    [Federal Register Volume 85, Number 168 (Friday, August 28, 2020)]
    [Notices]
    [Pages 53358-53359]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 2020-18915]

    [[Page 53358]]

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    DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

    Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

    [Docket No. IC20-23-000]

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

    AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

    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 information collection FERC-
    725R (Mandatory Reliability Standards: 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 27,
    2020.

    ADDRESSES: A copy of the comments should be submitted to the
    Commission, in Docket No. IC20-23-000, 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.
         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 ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, 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
    DataClearance@FERC.gov, and telephone at (202) 502-8663.

    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
        Title: FERC-725R, Mandatory Reliability Standards: BAL Reliability
    Standards.\1\
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        \1\ In Docket No. RD20-9-000, Reliability Standard BAL-003-2 is
    being considered for approval. (A Notice requesting comments on the
    changes proposed in Docket No. RD20-9-000 is posted in eLibrary at
    https://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/common/OpenNat.asp?fileID=15605347.)
    Those changes are addressed separately in Docket No. RD20-9-000 and
    are not addressed in this notice in Docket No. IC20-23-000.
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        OMB Control No.: 1902-0268
        Type of Request: Three-year renewal request for the FERC-725R
    information collection requirements, with no changes to the reporting
    and recordkeeping requirements.
        Abstract:
        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).\2\ 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 Standard may be enforced by
    the ERO subject to Commission oversight, or the Commission can
    independently enforce Reliability Standards.\3\
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        \2\ Energy Policy Act of 2005, Public Law 109-58, Title XII,
    Subtitle A, 119 Stat. 594, 941 (codified at 16 U.S.C. 824o).
        \3\ 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.\4\ Pursuant to Order No. 672, the
    Commission certified one organization, North American Electric
    Reliability Corporation (NERC), as the ERO.\5\ 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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        \4\ 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).
        \5\ 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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        FERC-725R includes the following nation-wide Reliability Standards:
    \6\
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        \6\ There are also regional BAL Reliability Standards. They are
    not included in FERC-725R and are not discussed here. The regional
    BAL Reliability Standards are covered under other OMB Control Nos.
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         BAL-001-2,\7\ Real Power Balancing Control Performance.
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        \7\ It was approved in Docket No. RM14-10.
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        Reliability Standard BAL-001-2 is designed to ensure that
    applicable entities balance generation and load by maintaining system
    frequency within narrow bounds around a scheduled value, and it
    improves reliability by adding a frequency component to the measurement
    of a Balancing Authority's Area Control Error (ACE).\8\
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        \8\ Area Control Error is the instantaneous difference between a
    Balancing Authority's net actual and scheduled interchange, taking
    into accounts the effects of Frequency Bias, correction for meter
    error, and Automatic Time Error Correction (ATEC), if operating in
    the ATEC mode. ATEC is only applicable to Balancing Authorities in
    the Western Interconnection. NERC Glossary.
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         BAL-002-3,\9\ Disturbance Control Standard--Contingency
    Reserve for Recovery from a Balancing Contingency Event.
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        \9\ It was approved in Docket No. RD18-7.
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        This standard ensures that a responsible entity, either a balancing
    authority or reserve sharing group, is able to recover from system
    contingencies by deploying adequate reserves to return their Area
    Control Error to defined values and replacing the capacity and energy
    lost due to generation or transmission equipment outages.
         BAL-003-1,\10\ Frequency Response and Frequency Bias
    Setting.
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        \10\ It was approved in Docket No. RM13-11; the current version
    is Reliability Standard BAL-003-1.1.
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        This standard requires sufficient Frequency Response from the
    Balancing Authority (BA) to maintain Interconnection Frequency within
    predefined bounds by arresting frequency deviations and supporting
    frequency until the frequency is restored to its scheduled value. It
    also ensures that balancing authority's Frequency Bias Setting is
    accurately calculated to match its actual Frequency Response. It
    provides consistent methods for measuring Frequency Response and
    determining the Frequency Bias Setting. Each balancing authority
    reports its previous year Frequency Response Measure and Frequency Bias
    Setting to NERC via FRS (Frequency Response Survey) Form 1. The
    information provided on the FRS Form 1 is based on events which qualify
    for analyses; NERC identifies between 20 to 35 events in each
    Interconnection for calculating the Frequency Response Measure and
    Frequency Bias Setting.
         BAL-005-1,\11\ Balancing Authority Control.
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        \11\ It was approved in Docket No. RM16-13.
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        This standard establishes requirements for acquiring data necessary
    to calculate Reporting Area Control Error (Reporting ACE). The standard
    also specifies a minimum periodicity, accuracy, and availability
    requirement for acquisition of the data

    [[Page 53359]]

    and for providing the information to the System Operator. It requires
    balancing authorities to maintain minimum levels of annual availability
    of 99.5% for each balancing authority system for calculating Reporting
    ACE.
        Type of Respondent: Balancing Authorities, Response Sharing Group,
    and Frequency Response Sharing Group.
        Estimate of Annual Burden:\12\ Our estimate of the number of
    respondents affected is based on the NERC Compliance Registry as of
    July 17, 2020.\13\ According to the Compliance Registry, NERC has
    registered 97 Balancing Authorities (BA), 11 Response Sharing Groups
    (RSG), and 1 Frequency Response Sharing Group (FRSG) within the United
    States, as noted. The burden estimates reflect the number of affected
    entities for each standard. Estimates for the average annual burden and
    cost \14\ follow.
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        \12\ 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.
        \13\ NERC Compliance Registry (July 17, 2020), available at
    https://www.nerc.com/pa/comp/Registration%20and%20Certification%20DL/NERC_Compliance_Registry_Matrix_Excel.xlsx.
        \14\ 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) are for: Electrical Engineer
    (Occupation code 17-2071), $70.19; and Information and Record Clerk
    (Occupation code 43-4199), $41.03.

                                                                            FERC-725R
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                                                       Number of
                                           Number &      annual     Total No.
                  Function                 type of     responses    of  annual    Average burden  hours & cost    Total annual  burden hours & total  annual
                                         respondents      per       responses          ($)  per response                           cost ($)
                                                       respondent
                                                 (1)          (2)  (1) x (2) =  (4)............................  (3) x (4) = (5)
                                                                           (3)
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                                                                            BAL-001-2
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    BA Reporting Requirements..........           97            1           97  8 hrs.; $561.52................  776 hrs.; $54,467.44.
    BA Recordkeeping Requirements......           97            1           97  4 hrs.; $164.12................  388 hrs.; $15,919.64.
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                                                                            BAL-002-3
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    BA & RSG Reporting Requirements....          108            1          108  8 hrs.; $561.52................  864 hrs.; $60,644.16.
    BA & RSG Recordkeeping Requirements          108            1          108  4 hrs.; $164.12................  432 hrs.; $17,724.96.
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                                                                           BAL-003-1.1
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    BA & FRSG Reporting Requirements...           98           28        2,744  8 hrs.; $561.52................  21,952 hrs.; $1,540,810.88.
    BA & FRSG Recordkeeping                       98            1           98  2 hrs.; $82.06.................  196 hrs.; $8,041.88.
     Requirements.
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                                                                            BAL-005-1
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    BA Reporting Requirements..........           97            1           97  1 hr.; $70.19..................  97 hrs.; $6,808.43.
    BA Recordkeeping Requirements......           97            1           97  1 hr.; $41.03..................  97 hrs.; $3,979.91.
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        SUB-TOTAL FOR REPORTING          ...........  ...........  ...........  ...............................  23,689 hrs.; $1,662,730.91.
         REQUIREMENTS.
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        SUB-TOTAL FOR RECORDKEEPING      ...........  ...........  ...........  ...............................  1,113 hrs.; $45,666.39.
         REQUIREMENTS.
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            TOTAL FOR FERC-725R          ...........  ...........  ...........  ...............................  24,802 hrs.; $1,708,397.
             (rounded).
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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: August 21, 2020.
    Kimberly D. Bose,
    Secretary.
    [FR Doc. 2020-18915 Filed 8-27-20; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 6717-01-P