[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 150 (Monday, August 9, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43533-43536]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-16919]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC21-30-000, RD20-4-000]


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

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 a renewal of currently approved 
information collection, FERC 725G (Mandatory Reliability Standards for 
the Bulk-Power System: PRC Reliability Standards), which will be 
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due September 8, 
2021.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments on FERC-725-G to OMB through 
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission Desk Officer. Please identify the OMB Control Number (1902-
0252) in the subject line of your comments. Comments should be sent 
within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
    Please submit copies of your comments to the Commission. You may 
submit copies of your comments (identified by Docket No. IC21-30-000) 
by one of the following methods:
    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.
    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 https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: FERC-725G (Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-
Power System: Regional Reliability Standard PRC standards: PRC-006-5 
Automatic Underfrequency Load-Shedding (UFLS), PRC-002-2, PRC-012-2, 
PRC-019-2, PRC-023-4, PRC-024-1, PRC-025-2, PRC-026-1, and PRC-027-1.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0252.
    Type of Request: Revisions and extension to the information 
collection, as discussed in Docket No. RD20-4-000.
    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).\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 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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    The information collected by the FERC-725G is required to implement 
the statutory provisions of section 215 of the Federal Power Act 
(FPA).\2\ Section 215 of the FPA buttresses the Commission's efforts to 
strengthen the reliability of the interstate bulk power grid.
    The FERC-725G information collection currently contains the 
reporting and recordkeeping requirements for the following Reliability 
Standards: PRC-002-2, PRC-006-5, PRC-012-2, PRC-019-2, PRC-023-4, PRC-
024-1, PRC-025-2, PRC-026-1, and PRC-027-1.

 PRC-002-2 Disturbance Monitoring and Reporting Requirements

    The purpose is to have adequate data available to facilitate 
analysis of Bulk Electric System (BES) Disturb.

 PRC-006-5 Automatic Underfrequency Load Shedding

    To establish design and documentation requirements for automatic 
Underfrequency Load Shedding (UFLS) programs to arrest declining 
frequency, assist recovery of frequency following underfrequency events 
and provide last resort system preservation measures.

 PRC-012-2 Remedial Action Schemes

    To ensure that Remedial Action Schemes (RAS) do not introduce 
unintentional or unacceptable reliability risks to the Bulk Electric 
System (BES).

 PRC-019-2 Coordination of Generating Unit or Plant 
Capabilities, Voltage Regulating Controls, and Protection

    The purpose is to verify coordination of generating unit Facility 
or synchronous condenser voltage

[[Page 43534]]

regulating controls, limit functions, equipment capabilities and 
Protection System settings.

 PRC-023-4 Transmission Relay Load-Ability

    Protective relay settings shall not limit transmission load-
ability; not interfere with system operators' ability to take remedial 
action to protect system reliability and; be set to reliably detect all 
fault conditions and protect the electrical network from these faults.

 PRC-024-1 Generator Frequency and Voltage Protective Relay 
Settings

    The purpose is to ensure Generator Owners set their generator 
protective relays such that generating units remain connected during 
defined frequency and voltage excursions.

 PRC-025-2 Generator Relay Load-Ability

    The purpose is to set load-responsive protective relays associated 
with generation Facilities at a level to prevent unnecessary tripping 
of generators during a system disturbance for conditions that do not 
pose a risk of damage to the associated equipment.

 PRC-026-1 Relay Performance During Stable Power Swings

    The purpose is to ensure that load-responsive protective relays are 
expected to not trip in response to stable power swings during non-
Fault conditions.

 PRC-027-1 Coordination of Protection Systems for Performance 
During Faults

    The purpose is to maintain the coordination of Protection Systems 
installed to detect and isolate Faults on Bulk Electric System (BES) 
Elements, such that those Protection Systems operate in the intended 
sequence during Faults.
    Each of these Reliability Standards have three components that 
impose burden upon affected industry:

 Requirements (e.g., denoted in each Reliability Standard as 
R1, R2 . . .)
 Measures (e.g., denoted in each Reliability Standard as M1, M2 
. . .)
 Evidence Retention

    These three components can be reviewed for the Reliability 
Standards in North American Electric Reliability Commission (NERC) 
petitions in FERC's eLibrary system (http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/elibrary.asp) or on NERC's own website (www.nerc.com).
    Type of Respondents: Generator owners, Planning coordinators, 
Distribution providers, UFLS-only Distribution Providers, and 
transmission owners in the Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC) 
Region.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \3\ Our estimates are based on the NERC 
Compliance Registry Summary of Entities as of February 5, 2021. 
According to the NERC compliance registry, and functions as of, which 
indicates there are registered as GO, PC, DP and TO entities. 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 (UFLS) 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.
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    \3\ 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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RD20-4 (PRC-006-4)

    The revisions in the proposed Reliability Standards will align 
these standards with the previously approved changes to the NERC 
registration criteria \4\ by removing reference to entities \5\ that 
are no longer registered with NERC. In proposed Reliability Standard 
PRC-006-4, NERC adds the UFLS-only Distribution Provider as an 
applicable entity. In two instances, NERC has proposed changes that 
will promote consistent use of the term Planning Coordinator across the 
Reliability Standards.\6\
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    \4\ Order on Electric Reliability Organization Risk Based 
Registration Initiative and Requiring Compliance Filing, 150 FERC ] 
61,213 (2015); Order on Compliance Filing, 153 FERC ] 61,024 (2015).
    \5\ NERC's risk-based registration initiative resulted in the 
removal of the load-serving entity and purchasing-selling entity 
from the NERC compliance registry.
    \6\ Standards Alignment with Registration Petition at 7.
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    The Commission's request to OMB will reflect the following:
     Addition to the burden associated with UFLS-only 
distribution providers to proposed (in RD-20-4) Reliability Standard 
PRC-006-4.\7\ The petition states that the currently effective standard 
is applicable to planning coordinators, ``UFLS entities'' (which may 
include transmission owners and distribution providers that own, 
operate, or control UFLS equipment), and transmission owners that own 
certain elements. In proposed Reliability Standard PRC-006-4, NERC 
proposes to add the UFLS-only distribution provider as an applicable 
UFLS entity.\8\
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    \7\ The burden associated with the Commission approved standard, 
PRC-006-3, is included in FERC-725G.
    \8\ Standards Alignment with Registration Petition at 13.
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     Current Reliability Standard PRC-006-5 \9\ (formerly PRC-
006-3) (Automatic Underfrequency Load Shedding).
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    \9\ PRC-006-5 was approved April 1, 2021 in RM21-1 which did not 
trigger the PRA and therefore did not require prior OMB approval. 
The current version of this standard, PRC-006-5, was approved by the 
Commission on April 1, 2021. The only change was a revision to the 
regional variance for the WECC region for PRC-006-4 modifications 
that needs to be approved through OMB.
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    The following table outline net changes in burden hours and 
responses as a result of Docket No. RD20-4.

                                               RD20-4 Net Changes for FERC-725G, OMB Control No. 1902-0252
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                                                                  Average annual
                                       Average annual number \1\     number of       Average annual total     Average annual
 PRC regional reliability standards         of respondents         responses per      number of responses       burden hrs.    Total annual burden hours
                                                                    respondent                                 per response
                                      (1).......................             (2)   (1) * (2) = (3)..........             (4)
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PRC-006-4 (Automatic Underfrequency   -80 (TO & DP).............               1  -80.......................              47  -3,760.
 Load Shedding) Reporting
 Requirement--program decrease \10\.
PRC-006-4 (Automatic Underfrequency   -80 (TO & DP).............               1  -80.......................               5  -400.
 Load Shedding) Evidence Retention--
 program decrease \14\.
PRC-006-4 (Automatic Underfrequency   64 (PC)...................               1  64........................              47  3,008.
 Load Shedding) R1-R7, R11-R15
 Reporting Requirement--program
 increase & clarification \11\.
PRC-006-4 (Automatic Underfrequency   64 (PC)...................               1  64........................               5  320.
 Load Shedding) R1-R7, R11-R15
 Evidence Retention-program increase
 & clarification \14\.

[[Page 43535]]

 
PRC-006-4 (Automatic Underfrequency   478 (TO, DP, UFLS-only DP)               1  478.......................               5  2,390.
 Load Shedding) R8-R10 Evidence
 Retention--program increase &
 clarification \12\.
Net Changes for FERC-725G due to      ..........................  ..............  446 (net increase)........  ..............  1,558 hrs. (net increase).
 RD20-4.
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    The Commission estimates the annual burden and cost \13\ for the 
information collection as follows:
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    \10\ The number of entities is being reduced in order to more 
clearly identify the applicable entities in subsequent rows in this 
table. As stated in the NERC Petition, ``[t]he currently effective 
standard is applicable to Planning Coordinators, ``UFLS entities'' 
(which may include Transmission Owners and Distribution Providers 
that own, operate, or control UFLS equipment), and Transmission 
Owners that own certain Elements. In proposed Reliability Standard 
PRC-006-4, NERC proposes to add the UFLS-Only Distribution Provider 
as an applicable UFLS entity, consistent with the language in 
Section III(b) of Appendix 5B of the NERC Rules of Procedure 
(Statement of Compliance Registry Criteria) that the Reliability 
Standards applicable to UFLS-Only Distribution Providers includes 
prior effective versions of the PRC-006 standard.'' The changes are 
not due to Docket No. RD20-4-000.
    \11\ The increases are not due to Docket No. RD20-4-000. They 
are a program increase of 64 PCs (and the corresponding hrs.) in 
order to correct and clarify the estimates.
    \12\ The program increase is due to adding 63 UFLS-only DPs due 
to Docket No. RD20-4-000. In addition, 415 TOs and DPs were 
originally estimated in FERC-725A due to Order No. 693. However, the 
estimates and descriptions were not clearly spelled out, so we are 
clarifying them. As a result, there are 315 hours (63*5 hours) and 
the corresponding increase of 63 respondents of program increase due 
to Docket No. RD20-4-000, and 2,075 hours (415*5 hours) of increase 
due to adjustment.
    \13\ 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.

 IC21-30-000 Renewal as Effected by RD20-4-000: Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System: Regional Mandatory Reliability Standards for
the Bulk-Power System: Regional Reliability Standard PRC Standards: PRC-006-5, PRC-002-2, PRC-012-2, PRC-019-2, PRC-023-4, PRC-024-1, PRC-025-2, PRC-026-
                                                                    1, and PRC-027 14
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                                                       Average annual
                                       Average annual     number of    Average annual    Average annual burden     Total average annual      Cost per
  Reliability standard & requirement    number \1\ of   responses per   total number      hrs. & cost ($) per    burden hours & cost ($)  respondent ($)
                                         respondents     respondent     of responses           response                 (rounded)
                                                  (1)             (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4).....................  (3) * (4) = (5)........       (5) / (1)
                                                                                  (3)
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                                               PRC-006-5 (Current burden after net changes due to RD20-4)
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TO/DP/PC \15\........................             480               1             480  35 hrs.; $2,905.........  16,800 hrs.; $1,394,400          $2,905
    Net Changes for FERC-725G due to   ..............  ..............             926  ........................  18,358 hrs.; $1,523,714  ..............
     RD20-4.
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                                                                        PRC-023-4
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TO/GO/DP \16\........................           1,314               1           1,314  303 hrs.; $25,149.......  398,142 hrs.;                    25,149
                                                                                                                  $33,045,786.
PC...................................              65               1              65  212 hrs.; $17,596.......  13,780 hrs.; $1,143,740          17,596
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                                                                       PRC-025-217
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GO/TO/DP \18\........................           1,314               1           1,314  4 hrs.; $332............  5,256 hrs.; $436,248...             332
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                                                                        PRC-019-2
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GO/TO................................           1,178               1           1,178  8.9 hrs.; $664..........  9,424 hrs.; $782,192...             664
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                                                                        PRC-024-1
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GO...................................           1,003               1           1,003  8 hrs.; $664............  8,024 hrs.; $665,992...             664
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                                                                        PRC-026-1
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GO/PC/TO.............................           1,189               1           1,189  18 hrs.; $1,494.........  21,402 hrs.; $1,776,366           1,494
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                                                                        PRC-002-2
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TO/GO/PC \19\........................           1,189            0.50           594.5  100 hrs.; $8,300........  59,450 hrs.; $4,934,350           4,150
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                                                                        PRC-012-2
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RC/PC/TO/GO/DP.......................           1,329               1           1,329  88 hrs.; $7,304.........  116,952 hrs.;                     7,304
                                                                                                                  $9,707,016.
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[[Page 43536]]

 
                                                                        PRC-027-1
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TO/GO/DP.............................           1,314               1           1,314  44 hrs.; $3,652.........  57,816 hrs.; $4,798,728           3,652
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    TOTAL for FERC-725G..............  ..............  ..............       10,226.50  ........................  708,604 hrs.;            ..............
                                                                                                                  $58,814,132.
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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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    \14\ The number of respondents on this table reflect information 
taken from NERC Compliance Registry, while it may show a decrease 
from previous years the 2021 values reflect treating standards as a 
whole instead of by requirement which allow for aggregate values and 
eliminating multiple counts of the same entity within a standard.
    \15\ Using NERC Compliance Registration data (February 5, 2021), 
the number of respondents are for US unique entities and takes into 
account the overlap between functions of the DP = Distribution 
Provider, TO = Transmission Owner and PC = Planning Coordinator for 
a total of 480.
    \16\ Using NERC Compliance Registration data (February 5, 2021), 
the number of respondents are for US unique entities and takes into 
account the overlap between functions of the DP = Distribution 
Provider, TO = Transmission Owner and DP = Distribution Provider for 
a total of 1,314. The number of hours also take into account line 
terminal work needed to be done applicable TO, GO, or DP as per PRC-
023-1 approved in Order No. 773 March 18, 2010.
    \17\ Reliability Standard PRC-025-2 from FERC-725G2 (OMB No. 
1902-0281)- a temporary place holder is now being placed back into 
725G.
    \18\ According to the NERC compliance registry as of February 5, 
2021, NERC has registered 379 distribution providers (DP), 1,003 
generator owners (GO) and 321 transmission owners (TO). However, 
under NERC's compliance registration program, entities may be 
registered for multiple functions, so these numbers incorporate some 
double counting. The number of unique entities responding will be 
approximately 994 entities registered as a transmission owner, a 
distribution provider, or a generator owner that is also a 
transmission owner and/or a distribution owner. These values reflect 
removing any year 1-2 costs and covers on-going cost from version 
PRC-025-1 and PRC-025-2.
    \19\ Based on the Requirements of PRC-002-2 some entities do not 
have to perform tasks annual so average response rate is set to 
0.50.

    Dated: August 3, 2021.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-16919 Filed 8-6-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P