[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 166 (Wednesday, August 26, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52584-52585]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-18735]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. RD20-9-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725R); Comment 
Request; Revision

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of revision of information collection and request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public 
comment on revisions of the information collection FERC-725R (Mandatory 
Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System: BAL Reliability 
Standards), and will be submitting the information collection to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due October 26, 
2020.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted to the Commission, in Docket 
No. RD20-9-000, by one of the following methods:
     eFiling at Commission's Website: http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp;
     U.S. Postal Service Mail: Persons unable to file 
electronically may mail similar pleadings to the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426; or
     Effective 7/1/2020, delivery of filings other than by 
eFiling or the U.S. Postal Service should be delivered to Health and 
Human Services, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
    Instructions: All submissions must be formatted and filed in 
accordance with submission guidelines at http://www.ferc.gov. For user 
assistance, contact FERC Online Support by email at 
[email protected], or by phone at: (866) 208-3676 (toll-free).
    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], and telephone at (202) 502-8663.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: FERC-725R, Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-
Power System: BAL Reliability Standards.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0268.
    Type of Request: Revisions to FERC-725R information collection 
requirements, as discussed in Docket No. RD20-9-000.
    Abstract: Reliability Standard BAL-003-2 (Frequency Response and 
Frequency Bias Setting) will enhance reliability and improve upon the 
currently effective version of the Standard by refining and clarifying 
the process and methods for calculating the amount of Frequency 
Response that must be provided in a given operating year to support the 
reliable operation of the Bulk Power System.
    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 Federal Power Act (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, any Reliability Standard 
may be enforced by the ERO subject to Commission oversight, or the 
Commission may independently enforce Reliability Standards.\2\
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    \1\ Energy Policy Act of 2005, Public Law 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 19, 2019, NERC submitted for approval proposed 
Reliability Standard BAL-003-2, as well as a proposed implementation 
plan, Violation Risk Factors, and Violation Severity Levels. The 
revisions in proposed Reliability Standard BAL-003-2 are concentrated 
in Attachment A of the revised Standard, ``BAL-003-2 Frequency Response 
and Frequency

[[Page 52585]]

Bias Setting Standard Supporting Document,'' referenced in Requirements 
R1 and R2. Revisions are also proposed for FRS (Frequency Response 
Survey) Form 1, referenced in Requirement R4 and Attachment A of the 
revised Standard; and for the Procedure document, referenced in 
Attachment A of the revised Standard.
    NERC's filed petition was noticed on May 28, 2020, with 
interventions, comments and protests due on or before June 29, 2020. No 
interventions or comments were received. Reliability Standard BAL-003-2 
was approved by FERC on 7/15/2020 in a Delegated Letter Order (DLO).\5\
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    \5\ The DLO is posted in eLibrary at https://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/common/OpenNat.asp?fileID=15585069.
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    Types of Respondents: Balancing authorities and a Frequency 
Response Sharing Group (FRSG).
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \6\ The estimated burdens of Reliability 
Standard BAL-003-2 will be the same as the estimated burdens of the 
currently effective Reliability Standard. The estimated burden and cost 
estimates shown below are based on the collection of certain 
information to establish the Interconnection Frequency Response 
Obligation and the Frequency Bias Setting for each balancing authority.
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    \6\ 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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    Balancing authorities and the FRSG report their previous-year 
Frequency Response Measure and Frequency Bias Setting to NERC, and 
revised Frequency Bias Settings are based on data from events the 
balancing authorities and FRSG report on FRS Form 1, as revised by 
RD20-9-000. The information provided on the FRS Form 1 is based on 
events which qualify for analyses, and NERC states that it will 
identify between 20 to 35 events in each Interconnection for 
calculating the Frequency Response Measure and Frequency Bias Setting. 
FRS Form 1 will automatically calculate the balancing authority's 
frequency response measure (FRM) for the past 12 months as the median 
of the Single Event Frequency Response Data (SEFRD) values.\7\ 
Allotting 8 hours for balancing authorities and the FRSG to compile the 
information on candidate events,\8\ multiplied by 28 events per 
balancing authority per year yields 224 hours per year per balancing 
authority as the regulatory burden for compliance.\9\ Our estimates are 
based on the NERC Compliance Registry as of July 17, 2020, which 
indicates that there are 97 registered balancing authorities and 1 
frequency response sharing group.\10\
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    \7\ NERC Petition, Exh. A1 at 11.
    \8\ The information is automatically generated from computer 
data bases. However, time is allotted to compile, verify, and review 
the information.
    \9\ Assuming an average of between 20 and 35 events per year.
    \10\ NERC Compliance Registry (July 17, 2020), available at 
https://www.nerc.com/pa/comp/Registration%20and%20Certification%20DL/NERC_Compliance_Registry_Matrix_Excel.xlsx.
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    In order to comply with Reliability Standard BAL-003-2, the 
balancing authority will be required to retain data or evidence to show 
compliance with Requirements R1, R2, R3 and R4 and Measures M1, M2, M3 
and M4 for the current year plus the previous three calendar years 
unless directed by its Compliance Enforcement Authority to retain 
specific evidence for a longer period of time as part of an 
investigation. The frequency response sharing group will be required to 
retain data or evidence to show compliance with Requirement R1 and 
Measure M1 for the current year plus the previous three calendar years, 
unless directed by its Compliance Enforcement Authority to retain 
specific evidence for a longer period of time as part of an 
investigation.
    Estimates for the additional average annual burden and cost \11\ 
due to Docket No. RD20-9-000 follow. These estimates are the same as 
for the currently effective Standard.
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    \11\ The hourly cost estimates are based on wage data from the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics for May 2019 (at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm) and benefits data for Dec. 2019 (issued March 
2020, at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm). The hourly 
costs (for wages and benefits) for reporting are: Electrical 
Engineer (Occupation code 17-2071), $70.19. The hourly costs (for 
wages and benefits) for evidence retention are: Information and 
Record Clerk (Occupation code 43-4199), $41.03.

                                FERC-725R, Modifications Due to Docket No. RD20-9
                          [& Bal-003-2 (Frequency response and frequency bias setting)]
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                                                  Number of                                        Total annual
                                  Number of        annual       Total number    Average burden    burden hours &
           Function              respondents    responses per     of annual    hours & cost ($)    total annual
                                                 respondent       responses      per response        cost ($)
                                          (1)             (2)     (1) x (2) =  (4).............  (3) x (4) = (5)
                                                                          (3)
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BA & FRSG Annual Reporting                 98              28           2,744  8 hrs.; $561.52.  21,952 hrs.;
 (ongoing) \12\.                                                                                  $1,540,810.88.
Evidence Retention (ongoing)               98               1              98  2 hr.; $82.06...  196 hrs.;
 \13\.                                                                                            $8,041.88.
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    Total....................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ................  22,148 hrs;
                                                                                                  $1,548,852.76.
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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.
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    \12\ The average hourly cost (for wages plus benefits) is $70.19 
for an Electrical Engineer.
    \13\ The average hourly cost (for wages plus benefits) is $41.03 
for an Information and Record Clerk.

    Dated: August 20, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-18735 Filed 8-25-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P