[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 48 (Wednesday, March 11, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14190-14191]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04953]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. RD20-1-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725G); 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-725G (Mandatory Reliability Standards for 
the Bulk-Power System: PRC Standards: Regional Reliability Standard 
PRC-006-NPCC-2 Automatic Underfrequency Load-Shedding (UFLS)) 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.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due May 11, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB, identified by OMB Control No. 1902-
0252, 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. RD20-1-000, 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-725G (Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-
Power System: Regional Reliability Standard PRC-006-NPCC-2, Automatic 
Underfrequency Load-Shedding (UFLS).
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0252.
    Type of Request: Revisions to the information collection, as 
discussed in Docket No. RD20-1-000.
    Abstract: The proposed regional Reliability Standard applies to 
generator owners, planning coordinators, distribution providers, and 
transmission owners in the Northeast Power Coordinating Council Region 
and is designed to ensure the development of an effective automatic 
underfrequency load shedding (UFLS) program to preserve the security 
and integrity of the Bulk-Power System during declining system 
frequency events in coordination with the NERC continent-wide UFLS 
Reliability Standard PRC-006-1. The Commission also proposes to approve 
the related violation risk factors, violation severity levels, 
implementation plan, and effective date proposed by NERC.
    On August 8, 2005, Congress enacted into law the Electricity 
Modernization Act of 2005, which is Title XII, Subtitle A, of the 
Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005).\1\ EPAct 2005 added a new 
section 215 to the FPA, which required a Commission-certified Electric 
Reliability Organization (ERO) to develop mandatory and enforceable 
Reliability Standards, which are subject to Commission review and 
approval. Once approved, the Reliability Standards may be enforced by 
the ERO subject to Commission oversight, or the Commission can 
independently enforce Reliability Standards.\2\
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    \1\ Energy Policy Act of 2005, Public Law No. 109-58, Title XII, 
Subtitle A, 119 Stat. 594, 941 (codified at 16 U.S.C. 824o).
    \2\ 16 U.S.C. 824o(e)(3).
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    On February 3, 2006, the Commission issued Order No. 672, 
implementing section 215 of the FPA.\3\ Pursuant to Order No. 672, the 
Commission certified one organization, North American Electric 
Reliability Corporation (NERC), as the ERO.\4\ The Reliability 
Standards developed by the ERO and approved by the Commission apply to 
users, owners and operators of the Bulk-Power System as set forth in 
each Reliability Standard.
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    \3\ Rules Concerning Certification of the Electric Reliability 
Organization; and Procedures for the Establishment, Approval, and 
Enforcement of Electric Reliability Standards, Order No. 672, FERC 
Stats. & Regs. ] 31,204, order on reh'g, Order No. 672-A, FERC 
Stats. & Regs. ] 31,212 (2006).
    \4\ North American Electric Reliability Corp., 116 FERC ] 
61,062, order on reh'g and compliance, 117 FERC ] 61,126 (2006), 
order on compliance, 118 FERC ] 61,190, order on reh'g, 119 FERC ] 
61,046 (2007), aff'd sub nom. Alcoa Inc. v. FERC, 564 F.3d 1342 
(D.C. Cir. 2009).
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    On December 23, 2019, the North American Electric Reliability 
Corporation (NERC) and Northeast Power Coordinating Council, Inc. 
(NPCC) filed a joint petition seeking approval of proposed regional 
Reliability Standard PRC-006-NPCC-2 (NPCC Automatic Underfrequency Load 
Shedding). NERC and NPCC state that regional Reliability Standard PRC-
006-NPCC-2 establishes consistent and coordinated requirements for the 
design,

[[Page 14191]]

implementation, and analysis of automatic underfrequency load shedding 
(UFLS) programs among all NPCC applicable entities. These requirements 
are more stringent and specific than the NERC continent-wide UFLS 
Reliability Standard, PRC-006-3, and were established such that the 
declining frequency is arrested and recovered in accordance with NPCC 
performance requirements. NPCC revised currently effective Regional 
Reliability Standard PRC-006-NPCC-1 to remove redundancies with the 
Reliability Standard PRC-006-3, clarify obligations for registered 
entities, improve communication of island boundaries to affected 
registered entities, and provide entities with the flexibility to 
calculate net load shed for UFLS in certain situations.
    On February 19, 2020, the Commission issued a Delegated Letter 
Order, Docket No. RD20-1-000, approving proposed Reliability Standard 
PRC-006-NPCC-2, the associated VRFs and VSLs, the Effective Date, and 
the retirement of the currently effective Regional Reliability Standard 
PRC-006-NPCC-1. The effective date for Reliability Standard PRC-006-
NPCC-2 is as of the date of this order, January 18, 2020.
    Type of Respondents: Generator owners, planning coordinators, 
distribution providers, and transmission owners in the Northeast Power 
Coordinating Council (NPCC) Region.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \5\ Our estimates are based on the NERC 
Compliance Registry Summary of Entities as of January 31, 2019. 
According to the NERC compliance registry, and Functions as of, which 
indicates there are registered as GO, PC, DP and TO entities.
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    \5\ 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. See 5 
CFR 1320 for additional information on the definition of information 
collection burden.
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    The individual burden estimates are based on the time needed to 
gather data, run studies, and analyze study results to design or update 
the underfrequency load shedding programs. Additionally, documentation 
and the review of underfrequency load shedding program results by 
supervisors and management is included in the administrative 
estimations. These are consistent with estimates for similar tasks in 
other Commission approved standards.
    Estimates for the additional burden and cost imposed by the order 
in Docket No. RD20-1-000 follow:
    Commission estimates the annual burden and cost \6\ as follows. 
Burden and cost for the information collection as follows:
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    \6\ The Commission staff estimates that industry is similarly 
situated in terms of hourly cost (for wages plus benefits). Based on 
the Commission's FY (Fiscal Year) 2019 average cost (for wages plus 
benefits), $80.00/hour is used.

    RD20-1-000--Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System: Regional Reliability Standard PRC-006-NPCC-2 Automatic Underfrequency Load
                                                                        Shedding
                                                                         [UFLS]
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                                                   Average annual
    Reliability standard &       Average annual      number of      Average annual    Average burden hrs. &     Total annual burden hours &    Cost per
          requirement             number \1\ of    responses per   total number of    cost ($) per response         cost ($) (rounded)        respondent
                                   respondents       respondent       responses                                                                  ($)
                                             (1)              (2)  (1) * (2) = (3)  (4)......................  (3) * (4) = (5).............    (5) / (1)
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GO............................               125                1              125  24 hrs.; $80.............  3,000 hrs.; $10,000.........          $80
PC............................                 2                1                2  24 hrs.; $80.............  48 hrs.; $160...............          $80
DP............................                51                1               51  24 hrs.; $80.............  1,224 hrs.; $4,080..........          $80
TO............................                39                1               39  24 hrs.; $80.............  936 hrs.; $3,120............  ...........
                               ----------------------------------------------------                           ------------------------------------------
    Total.....................  ................  ...............  ...............  .........................  5,208 hrs.; $17,360.........  ...........
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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: March 5, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-04953 Filed 3-10-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P