[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 43 (Friday, March 4, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12440-12442]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04554]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket Nos. RD22-1-000 and IC22-7-000]


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

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of revisions to an 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 comments on the requested renewal and 
revision of FERC-725K (Mandatory Reliability Standard for the SERC 
Region).

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due May 3, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments on FERC-725K to the Commission. You 
may submit copies of your comments 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 to: Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852.
    Instructions: 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: Please contact Ellen Brown who may be 
reached by email at [email protected], or telephone at (202) 502-
8663.

[[Page 12441]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: FERC-725K, Mandatory Reliability Standard for the SERC 
Region.
    OMB Control No.: 1902-0260.
    Type of Request: Request for comment on the revised information 
collection requirements resulting from Docket No. RD22-1-000 \1\ and 
the three-year extension of FERC-725K.
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    \1\ Delegated Letter Order approving Joint Petition requesting 
to update the regional Reliability Standard PRC-006-SERC-03 under 
RD22-1 (dated 12/14/2021) filed by the North American Electric 
Reliability Corporation (https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filelist?accession_num=20220218-3010).
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    Abstract: Section 215 of the Federal Power Act (FPA) \2\ requires 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 NERC, subject to Commission oversight, or 
by the Commission independently.
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    \2\ 16 U.S.C. 824o.
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    Reliability Standards that NERC proposes to the Commission may 
include Reliability Standards that are proposed by a Regional Entity to 
be effective in that region. In Order No. 672, the Commission noted 
that:

    As a general matter, we will accept the following two types of 
regional differences, provided they are otherwise just, reasonable, 
not unduly discriminatory or preferential and in the public 
interest, as required under the statute: (1) A regional difference 
that is more stringent than the continent-wide Reliability Standard, 
including a regional difference that addresses matters that the 
continent-wide Reliability Standard does not; and (2) a regional 
Reliability Standard that is necessitated by a physical difference 
in the Bulk-Power System.

    When NERC reviews a regional Reliability Standard that would be 
applicable on an interconnection-wide basis and that has been proposed 
by a Regional Entity organized on an interconnection-wide basis, NERC 
must rebuttably presume that the regional Reliability Standard is just, 
reasonable, not unduly discriminatory or preferential, and in the 
public interest.\3\ In turn, the Commission must give ``due weight'' to 
the technical expertise of NERC and of a Regional Entity organized on 
an interconnection-wide basis.\4\
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    \3\ 16 U.S.C. 824o(d)(3).
    \4\ Id. Sec.  824o(d)(2).
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    As stated in the NERC Petition, in 2008, SERC commenced work on 
Reliability Standard PRC-006-SERC-01. NERC also began work on revising 
PRC-006-0 at a continent-wide level. The SERC standard has been 
developed to be consistent with the NERC UFLS standard. PRC-006-SERC-02 
was developed due to periodic review of the standard and PRC-006-1 
clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of parties to whom the 
standard applies.
    On February 18, 2022 FERC issued the Delegated Letter Order in 
Docket No. RD22-1-000 approving the NERC petition's request (Joint 
Petition of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation and 
SERC Reliability Corporation for Approval of Proposed Regional 
Reliability Standard PRC-006-SERC-03), which modifies the information 
collection of FERC-725K. The collection follows the NERC Petition 
request in Docket No. RD22-1-000 which proposes to update the 
reliability standard for the SERC region from PRC-006-SERC-02 to PRC-
006-SERC-03. As stated in the NERC Petition submitted on December 14, 
2021, the updated reliability standard provides additional flexibility 
for planning coordinators to adjust island boundaries to perform more 
accurate studies; address the transition of the Florida Reliability 
Coordinating Council (FRCC) registered entities to SERC following the 
dissolution of the FRCC on July 1, 2019; and to clarify technical 
requirements within the UFLS settings that are unique to the Florida 
peninsula. When FRCC was dissolved and the registered entities located 
in the Florida peninsula would eventually became subject to SERC's 
regional Reliability Standard PRC-006-SERC-02.
    The PRC-006-1 standard identifies the Planning Coordinator (PC) as 
the entity responsible for developing underfrequency load shedding 
(UFLS) schemes within their PC area. The regional standard (PRC-006-
SERC-03) adds specificity not contained in the NERC standard for a UFLS 
scheme in the SERC Region. The added specificity that PRC-006-SERC-03 
provides effectively mitigates the consequences of an underfrequency 
event.
    The purpose of regional Reliability Standard PRC-006-SERC-03 is to 
establish consistent and coordinated requirements for the design, 
implementation, and analysis of automatic UFLS programs among all SERC 
applicable entities. The regional Reliability Standard PRC-006-SERC-03 
incorporates revisions to: (i) Provide more flexibility for Planning 
Coordinators to adjust island boundaries in order to perform more 
accurate and complete studies; (ii) address the transition of Florida 
Reliability Coordinating Council (``FRCC'') registered entities to SERC 
following the dissolution of FRCC as a regional entity on July 1, 2019; 
\5\ (iii) clarify a technical term used in the regional Reliability 
Standard; and (iv) align requirement language with the current 
continent-wide NERC Reliability Standard, PRC-006-5.
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    \5\ Letter Order Approving the Joint Petition Requesting Certain 
Approvals in connection with the Dissolution of FRCC, 167 FERC ] 
61,095, (2019).
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    Currently effective regional Reliability Standard PRC-006-SERC-02 
was approved by the Commission on October 16, 2017 \6\ and became 
effective for registered entities in the SERC region on January 1, 
2018. Following the addition of FRCC's registered entities to SERC in 
2019, SERC initiated a project to review PRC-006-SERC-02. SERC's 
Dynamics Working Group identified the need to revise the regional 
Reliability Standard to account for UFLS settings that are unique to 
the Florida peninsula. As part of this project, SERC also identified 
other opportunities to enhance the regional standard.
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    \6\ North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), 
Docket No. RD17-9-000 (Oct. 16, 2017) (delegated letter order).
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    SERC proposed to modify its UFLS Standard, PRC-006-SERC-02. 
Requirements R1 and R7 of the currently effective standard are removed 
in the updated regional Reliability PRC-006-SERC-03, but the numbering 
for the remaining Requirements is unchanged in the interest of 
administrative convenience.\7\
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    \7\ NERC petition identified on page 8.
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    SERC proposed to remove Requirement R1, which says:

    Each Planning Coordinator shall include its SERC subregion as an 
identified island in the criteria (required by the NERC PRC standard 
on UFLS) for selecting portions of the BPS that may form islands.\8\
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    \8\ NERC petition identified on page 9.

    SERC proposed the retirement of Requirement R7, which sets specific 
data requirements for Planning Coordinators (PCs) to provide SERC. SERC 
no longer plans to maintain a database of this information; therefore, 
it proposed to retire R7, that removes the requirement for SERC to 
maintain a UFLS database. SERC notes that this requirement is no longer 
needed because the continent-wide UFLS standard requires PCs to 
maintain a UFLS database.
    Type of Respondents: Entities registered with the North American 
Electric Reliability Corporation within the SERC region.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: \9\ Our estimate below regarding the 
number of

[[Page 12442]]

respondents is based on the NERC compliance registry as of January 7, 
2022. According to the NERC compliance registry, there are 28 planning 
coordinators (PC) and 175 generator owners (GO) within the SERC Region. 
The individual burden estimates are based on the time needed for 
planning coordinators and generator operators to meet the requirements 
of both the regional SERC requirement and the national reliability 
requirements. The estimates include the costs to document and store 
data, run studies, assess UFLS design, and analyze results from design, 
development, and updating of the UFLS programs to be compliant with the 
SERC and NERC standards. Additionally, generator owners must provide a 
detailed set of data and documentation to SERC within 30 days of a 
request to facilitate post event analysis of frequency disturbances. 
These burden estimates are consistent with estimates for similar tasks 
in other Commission-approved Reliability Standards.
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    \9\ ``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, reference 5 Code of Federal 
Regulations 1320.3.
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    There are two burden tables below, the first showing the reduction 
in burden following RD22-1-000, and the second showing the estimated 
burden of the collection. The Commission estimates the annual reporting 
burden and cost for the Reliability Standard PRC-006-SERC-3 as:

                                                                    FERC-725K, Modifications Due to DLO in Docket No. RD22-1
                                                                                      [Reduction in burden]
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                                                            Annual number
   Reliability standard and associated        Number of     of responses    Total number of     Average burden & cost per response     Total annual burden & total annual cost       Cost per
               requirement                   respondents   per respondent      responses                                                                                          respondent ($)
                                                      (1)             (2)    (1) * (2) = (3)  (4)..................................  (3) * (4) = (5)............................       (5) / (1)
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                                                                                         PRC-006-SERC-3
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PCs: Provide Documentation and Data to                 28               1  .................  16 hrs.; $1,392......................  448 hrs.; $38,976..........................          $1,392
 SERC.
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    Total Reduction due to RD22-1........  ..............  ..............  .................  .....................................  448 hrs.; $38,976..........................
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                                                                  FERC-725K: Mandatory Reliability Standard for the SERC Region
                                                                                            [Renewal]
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                                              Number of     Annual number
                                             respondents    of responses    Total number of     Average burden & cost per response     Total annual burden hours & total annual      Cost per
                                                \10\       per respondent      responses                       \11\                                      cost                     respondent ($)
                                                      (1)             (2)    (1) * (2) = (3)  (4)..................................  (3) * (4) = (5)............................       (5) / (1)
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PCs: Design and Document Automatic UFLS                28               1                 28  8 hrs.; $696.00......................  224 hrs.; $19,488.00.......................         $696.00
 Program.
GOs: Provide Documentation and Data to                175               1                175  16 hrs.; $1,392.00...................  2,800 hrs.; $243,600.00....................        1,392.00
 SERC.
GOs: Record Retention....................             175               1                175  4 hrs.; $348.00......................  700 hrs.; $60,900..........................          348.00
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    Total................................  ..............  ..............  .................  .....................................  3,724 hrs.; $323,988.......................
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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\ Between previous information collection there is an 
increase in the number of PCs and GOs which largely reflect entities 
from the former FRCC and SPP regions now applicable PRC-006-SERC-03.
    \11\ The estimated hourly cost (salary plus benefits) provided 
in this section is based on the salary figures and benefits of the 
average 2021 FERC FTE costs ($180,703 per year, or $87.00 per hour), 
which we estimate is comparable for salary plus benefits costs of a 
utilities staff.

    Dated: February 24, 2022.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-04554 Filed 3-3-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P