[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 138 (Thursday, July 22, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38702-38703]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-15596]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[OE Docket No. EA-489]


Application To Export Electric Energy; North Star Electric 
Cooperative

AGENCY: Office of Electricity, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of application.

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SUMMARY: North Star Electric Cooperative (Applicant or North Star) has 
applied for authorization to transmit electric energy from the United 
States to Canada pursuant to the Federal Power Act.

DATES: Comments, protests, or motions to intervene must be submitted on 
or before August 23, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Comments, protests, motions to intervene, or requests for 
more information should be addressed by electronic mail to 
[email protected], or by facsimile to (202) 586-8008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matt Aronoff, 202-586-5863, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Energy (DOE) regulates 
exports of electricity from the United States to a foreign country, 
pursuant to sections 301(b) and 402(f) of the Department of Energy 
Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7151(b) and 42 U.S.C. 7172(f)). Such 
exports require authorization under section 202(e) of the Federal Power 
Act (16 U.S.C. 824a(e)).
    On June 6, 2021, North Star filed an application with DOE 
(Application or App.) to transmit electric energy from the United 
States to Canada for a term of five years. North Star states that it 
``is a cooperative corporation organized under Minnesota state law with 
its principal place of business [in] Baudette, MN.'' App. at 4. North 
Star also describes itself as ``a distribution cooperative member-owner 
of Minnkota Power Cooperative (`Minnkota'), a generation and 
transmission . . . cooperative that provides wholesale power 
requirements to North Star and its other member-owned cooperatives.'' 
Id. at 1-2. North Star further represents that ``because [it] is a 
cooperative, [its] customers are its member-owners.'' Id. at 1.
    North Star states that it ``does not own any of its own power 
generation facilities itself, but instead purchases all of its power 
supply requirements (to serve its retail customers) from Minnkota.'' 
App. at 2.
    At the time of its application, North Star served residential 
customers in Canada ``via two radial, low-voltage feeds that cross the 
U.S.-Canadian border and extend ten miles from Minnkota's International 
Falls Substation in northern Minnesota to the border and then into 
Canada.'' App. at 2. It describes these customers as ``in Canadian 
waters.'' Id. North Star has applied for an export authorization ``so 
that it may continue to serve its existing customers in Canada and to 
serve any future customers that may be tapped off the described radial 
lines,'' including three new customers--also in Canadian waters--who 
have requested service. Id. at 3. North Star contends that its proposed 
exports ``will not impair the sufficiency of electric supply within the 
United States'' and will not ``impede or tend to impede the 
coordination in the public interest of facilities subject to the 
jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.'' Id.
    The Applicant represents that the existing cross-border 
distribution facilities to be utilized by the Applicant have been in 
operation for at least 50 years. See App. at 7. North Star has exported 
power over these distribution facilities without holding the required 
export authorization under section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act, and 
``regrets that it did not obtain this required authorization earlier.'' 
Id. at 3. The Applicant states that ``in July 2018, after being 
approached by three

[[Page 38703]]

prospective customers about extending retail service to new customer[s] 
in Canadian waters, North Star discovered it did not have the necessary 
authorization'' to export power to customers in Canada. Id. at 2-3. 
North Star, via its power supplier, found that it did not hold a 
required Presidential Permit. See id. at 3. North Star has represented 
that it ``was not aware of the requirement to have either a 
Presidential permit or export authorization.'' Id. North Star has 
further represented that ``[a]s soon as it became aware of [the] 
requirements, [it] contacted counsel to determine appropriate remedial 
actions, including filing the necessary applications and obtaining the 
required permit(s) and authorization.'' Id. Accordingly, the Applicant 
has submitted this application for export and, concurrently, submitted 
an application for a Presidential Permit.
    Procedural Matters: Any person desiring to be heard in this 
proceeding should file a comment or protest to the Application at the 
address provided above. Protests should be filed in accordance with 
Rule 211 of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) Rules of 
Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.211). Any person desiring to become 
a party to this proceeding should file a motion to intervene at the 
above address in accordance with FERC Rule 214 (18 CFR 385.214).
    Comments and other filings concerning North Star's application to 
export electric energy to Canada should be clearly marked with OE 
Docket No. EA-489. Additional copies are to be provided directly to 
Daniel E. Frank, 700 Sixth St. NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20001-
3980, sutherland.com">danielfrank@eversheds-sutherland.com.
    A final decision will be made on the requested authorization after 
the environmental impacts have been evaluated pursuant to DOE's 
National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Procedures (10 CFR part 
1021) and after DOE evaluates whether the proposed action will have an 
adverse impact on the sufficiency of supply or reliability of the U.S. 
electric power supply system.
    Copies of the Application will be made available, upon request, by 
accessing the program website at http://energy.gov/node/11845, or by 
emailing Matt Aronoff at [email protected].

    Signed in Washington, DC, on July 19, 2021.
Christopher Lawrence,
Management and Program Analyst, Energy Resilience Division, Office of 
Electricity.
[FR Doc. 2021-15596 Filed 7-21-21; 8:45 am]
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