[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 90 (Tuesday, May 10, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28003-28006]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09999]


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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 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), which will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for review.
    The Commission published a 60-day notice in the Federal Register on 
March 4, 2022 (87 FR 12440), and received no comments on the 60-day 
notice.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due June 9, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments on FERC 725K to OMB through 
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission Desk Officer. Please identify the OMB Control Number 1902-
0260 (Mandatory Reliability Standard for the SERC Region) 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. 
IC22-7-000 and the form) 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.

[[Page 28004]]

    [cir] Hand (including courier) delivery to: Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852.
    Please reference the specific collection number(s) and/or title(s) 
in your comments.
    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: \1\
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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).
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    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 \2\ and 
the three-year extension of FERC-725K.
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    \2\ 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) \3\ 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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    \3\ 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.\4\ 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.\5\ 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.
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    \4\ 16 U.S.C. 824o(d)(3).
    \5\ Id. Sec.  824o(d)(2).
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    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; 
\6\ (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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    \6\ 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 \7\ 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

[[Page 28005]]

identified other opportunities to enhance the regional standard. 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.\8\
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    \7\ North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), 
Docket No. RD17-9-000 (Oct. 16, 2017) (delegated letter order).
    \8\ 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.\9\
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    \9\ NERC petition identified on page 9.
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    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: \10\ Our estimate below regarding the 
number of 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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    \10\ ``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       Number of     of responses    Total number of    Average burden & cost   Total annual burden & total       Cost per
   associated requirement       respondents   per respondent      responses           per response                annual cost           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                28               1  ................  16 hrs.; $1,392.........  448 hrs.; $38,976..........             $1,392
 and Data to SERC.
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    Total Reduction due to    ..............  ..............  ................  ........................  448 hrs.; $38,976..........  .................
     RD22-1.
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                                              FERC-725K--Mandatory Reliability Standard for the SERC Region
                                                                        [Renewal]
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                                               Annual  number
                                  Number of     of  responses  Total number  of  Average burden & cost per   Total annual burden hours &     Cost per
                                 respondents         per           responses           response \12\              total annual cost         respondent
                                    \11\         respondent                                                                                     ($)
                                          (1)             (2)   (1) * (2) = (3)  (4)......................  (3) * (4) = (5).............       (5) / (1)
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PCs: Design and Document                   28               1                28  8 hrs.; $696.00..........  224 hrs.; $19,488.00........         $696.00
 Automatic UFLS Program.
GOs: Provide Documentation                175               1               175  16 hrs.; $1,392.00.......  2800 hrs.; $243,600.00......        1,392.00
 and Data to 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 \13\....  ..............
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\11\ 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.
\12\ 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.
\13\ The total hours reflect the total hours required for the collection following the reduction in burden from RD22-1-000.

    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

[[Page 28006]]

of automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.

    Dated: May 4, 2022.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-09999 Filed 5-9-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P