[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
                                                --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    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]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P