[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 2 (Friday, January 3, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 265]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-27922]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
 
 ========================================================================
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 2 / Friday, January 3, 2020 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 265]]



DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Part 35

[Docket No. RM01-8-012]


Revised Public Utility Filing Requirements for Electric Quarterly 
Reports

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Withdrawal of notice of proposed rulemaking and termination of 
rulemaking proceeding.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Commission withdraws a notice of proposed rulemaking, 
which proposed to revise the Electric Quarterly Report (EQR) Data 
Dictionary to add ``Simultaneous Exchange'' to the list of available 
Product Names in the EQR.

DATES: This withdrawal will become effective February 3, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Suthima Malayaman (Legal 
Information), Office of the General Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-8864.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    1. On March 15, 2012, the Commission issued a Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking (NOPR) in this proceeding.\1\ For the reasons set forth 
below, we are exercising our discretion to withdraw the NOPR and 
terminate this rulemaking proceeding.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Revised Public Utility Filing Requirements for Electric 
Quarterly Reports, 77 FR 16494 (Mar. 21, 2012), FERC Stats. & Regs. 
] 32,687 (2012).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I. Background

    2. In the NOPR, the Commission proposed to revise the Electric 
Quarterly Report (EQR) Data Dictionary to add ``Simultaneous Exchange'' 
to the list of available Product Names in the EQR and to require all 
EQR filers to use this term, when appropriate, in the Contract Data 
section and the Transaction Data section of the EQR.\2\ The Commission 
stated that, simultaneous exchanges, which occur in both organized and 
non-organized energy markets, are complicated and varied. The 
Commission expressed its concern that the complexity of simultaneous 
exchanges may obscure the true nature of these transactions, and may 
enable market participants to circumvent market rules. Thus, in order 
to enhance transparency, the Commission asserted that it is important 
that EQR filers report simultaneous exchanges in the EQR.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ Id. P 6. The Commission proposed the following definition: 
``Simultaneous exchanges occur when a pair of simultaneously 
arranged (i.e., part of the same negotiations) wholesale power 
transactions between the same counterparties in which party A sells 
an electricity product to party B at one location and party B sells 
a similar electricity product to party A at a different location 
have an overlapping delivery period. The simultaneous exchange is 
the overlapping portion (both in volume and delivery period) of 
these wholesale power transactions.'' Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    3. The Commission clarified that only the overlapping portion of a 
simultaneous exchange transaction should be reported as a simultaneous 
exchange.\3\ In addition, the Commission proposed that non-overlapping 
portions of the arrangements should be reported in a separate entry as 
a power sale.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ Id. P 9.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    4. The Commission further proposed that parties reporting 
simultaneous exchange transactions report the price spread for these 
transactions, rather than the price assigned by the parties of the 
individual power sales that make up the simultaneous exchange.\4\ The 
Commission stated that, for the parties to a simultaneous exchange 
transaction, prices assigned to the power at either point in the 
transaction (if applicable) do not necessarily represent the economic 
values of the power being exchanged at those points. Thus, to ensure 
the presence of meaningful price information in EQR, the Commission 
proposed to adopt the requirement that EQR filers report the price 
spread of each simultaneous exchange.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ Id. P 10.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    5. Finally, the Commission proposed to require each party entering 
into a simultaneous exchange to report both the point of delivery and 
the point of receipt associated with the simultaneous exchange 
transaction.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ Id. P 12.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

II. Discussion

    6. Subsequent to the issuance of the NOPR, significant changes have 
occurred in the way power is exchanged in markets across the country. 
For instance, in November 2014, the California Independent System 
Operator Corporation and PacifiCorp launched the Western Energy 
Imbalance Market (EIM).\6\ The EIM provides EQR-reportable products 
that are similar to simultaneous exchange transactions, and the 
availability of these products may have reduced the use of simultaneous 
exchange transactions. As a result, we conclude that it is no longer 
necessary to adopt the regulation proposed in the NOPR. We therefore 
withdraw the NOPR and terminate this rulemaking proceeding.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ Cal. Indep. Sys. Operator Corp., 147 FERC ] 61,231 (2014). 
As of 2019, the EIM now has nine active participants.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Commission orders: The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is hereby 
withdrawn and Docket No. RM01-8-012 is hereby terminated.

    By direction of the Commission.

    Issued: December 19, 2019.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-27922 Filed 1-2-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P