[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 221 (Monday, November 17, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68426-68427]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-27055]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. RD14-12-000]
Proposed Agency Information Collection
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) invites
public comment in Docket No. RD14-12-000 on a proposed change to a
collection of information that the Commission is developing for
submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether
the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the
information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions
used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of
automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology.
DATES: Comments regarding this proposed information collection must be
received on or before January 16, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Comments, identified by docket number, may be filed in the
following ways:
Electronic Filing through http://www.ferc.gov. Documents
created electronically using word processing software should be filed
in native applications or print-to-PDF format and not in a scanned
format.
Mail/Hand Delivery: Those unable to file electronically
may mail or hand-deliver an original of their comments to: Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First
Street NE., Washington, DC 20426.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Brown may be reached by email at
[email protected], telephone at (202) 502-8663, and fax at (202)
273-0873.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed information collection changes
in Docket No. RD14-12-000 relate to the proposed Reliability Standards
FAC-001-2 (Facility Interconnection Requirements) and FAC-002-2
(Facility Interconnection Studies), developed by the North American
Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), and submitted to the
Commission for approval. The Commission received NERC's petition to
approve the proposed Reliability Standards on August 22, 2014.
NERC summarizes the FAC group of standards as follows:
The Facility Design, Connections, and Maintenance (``FAC'')
Reliability Standards address topics such as facility
interconnection requirements, facility ratings, system operating
limits, and transfer capabilities.\1\
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\1\ NERC Petition at 3.
In its petition, NERC also summarizes the proposed Reliability
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Standards' applicability and requirements:
Proposed Reliability Standard FAC-001-2 requires that
Transmission Owners and applicable Generator Owners document and
make Facility interconnection requirements available so that
entities seeking to interconnect have the necessary information.
Proposed Reliability Standard FAC-002-2 ensures that the reliability
impact of interconnecting new or materially modified Facilities is
studied. Collectively, proposed Reliability Standards FAC-001-2 and
FAC-002-2 ensure that there is appropriate coordination and
communication regarding the interconnection of Facilities, which
improves the reliability of the Bulk-Power System.\2\
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\2\ Id. at 3.
Finally, NERC also states that the proposed Reliability Standards
improve reliability, clarify requirement language and eliminate
redundant or unnecessary requirements.\3\
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\3\ Id. at 4.
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Burden Statement: Commission staff analyzed the proposed and
currently enforced Reliability Standards and has concluded that
proposed Reliability Standards merely clarify or eliminate redundancies
and thus, the information collection requirements have not changed.
Accordingly, the net overall burden and respondent universe \4\ remain
unchanged, when compared to the burden of the existing standards being
replaced.\5\
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\4\ The affected entities for FAC-001-2 are Transmission Owners
(TO) and applicable Generator Owners (GO). The affected entities for
FAC-002-2 are Transmission Planners (TP), Planning Coordinators
(PC), Generator Owners (GO), Transmission Owners (TO), Distribution
Providers (DP), and Load-Serving Entities (LSE). Note that Planning
Coordinator (PC) is the new name for Planning Authority--a term
still used in NERC's Compliance Registry.
\5\ The burden for the preceding versions of the standards being
replaced was included in: (a) FERC-725M (OMB Control No. 1902-0263)
for FAC-001-1, and (b) FERC-725A (OMB Control No. 1902-0244) for
FAC-002-1.
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The Commission intends to submit a request for approval to OMB
under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) related to the proposed
Reliability Standards. For PRA purposes, the information collection
requirements in proposed Reliability Standards FAC-001-2 and FAC-002-2
are identified as FERC-725D and OMB Control Number 1902-0247.
The annual reporting burden for the implementation of Reliability
Standards FAC-001-2 and FAC-002-2 is estimated as follows.
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\6\ The number of respondents is based on the NERC Compliance
Registry as of September 24, 2014. Although 2,163 entities are
registered as TO, DP, LSE, or GO, we expect at the most 216 entities
(ten percent) will seek to interconnect and go through the study
phase that may require coordination in any given year.
\7\ The estimates for cost per hour are derived as follows:
$72.92/hour, the average of the salary plus benefits
for a manager ($84.96/hour) and an electrical engineer ($60.87/
hour), from Bureau of Labor and Statistics at http://bls.gov/oes/current/naics3_221000.htm, as of 9/4/2014
$29.01/hour, based on a Commission staff study of
record retention burden cost.
[[Page 68427]]
FERC-725D, Modifications in RD14-12
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Annual number Average
Number and type of of responses Total number burden per Total annual Total annual
respondent \6\ per of responses response burden (hours) cost \7\
respondent (hours)
(1)......................... (2) (1)*(2) = (3) (4) (3)*(4) = (5) ($)
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FAC-001-2
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Documentation & updates................... GO 5........................ 1 5 16 80 $5,833.60
TO 332...................... 1 332 16 5312 387,351.04
Record Retention.......................... GO 5........................ 1 5 1 5 145.05
TO 332...................... 1 332 1 332 9,631.32
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FAC-002-2
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Study..................................... PC, TP 183.................. 1 183 32 5856 427,019. 52
Record Retention.......................... PC, TP 183.................. 1 183 1 183 5,308.83
Coordination.............................. TO, DP, LSE, GO 216......... 1 216 16 3456 252,011.52
Record Retention.......................... TO, DP, LSE, GO 216......... 1 216 1 216 6,266.16
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Total................................. ............................ .............. .............. .............. .............. 1,093,567.04
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The total estimated annual burden cost to respondents is:
$1,093,567.04.
Dated: November 7, 2014.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-27055 Filed 11-14-14; 8:45 am]
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