[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 171 (Wednesday, September 4, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46506-46508]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19044]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. IC19-40-000]
Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-516A); Comment
Request; Extension
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy.
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-516A, Small Generator Interconnection
Agreements.
DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due November 4,
2019.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC19-40-
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-516A, Standardization of Small Generator
Interconnection Agreements and Procedures.
OMB Control No.: 1902-0203.
Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-516A information
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting
requirements.
Abstract: Under Sections 205 and 206 of the Federal Power Act (FPA)
the Commission is charged with ensuring just and reasonable electric
transmission rates and charges as well as ensuring that jurisdictional
providers do not subject any person to any undue prejudice or
disadvantage.
The lack of consistent and readily accessible terms and conditions
for connecting resources to the grid led to a large number of disputes
between jurisdictional transmission providers and small generators in
the late 1990s and early 2000s. In response, the Commission directed
transmission providers to include Commission-approved, standard, pro-
forma interconnection procedures (small generator interconnection
procedures or SGIP) and a single uniformly applicable interconnection
agreement (small generator interconnection agreement or SGIA) in their
open-access transmission tariffs (OATTs). The requirement to create and
file these documents was instituted August 2005 by Commission Order No.
2006 and is codified in 18 CFR 35.28(f). This requirement set and
maintained a standard in OATTs for consistent consideration and
processing of interconnection requests by transmission providers.
Since the issuance of Order No. 2006, many aspects of the energy
industry have changed including the growth of small generator
interconnection requests and the growth in solar photovoltaic (PV)
installations. These changes have been driven, in part, by state
renewable energy goals and policies. For example, approximately 3,300
MW of grid-connected PV capacity were installed in the U.S. in 2012
compared to 79 MW in 2005, the year Order No. 2006 was issued.
In February 2012, pursuant to Sections 205 and 206 of the FPA and
Rule 207 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedures, and
noting that the Commission encouraged stakeholders to submit proposed
revisions to the regulations set forth in Order No. 2006, the Solar
Energy Industries Association (SEIA) filed a Petition to Initiate
Rulemaking (Petition). The Petition requested the Commission revise the
pro forma SGIA and SGIP set forth in Order No. 2006. SEIA asserted that
the pro forma SGIP and SGIA as applied to small solar generation were
no longer just and reasonable, had become unduly discriminatory, and
presented unreasonable barriers to market entry.
[[Page 46507]]
SEIA noted that its Petition would apply exclusively to solar electric
generation due to its unique characteristics.
In 2012 the Commission issued a Notice of Petition for Rulemaking
in Docket No. RM12-10-000 and began a public process to explore SEIA's
Petition through the Commission's formal notice and comment process as
well as technical conferences.
In November 2013, the Commission issued Order No. 792 to amend the
pro forma Small Generator Interconnection Procedures and pro forma
Small Generator Interconnection Agreement.
Order No. 792: (1) Incorporates provisions that provide an
Interconnection Customer with the option of requesting from the
Transmission Provider a pre-application report providing existing
information about system conditions at a possible Point of
Interconnection; (2) revised the 2 megawatt (MW) threshold for
participation in the Fast Track Process included in section 2 of the
pro forma SGIP; (3) revised the customer options meeting and the
supplemental review following failure of the Fast Track screens so that
the supplemental review is performed at the discretion of the
Interconnection Customer and includes minimum load and other screens to
determine if a Small Generating Facility may be interconnected safely
and reliably; (4) revised the pro forma SGIP Facilities Study Agreement
to allow the Interconnection Customer the opportunity to provide
written comments to the Transmission Provider on the upgrades required
for interconnection; (5) revised the pro forma SGIP and the pro forma
SGIA to specifically include energy storage devices; and (6) clarified
certain sections of the pro forma SGIP and the pro forma SGIA.
With these modifications, the Commission concluded that the package
of reforms adopted in Order No. 792 will reduce the time and cost to
process small generator interconnection requests for Interconnection
Customers and Transmission Providers, maintain reliability, increase
energy supply, and remove barriers to the development of new energy
resources.
Type of Respondents: Jurisdictional transmission service providers.
Estimate of Annual Burden: \1\ The Commission estimates the annual
public reporting burden for the 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-516A--Standardization of Small Generator Interconnection Agreements and Procedures
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Number of Annual number Average burden Total annual burden
Requirements \2\ respondents of responses Total number & cost per hours & total annual Cost per
annually per respondent of responses response \3\ cost respondent ($)
(1) (2) (1) * (2) = (4) (3) * (4) = (5) (5) / (1)
(3)
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Maintenance of Documents--Transmission 46 1 46 1 46 84.38
Providers..................................... $84.38 $3,881
Filing of Agreements--Transmission Providers... 95 1 95 25 2,375 2,109.50
$2,109.50 $200,403
Pre-Application Report--Interconnection 800 1 800 1 800 84.38
Customers \4\................................. $84.38 $67,504
Pre-Application Report--Transmission Providers. 142 5.63 800 2.5 2,000 1,188.45
$210.95 $168,760
Supplemental Review--Interconnection Customers. 500 1 500 0.5 250 42.19
$42.19 $21,095
Supplemental Review--Transmission Providers.... 142 3.52 500 20 10,000 5,942.25
$1,687.60 $843,800
Review of Required Upgrades--Interconnection 250 1 250 1 250 84.38
Customers..................................... $84.38 $21,095
Review of Required Upgrades--Transmission 142 1.76 250 2 500 297.11
Providers..................................... $168.76 $42,190
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Total...................................... .............. .............. 3,241 .............. 16,221 ..............
$1,368,728
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\2\ All requirements for transmission providers are mandatory. All requirements for interconnection customers are voluntary.
\3\ The estimates for cost per response are derived using the following formula: Average Burden Hours per Response * $84.38 per Hour = Average Cost per
Response. This figure is the average of the salary plus benefits for an attorney, electrical engineer, and administrative staff: Attorney (Occupation
Code: 23-0000): $142.86/hour, Electrical Engineer (Occupation Code: 17-2071): $68.17/hour, Office and Administrative Support (Occupation Code: 43-
0000): $42.11/hour. The wages are derived from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics at http://bls.gov/oes/current/naics3_221000.htm and the benefits
figure from http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm.
\4\ We assume each request for a pre-application report corresponds with one Interconnection Customer.
[[Page 46508]]
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: August 28, 2019.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-19044 Filed 9-3-19; 8:45 am]
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