[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 127 (Wednesday, July 7, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35786-35789]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14474]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC21-21-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-516); Comment 
Request; Revision

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-516 (Electric Rate Schedules and Tariff 
Filings). 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 August 6, 
2021.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments on FERC-516 to OMB through 
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission Desk Officer. Please identify the OMB control number (1902-
0096) in the subject line. Your comments should be sent within 30 days 
of publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
    Please submit copies of your comments (identified by Docket No. 
IC21-21-000) to the Commission as noted below. Electronic filing 
through http://www.ferc.gov, is preferred.
     Electronic Filing: Documents must be filed in acceptable 
native applications and print-to-PDF, but not in scanned or picture 
format.
     For those unable to file electronically, comments may be 
filed by USPS mail or by hand (including courier) delivery.
    [cir] Mail via U.S. Postal Service Only: Addressed to: Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First 
Street NE, Washington, DC 20426.
    [cir] Hand (Including Courier) Delivery: Deliver to: Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852.

[[Page 35787]]

    Instructions: OMB submissions must be formatted and filed in 
accordance with submission guidelines at www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Using the search function under the ``Currently Under Review 
field,'' select Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; click ``submit'' 
and select ``comment'' to the right of the subject collection.
    FERC 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Brown may be reached by email at 
[email protected] and telephone at (202) 502-8663.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: FERC-516, Electric Rate Schedules and Tariff Filings.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0096.
    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-516 information 
collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting 
requirements.
    Abstract: This notice for FERC-516 includes 11 components listed in 
the table below.\1\ Section 205(c) of the Federal Power Act (FPA) 
requires that every public utility have all its jurisdictional rates 
and tariffs on file with the Commission and make them available for 
public inspection, within such time and in such form as the Commission 
may designate. Section 205(d) of the FPA requires that every public 
utility must provide notice to FERC and the public of any changes to 
its jurisdictional rates and tariffs, file such changes with FERC, and 
make them available for public inspection, in such manner as directed 
by the Commission. FPA section 205 specifies that all rates and 
charges, and related contracts and service conditions, for wholesale 
sales and transmission of energy in interstate commerce must be filed 
with the Commission and must be ``just and reasonable''. In addition, 
FPA section 206 requires the Commission, upon complaint or its own 
motion, to modify existing rates or services that are found to be 
unjust, unreasonable, unduly discriminatory or preferential.
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    \1\ This notice does not address the requirements in the 
Supplementary Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) in Docket No. 
RM20-10. The Supplementary NOPR is available here: https://www.ferc.gov/media/rm20-10-000-041521.
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    Several rulemakings related to this information collection and its 
components have been summarized below.
    In Order No. 745 (in Docket No. RM10-17), the Commission amended 
its regulations under the Federal Power Act (FPA). That amendment 
sought to ensure that when a demand response resource participating in 
an organized wholesale energy market administered by a Regional 
Transmission Organization (RTO) or Independent System Operator (ISO) 
has to demonstrate by a compliance filing that it has the capability to 
balance supply and demand as an alternative to a generation resource, 
and when dispatch of that demand response resource is cost-effective as 
determined by the net benefits test described in the final rule, that 
demand response resource must be compensated for the service it 
provides to the energy market at the market price for energy, referred 
to as the locational marginal price (LMP).\2\ This approach for 
compensating demand response resources helps to ensure the 
competitiveness of organized wholesale energy markets and remove 
barriers to the participation of demand response resources, thus 
ensuring just and reasonable wholesale rates.
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    \2\ The full text of the Final Rule is available on FERC's 
eLibrary system (https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/search) by 
searching Docket No. RM10-17.
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    In Order 845 (in Docket No. RM11-7), the Commission revised its 
regulations to remedy undue discrimination in the procurement of 
frequency regulation in the organized wholesale electric markets and 
ensure that providers of frequency regulation receive just and 
reasonable and not unduly discriminatory or preferential rates. To 
remedy this undue discrimination, the Commission found that it is just 
and reasonable to require all RTOs and ISOs to modify their tariffs to 
provide for a two-part payment to frequency regulation resources.\3\ 
The compensation methods for regulation service in RTO and ISO markets 
failed to acknowledge the inherently greater amount of frequency 
regulation service being provided by faster-ramping resources. In 
addition, certain practices of some RTOs and ISOs resulted in 
economically inefficient economic dispatch of frequency regulation 
resources. By remedying these issues, the Commission removed unduly 
discriminatory and preferential practices from RTO and ISO tariffs and 
required the setting of just and reasonable rates. It specifically 
required RTOs and ISOs to compensate frequency regulation resources 
based on the actual service provided, including a capacity payment that 
includes the marginal unit's opportunity costs and a payment for 
performance that reflects the quantity of frequency regulation service 
provided by a resource when the resource is accurately following the 
dispatch signal.
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    \3\ The full text of the Final Rule is available on FERC's 
eLibrary system (https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/search) by 
searching Docket No. RM11-7.
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    Order No. 764 (in Docket No. RM10-11), the Commission amended the 
pro forma Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT) to remove unduly 
discriminatory practices and to ensure just and reasonable rates for 
Commission-jurisdictional services. Specifically, the Commission 
removed barriers to the integration of variable energy resources by 
requiring each public utility transmission provider to: (1) Offer 
intra-hourly transmission scheduling; and, (2) incorporate provisions 
into the pro forma Large Generator Interconnection Agreement requiring 
interconnection customers whose generating facilities are variable 
energy resources to provide meteorological and forced outage data to 
the public utility transmission provider for the purpose of power 
production forecasting.
    In Order 676-G (in Docket No. RM05-5-020), the Commission amended 
its regulations at 18 CFR 38.2 (which establish standards for business 
practices and electronic communications for public utilities) to 
incorporate by reference updated business practice standards adopted by 
the Wholesale Electric Quadrant (WEQ) of the North American Energy 
Standards Board (NAESB) to categorize various products and services for 
demand response and energy efficiency and to support the measurement 
and verification of these products and services in organized wholesale 
electric markets. These standards provided common definitions and 
processes regarding demand response and energy efficiency products in 
organized wholesale electric markets where such products are offered. 
The standards also required each RTO and ISO to address in the RTO or 
ISO's governing documents the performance evaluation methods to be used 
for demand response and energy efficiency products. The standards 
facilitated the ability of demand response and energy efficiency 
providers to participate in organized wholesale electric markets, 
reducing transaction costs and providing an opportunity for more 
customers to participate in these programs, especially for customers 
that operate in more than one organized market.
    In Order No. 676-H (in Docket No. RM05-5-022), the Commission 
revised its regulations to incorporate by

[[Page 35788]]

reference, with certain enumerated exceptions, Version 003 of the 
Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public 
Utilities adopted by the WEQ of NAESB as mandatory enforceable 
requirements. These standards updated NAESB's WEQ Version 002 and 
Version 002.1 Standards to reflect policy determinations made by the 
Commission in the Order Nos. 890, 890-A, 890-B and 890-C.\4\ In 
addition, the Commission listed informationally, as guidance, NAESB's 
Smart Grid Standards (WEQ-016 through WEQ-020) in Part 2 of the 
Commission's regulations. The Commission required public utilities and 
those entities with reciprocity tariffs to modify their open access 
transmission tariffs (OATTs) to include the WEQ standards that were 
incorporated by making a compliance filing.
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    \4\ Preventing Undue Discrimination and Preference in 
Transmission Service, Order No. 890, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,241 
(2007), order on reh'g, Order No. 890-A, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 
31,261 (2007), order on reh'g, Order No. 890-B, 123 FERC ] 61,299 
(2008), order on reh'g and clarification, Order No. 890-C, 126 FERC 
] 61,228 (2009) (Order No. 890-C). The Version 002 standards also 
included revisions made in response to Order No. 890.
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    In Order No. 819 (in Docket No. RM15-2), the Commission revised its 
regulations to foster competition in the sale of primary frequency 
response service. Specifically, the Commission amended its regulations 
governing market-based rates for public utilities pursuant to the FPA 
to permit the sale of primary frequency response service at market-
based rates by sellers with market-based rate authority for sales of 
energy and capacity. The Commission found that a seller that already 
has market-based rate authority as of the effective date of the Final 
Rule is authorized as of that date to make sales of primary frequency 
response service at market-based rates.\5\ Such a seller was required 
to revise the third-party provider ancillary services provision of its 
market-based rate tariff to reflect that it wished to make sales of 
primary frequency response service at market-based rates. In order to 
reduce their administrative burden, the Commission permitted such 
sellers to wait to file this tariff revision until the next time they 
made a market-based rate filing with the Commission, such as a notice 
of change in status filing or a triennial update.
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    \5\ The full text of the Final Rule is available on FERC's 
eLibrary system (https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/search) by 
searching Docket No. RM15-2.
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    In Order No. 842 (in Docket No. RM16-6-000), the Commission revised 
its regulations to require newly interconnecting large and small 
generating facilities, both synchronous and non-synchronous, to 
install, maintain, and operate equipment capable of providing primary 
frequency response as a condition of interconnection. To implement 
these requirements, the Commission modified the pro forma Large 
Generator Interconnection Agreement (LGIA) and the pro forma Small 
Generator Interconnection Agreement (SGIA). These changes were designed 
to address the potential reliability impact of the evolving generation 
resource mix, and to ensure that the relevant provisions of the pro 
forma LGIA and pro forma SGIA are just, reasonable, and not unduly 
discriminatory or preferential. Section 35.28(f)(1) of the Commission's 
regulations requires every public utility with a non-discriminatory 
OATT on file to also have a pro forma LGIA and pro forma SGIA on file 
with the Commission. Each public utility transmission provider that has 
a pro forma LGIA and/or pro forma SGIA within its OATT was required to 
submit a compliance filing that demonstrates that it meets the 
requirements set forth in the Final Rule within Docket No. RM16-6-000.
    In Order 845 (in Docket No. RM17-8), the Commission amended the pro 
forma Large Generator Interconnection Procedures and the pro forma LGIA 
to improve certainty, promote more informed interconnection, and 
enhance interconnection processes. The reforms were intended to ensure 
that the generator interconnection process is just and reasonable and 
not unduly discriminatory or preferential. The Commission required all 
public utility transmission providers to submit compliance filings to 
adopt the requirements of the Final Rule (in Docket No. RM17-8), as 
revisions to the LGIP and LGIA in their OATTs.
    In Order 864 (in Docket No. RM19-5), the Commission required public 
utility transmission providers with transmission formula rates under an 
OATT, a transmission owner tariff, or a rate schedule to revise those 
transmission formula rates to account for changes caused by the Tax 
Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The Commission required public utilities 
with transmission formula rates to include a mechanism in those 
transmission formula rates to deduct any excess accumulated deferred 
income taxes (ADIT) from or add any deficient ADIT to their rate bases. 
Public utilities with transmission formula rates were also required to 
incorporate a mechanism to decrease or increase their income tax 
allowances by any amortized excess or deficient ADIT, respectively. 
Finally, the Commission required public utilities with transmission to 
update their formula rates through a compliance filing to incorporate a 
new permanent worksheet into their transmission formula rates that will 
annually track information related to excess or deficient ADIT.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \6\ The Commission estimates the average 
annual burden and cost \7\ for FERC-516 as follows.\8\ The `annual no. 
of responses per respondent' have been rounded. The estimated total 
annual burden for this information collection has decreased due to the 
completion of several one-time filings. The one-time filings required 
in Order 845 (in Docket No. RM17-8), Order 755 (in Docket No. RM11-7), 
and Order 676-G (in Docket No. RM05-05-020) are complete. Because Order 
Nos. 845, 755, 676-G remain a one-time filing requirement for 
transmission organizations, the burden associated with this data 
collections will result only if a new transmission organization enters 
FERC jurisdiction. One response for one new transmission organization 
is being used as a placeholder for a possible application from such a 
new transmission organization with an organized electricity market.\9\
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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. For 
further explanation of what is included in the information 
collection burden, refer to 5 CFR part 1320.
    \7\ The Commission staff estimates that the average respondent 
for this collection is similarly situated to the Commission, in 
terms of salary plus benefits. Based on FERC's 2020 annual average 
of $172,329 (for salary plus benefits), the average hourly cost is 
$83/hour.
    \8\ The following currently approved one-time filings for FERC-
516 are complete.
     The one-time total burden for Electric Rate Schedules 
and Tariffs in Docket No. RM17-8 was a total of 65,220 hours that 
was averaged over three years (65,220 / 3 = 21,740 hours/year over 
three years).
     The one-time total burden for Electric Rate Schedules 
and Tariffs in Docket No. RM11-7 was a total of 5,500 hours that was 
averaged over three years (5,500 / 3 = 1,833 hours/year over three 
years).
     The one-time total burden for Electric Rate Schedules 
and Tariffs in Docket No. RM05-05-020 was a total of 60 hours.
    \9\ If a new RTO/ISO is formed, their tariff filings would be 
required by Order 845 (in Docket No. RM17-8), Order 755 (in Docket 
No. RM11-7), and Order 676-G (in Docket No. RM05-05-020).

[[Page 35789]]



                                                  FERC-516, Electric Rate Schedules and Tariff Filings
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                                                Annual number
         Requirements             Number of     of responses    Total number of     Average burden and cost    Total annual burden hours     Cost per
                                 respondents   per respondent      responses             per response                  and cost             respondent
                                          (1)             (2)    (1) x (2) = (3)  (4).......................  (3) * (4) = (5)...........   (5)/(1) = (5)
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Electric Rates Schedules and            1,230           3.633              4,469  103.27 hrs.; $8,571.41....  461,513.63 hrs.;                $31,142.79
 Tariff Filings.                                                                                               $38,305,631.29.
Demand Response, RM10-17 (one-              6           11.33                 68  114.71 hrs.; $9,520.93....  7,800.28 hrs.; $647,423.24      107,903.87
 time and monthly filings).
Frequency Regulation, RM11-7                1               1                  1  366.66 hrs.; $30,432.78...  366.66 hrs.; $30,432.78...       30,432.78
 (one-time tariff filing and
 system modification) \9\.
Variable Energy Resource                  142           2.113                300  29.95 hrs.; $2,485.85.....  8,985 hrs.; $745,755......        5,251.80
 Integration Rule (RM10-11),
 Voluntary Burden.
Variable Energy Resource                  294          1.9116                562  30.91 hrs.; $2,565.53.....  17,371.42 hrs.;                   4,904.18
 Integration Rule, (RM10-11)                                                                                   $1,441,827.86.
 Mandatory Burden.
Tariff Filings in RM05-5-020                1               1                  1  5 hrs.; $415..............  5 hrs.; $415..............             415
 (one-time) \9\.
Standards for Business                    162               1                162  6 hrs.; $498..............  972 hrs.; $80,676.........             498
 Practices and Communication
 Protocols for Public
 Utilities Tariff Filings in
 RM05-5-022 (one-time) \10\.
Tariff Filings to Reflect               1,585          0.1634                259  6 hrs.; $498..............  1,554 hrs.; $128,982......           81.38
 Primary Frequency Response
 Services in MBR (Final Rule
 in RM15-2).
Essential Reliability                      74               1                 74  10 hrs.; $830.............  740 hrs.; $61,420.........             830
 Services and the Evolving
 Bulk-Power System--Primary
 Frequency Response in RM16-6.
Reform of Generator                       162            2.66                431  4 hrs.; $332..............  1,724 hrs.; $143,092......          883.28
 Interconnection Procedures
 and Agreements in RM17-8
 (ongoing) \10\.
Reform of Generator                         1               1                  1  49.41 hrs.; $4,101.03.....  49.41 hrs.; $4,101.03.....        4,101.03
 Interconnection Procedures
 and Agreements in RM17-8
 (one-time) \9\.
Public Utility Transmission               106           1.666                177  13.57 hrs.; $1,126.31.....  2,401.89 hrs.; $199,356.87        1,880.73
 Rate Changes to Address
 Accumulated Deferred Income
 Taxes in RM19-5, one-time
 and ongoing.
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    Total Burden for FERC-516  ..............  ..............              6,505  ..........................  503,483.29 hrs.;            ..............
     \11\.                                                                                                     $41,789,113.07.
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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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    \10\ The increase in the number of respondents from 132 to 162 
is based on the increased number of companies subject to compliance 
and changes in the last few years as identified by the NERC 
registry.
    \11\ The total number of responses for FERC-516 is 6,504.98 
which is rounded to 6,505.

    Dated: June 30, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-14474 Filed 7-6-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P