[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 224 (Wednesday, November 24, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67048-67051]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25675]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC22-5-000]


Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC Form Nos. 60, 
60A, FERC-61, and FERC-555A); Consolidated Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of information collections 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 collections, FERC Form Nos. 60 and 60A (Annual Report of 
Centralized Service Companies), FERC-61 (Narrative Description of 
Service Company Functions), and FERC-555A (Preservation of Records 
Companies and Service Companies Subject to PUHCA).

DATES: Comments on the collections of information are due January 24, 
2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by Docket No. IC22-5-000 
and the form) by either of the following methods:
     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 to: Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852.
    Please reference the specific collection number and/or title in 
your comments.
    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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Brown may be reached by email at 
[email protected], and telephone at (202) 502-8663.
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    \1\ Due to expiration dates in 2019 for many of the Commission's 
financial forms, the renewal work for several of the forms was in 
process or pending at OMB during the 2019 Forms Refresh rulemaking 
effort in Docket No. RM19-12-000. The simultaneous OMB processes 
required the assignment of alternate temporary information 
collection numbers (e.g., 60A) at the NOPR and/or final rule stages. 
Accordingly, FERC Form No. 60A represents the additional burden 
associated with the final rule in RM19-12-000. Revisions to the 
Filing Process for Comm'n Forms, Order No. 859, 167 FERC ] 61,241 
(2019).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:\1\

    Type of Request: Three-year extension of the information collection 
requirements for FERC Form Nos. 60 and 60A, FERC-61, and FERC-555A with 
no changes to the current reporting requirements. Please note the three 
collections (60 including 60A, 61, and 555A) are distinct.\2\
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    \2\ For purposes of this notice, unless otherwise stated, FERC 
Form Nos. 60 and 60A are collectively referred to as ``FERC Form No. 
60.'' Because this renewal will incorporate the requirements and 
burden represented by FERC Form No. 60A into FERC Form No. 60, it is 
anticipated that the Commission will eventually seek to retire the 
60A as duplicative.
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FERC Form No. 60 (Annual Report of Centralized Service Companies), 
FERC-61 (Narrative Description of Service Company Functions), and FERC-
555A (Preservation of Records Companies and Service Companies Subject 
to PUHCA)

    OMB Control Nos. and Titles: 1902-0215 ((FERC Form Nos. 60 (Annual 
Report of Centralized Service Companies), FERC-61 (Narrative 
Description of Service Company Functions), and FERC-555A (Preservation 
of Records Companies and Service Companies Subject to PUHCA)), and 
1902-0308 (FERC Form No. 60A, Annual Report of Centralized Service 
Companies--Modifications to FERC Form No. 60 due to Final Rule in 
Docket No. RM19-12-000).
    Abstract: In accordance with the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 
2005), the Commission implemented the repeal of the Public Utility 
Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA 1935) and implemented the provisions 
of a newly enacted Public Utility Holding Company Act 2005 (PUHCA 
2005). Pursuant to PUHCA 2005, the Commission requires centralized 
service companies to file FERC Form No. 60, unless the company is 
exempted or granted a waiver pursuant to the Commission's regulations. 
The information collected in FERC Form No. 60 enables better monitoring 
for cross-subsidization, and aids the Commission in carrying out its 
statutory responsibilities. In addition, centralized service companies 
are required to follow the Commission's preservation of records 
requirements for centralized service companies.

FERC Form No. 60

    FERC Form No. 60 is an annual reporting requirement for centralized 
service companies set forth in 18 CFR 366.23. The report's function is 
to collect financial information (including balance sheet, assets, 
liabilities, billing and charges for associated and non-associated 
companies) from centralized service companies subject to the 
Commission's jurisdiction. Unless the Commission exempts or grants a 
waiver

[[Page 67049]]

pursuant to 18 CFR 366.3 and 366.4 to the holding company system, every 
centralized service company in a holding company system must prepare 
and file electronically with the Commission the FERC Form No. 60, 
pursuant to the General Instructions in the form.

FERC-61

    FERC-61 is a filing requirement for service companies in holding 
company systems (including special purpose companies) that are 
currently exempt or granted a waiver of FERC's regulations and would 
not have to file FERC Form No. 60. Instead, those service companies are 
required to file, on an annual basis, a narrative description of the 
service company's functions during the prior calendar year (FERC-61). 
In complying, a holding company may make a single filing on behalf of 
all of its service company subsidiaries.

FERC-555A

    The Commission's regulations prescribe a mandated preservation of 
records requirements for holding companies and service companies 
(unless otherwise exempted by FERC). This requires them to maintain and 
make available to FERC, their books and records. The preservation of 
records requirement provides for uniform records retention by holding 
companies and centralized service companies subject to PUHCA 2005.
    Data from FERC Form No. 60, FERC-61, and FERC-555A provide a level 
of transparency that: (1) Helps protect ratepayers from pass-through of 
improper service company costs, (2) enables the Commission to review 
and determine cost allocations (among holding company members) for 
certain non-power goods and services, (3) aids the Commission in 
meeting its oversight and market monitoring obligations, and (4) 
benefits the public, both as ratepayers and investors. In addition, the 
Commission's audit staff uses these records during compliance reviews 
and special analyses.
    If data from FERC Form No. 60, FERC-61, and FERC-555A were not 
available, it would be difficult for the Commission to meet its 
statutory responsibilities under EPAct 1992, EPAct of 2005, and PUHCA 
2005, and the Commission would have fewer of the regulatory mechanisms 
necessary to ensure transparency and protect ratepayers.

XBRL, Order No. 859, and FERC Form No. 60

    Previously, FERC Form No. 60 filers would transmit the information 
in the form to the Commission using a software application called 
Visual FoxPro (VFP). This application is no longer supported by its 
developer, Microsoft Corporation. As a result, in April 2015, the 
Commission issued an order announcing its intention to replace the VFP 
filing format for certain Commission forms (including FERC Form No. 60) 
with an eXtensible Markup Language (XML)-based filing format. On June 
20, 2019, the Commission issued Order No. 859, which adopted eXtensible 
Business Reporting Language (XBRL) as the standard for filing FERC Form 
No. 60 and certain other Commission forms.\3\
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    \3\ Revisions to the Filing Process for Comm'n Forms, Order No. 
859, 167 FERC ] 61,241 (2019).
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    Type of Respondent: Centralized service companies.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \4\ The Commission estimates the annual 
public reporting burden and cost \5\ (rounded in the tables) for the 
information collection as:
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    \4\ Burden is defined as the total time, effort, or financial 
resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, 
disclose, or provide information to or for a Federal agency. For 
further explanation of what is included in the information 
collection burden, refer to Title 5 Code of Federal Regulations 
1320.3. The burden hours and costs are rounded for ease of 
presentation.
    \5\ The cost for the Form 60 and FERC-61 is based on FERC's 2021 
Commission-wide average salary cost (salary plus benefits) of 
$87.00/hour. The Commission staff believes the FERC FTE (full-time 
equivalent) average cost for wages plus benefits is representative 
of the corresponding cost for the industry respondents. For the 
FERC-555A, the $35.83 hourly cost figure comes from the average cost 
(wages plus benefits) of a file clerk (Occupation Code 43-4071) as 
posted on the BLS website (http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm).
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    Total Annual Cost: $5,009,444 (Paperwork Burden) + $49,148 (Record 
Retention storage cost) = $5,058,592.
    A more granular breakdown of the FERC-60/61/555A cost categories 
follows:
    Labor Cost: The total estimated annual cost for labor burden to 
respondents is $5,009,444 [$285,012 (FERC Form No. 60) + $3,520 (FERC-
61) + $4,720,912 (FERC-555A)].
    FERC Form No. 60: 42 respondents x $6,786 per respondent = 
$285,012.
    FERC-61: 80 respondents x $44 per respondent = $3,520.
    FERC-555A: 122 respondents x $38,696 per respondent = $4,720,912.
    Storage Cost: \6\ In addition to the labor (burden cost provided 
above), there are additional costs that represent record retention and 
storage costs:
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    \6\ Internal analysis assumes 50% paper storage and 50% 
electronic storage.
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     Paper storage costs (using an estimate of 60 cubic feet x 
$6.46 per cubic foot): $387.60 per respondent annually. Total annual 
paper storage cost to industry ($387.60 x 122 respondents): $47,287. 
This estimate assumes that a respondent stores the same volume of paper 
as it did in the past and that the cost of such storage has not 
changed. We expect that this estimate should trend downward over time 
as more companies move away from paper storage and rely more heavily on 
electronic storage.

[[Page 67051]]

     Electronic storage costs: $15.25 per respondent annually. 
Total annual electronic storage cost to industry ($15.25 x 122 
respondents): $1,861. This calculation retains the previous estimate 
that storage of 1GB per year is $15.25. We expect that this estimate 
should trend downward over time as the cost of electronic storage 
technology, including cloud storage, continues to decrease. For 
example, external hard drives of approximately 500GB are available for 
approximately $50. In addition, cloud storage plans from multiple 
providers for 1TB of storage (with a reasonable amount of requests and 
data transfers) are available for less than $35 per month.
    Comments: Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the collections of 
information are 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 estimates of the 
burden and cost of the collections of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance 
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collections; and 
(4) ways to minimize the burden of the collections of information on 
those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.

Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-25675 Filed 11-23-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P