is $39.22 ($6.22 + $33.00).

    Dated: February 11, 2019.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-02713 Filed 2-19-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P