[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 103 (Wednesday, May 29, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24776-24777]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-11176]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC19-18-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-740); 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-740 (Availability of E-Tag Information to 
Commission Staff) 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 March 22, 2019, the 
Commission published a Notice in the Federal Register (84 FR 10820) in 
Docket No. IC19-18-000 requesting public comments. The Commission 
received no public comments.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due June 28, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB, identified by OMB Control No. 1902-
0254, 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. IC19-18-000, 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-740, Availability of E-Tag Information to Commission 
Staff.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0254.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-740 information 
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.
    Abstract: In Order 771,\1\ the FERC-740 information collection 
(providing Commission staff access to e-Tag data) was implemented to 
provide the Commission, Market Monitoring Units, Regional Transmission 
Organizations, and Independent System Operators with information that 
allows them to perform market surveillance and analysis more 
effectively. The e-Tag information is necessary to understand the use 
of the interconnected electricity grid, particularly transactions 
occurring at interchanges. Due to the nature of the electric grid, an 
individual transaction's impact on an interchange cannot be assessed 
adequately in all cases without information from all connected systems, 
which is included in the e-Tags. The details of the physical path of a 
transaction included in the e-Tags helps the Commission to monitor, in 
particular, interchange transactions more effectively, detect and 
prevent price manipulation over interchanges, and improve the efficient 
and orderly use of the transmission grid. For example, the e-Tag data 
allows the Commission to identify transmission reservations as they go 
from one market to another and link the market participants involved in 
that transaction.
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    \1\ Order 771 was issued in Docket No. RM11-12 (77 FR 76367, 12/
28/2012).
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    Order No. 771 provided the Commission access to e-Tags by requiring 
that Purchasing-Selling Entities \2\ (PSEs) and Balancing

[[Page 24777]]

Authorities (BAs), list the Commission on the ``CC'' list of e-Tags so 
that the Commission can receive a copy of the e-Tags (the `` 'CC' list 
requirement''). The Commission accesses the e-Tags by contracting with 
a commercial vendor, OATI, that collects all e-Tags on which FERC is 
identified as a ``CC'' list recipient in a secure database to which 
FERC staff has access.
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    \2\ A Purchasing-Selling Entity is the entity that purchases or 
sells, and takes title to, energy, capacity, and Interconnected 
Operations Services. Purchasing-Selling Entities may be affiliated 
or unaffiliated merchants and may or may not own generating 
facilities. Purchasing-Selling Entities are typically E-Tag Authors.
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    In early 2014, the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) 
incorporated the ``CC'' list requirement on e-Tags as part of the 
tagging process.\3\ Even before NAESB added the FERC requirement to the 
tagging standards, the ``CC'' list requirement, with exemptions for e-
Tags between non-U.S. BAs that do not go through any U.S. BAs, had 
already been programmed into the industry standard tagging software so 
as to make the inclusion of FERC in the ``CC'' list of any new e-Tag 
automatic, where appropriate.
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    \3\ NAESB Electronic Tagging Functional Specifications, Version 
1.8.2.
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    The Commission expects that PSEs and BAs will continue to use 
existing, automated procedures to create and validate the e-Tags in a 
way that automatically provides the Commission with access to them. In 
the rare event that a newly formed. non-U.S. BA would need to alert e-
Tag administrators that certain tags it generates qualify for exemption 
under the Commission's regulations (e.g., transmissions from a new non-
U.S. BA into another non-U.S. BA using a path that does not go through 
a U.S. BA), this administrative function would be expected to require 
less than an hour of effort total from both the BA and an e-Tag 
administrator to include the BA on the exemption list. New exempt BAs 
occur less frequently than every year, but for the purpose of 
estimation we will conservatively assume one appears each year creating 
an additional burden and cost associated with the Commission's FERC-740 
of one hour and $65.68.\4\
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    \4\ The estimated hourly cost (wages plus benefits) provided in 
this section is based on the figures for May 2017 posted by the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics for the Utilities sector (available at 
https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm), assuming (a) 15 
minutes legal (code 23-0000), at $143.68/hour, and (b) 45 minutes 
information and record clerk (code 43-4199), at $39.68/hour.
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    Type of Respondents: Purchasing-Selling Entities and Balancing 
Authorities.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \5\ The Commission estimates the burden 
and cost for FERC-740 as follows based on the distinct e-Tags submitted 
to the Commission in 2017 (the most recent full year available).
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    \5\ ``Burden'' is 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 Title 5 Code of Federal Regulations Part 1320.

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                                                   Annual number of                       Average burden hours  Total annual burden
             FERC-740               Number of       responses per       Total number of       and cost per        hours and total    Cost per respondent
                                   respondents        respondent           responses            response            annual cost              ($)
                                           (1)  (2)..................    (1) * (2) = (3)  (4).................  (3) * (4) = (5)....  (5) / (1)
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Purchasing-Selling Entities (e-            355  4,482 (rounded)......          1,591,208  Automatic, so 0       Automatic, so 0      Automatic, so 0
 Tag Authors).                                                                             burden and cost.      burden and cost.     burden and cost.
Balancing Authorities............           81  19,645 (rounded).....          1,591,208  Automatic, so 0       Automatic, so 0      Automatic, so 0
                                                                                           burden and cost.      burden and cost.     burden and cost.
New Balancing Authority [as noted            1  1....................                  1  1 hr.; $65.68.......  1 hr.; $65.68......  $65.68.
 above].
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    Total........................  ...........  .....................  .................  ....................  1 hr.; $65.68......  $65.68.
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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: May 22, 2019.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-11176 Filed 5-28-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P