[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 213 (Friday, November 1, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56525-56526]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-28278]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of the Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Relating to Certain
Authorizations To Export Electricity and Construct and Operate Related
Facilities
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of delegation and assignment.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the delegation and assignment by the
Secretary of Energy to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of the
authority to carry out functions vested in the Secretary relating to
certain authorizations issued by the Secretary to construct, operate,
maintain or connect border transmission facilities and to transmit
electricity to a foreign country.
EFFECTIVE DATE: November 1, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anthony J. Como, Department of Energy,
Office of Fossil Energy. Telephone: (202) 586-9624.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Secretary of Energy (Secretary) has the
authority under the Department of Energy Organization Act (DOE Act)
(Pub. L. 95-91) to approve or disapprove applications to transmit
electricity to a foreign country pursuant to section 202(e) of the
Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824a(e)). Moreover, the Secretary has the
authority to approve or disapprove applications to construct, operate,
maintain, or connect transmission facilities at the border between the
United States and a foreign country pursuant to Executive Order 10485
as amended by Executive Order 12038.
Both of these functions were originally vested in the Federal Power
Commission. Subsection 301(b) of the DOE Act transferred to, and vested
in, the Secretary all the functions of the Federal Power Commission not
specifically vested by the DOE Act in the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (Commission). Sections 401-407, 503, and 504 of the DOE Act
set forth the jurisdiction and authority of the Commission, an
independent body within the Department of Energy (DOE). The Federal
Power Commission's functions with respect to transmission of
electricity to a foreign country and transmission facilities at the
border were not specifically vested in the Commission. Furthermore,
subsection 402(f) of the DOE Act provides that no function vested in
the Commission which regulates the export or import of electricity
shall be within the jurisdiction of the Commission unless the Secretary
assigns such a function to the Commission.
As a general matter, section 642 of the DOE Act permits the
Secretary to delegate any of the Secretary's functions to any officer
or employee of the Department the Secretary may designate, including
the Commission. More specifically, the Secretary's authority to
regulate exports of electricity may be assigned in whole or in part to
the Commission under subsections 402 (e) and (f) of the DOE Act, after
public notice of the assignment.
[[Page 56526]]
Pursuant to these provisions of the DOE Act, public notice is
hereby given that the Secretary delegates and assigns to the Commission
the authority to carry out certain functions vested in the Secretary.
The assignment is in the form of a delegation.
The Commission, on October 4, 1996, issued an order in FERC Docket
No. EL96-74-000 responding to a request from Enron Power Marketing,
Inc. (EPMI) for transmission access across transmission facilities of
El Paso Electric Company (EPE). In that order, the Commission required
EPE to comply with its open access tariff by providing EPMI with
transmission service from EPMI's designated points of receipt on EPE's
transmission system to EPE's Diablo and Ascarate substations near the
United States-Mexico border. The Commission further concluded that the
Secretary has the jurisdiction, under section 202(e) of the Federal
Power Act (FPA) and under the Executive Orders authorizing issuance of
Presidential Permits for construction, operation, maintenance or
connection of border facilities, to act on requests for transmission
access over the U.S. portion of the lines connecting the Diablo and
Ascarate substations in the United States with the Insurgentes and
Riverena substations in Mexico.
In its Order No. 888, the Commission required open and comparable
transmission access across the transmission lines of public utilities
in order to promote competition. The Commission's October 4 order found
a gap in the Commission's authority to require open access directly to
the border of the United States with Mexico. As a matter of policy, the
Department strongly supports the emergence of a more competitive
wholesale electricity market and considers open and comparable
transmission access a critical factor in creating and sustaining a
competitive market, and thus the Department supports the Commission's
policy in this area. Because the Commission, under its current
jurisdiction, regulates transmission access and the rates, terms and
conditions of transmission service for most of the transmission
facilities owned by EPE, and to permit uniform implementation of the
Commission's open access policy, the Department has concluded that the
Commission is the most appropriate agency to address the transmission
access and related regulatory issues with respect to the EPE border
facilities. Accordingly, the Secretary is delegating to the Commission
her authority under the Federal Power Act and Executive Order 10485, as
amended by Executive Order 12038, to modify or condition EPE's
Presidential Permits for its border facilities (DOE Docket No. PP-48-3
and PP-92) or EPE's authorization to export (DOE Docket No. EA-48-I) or
both to provide for third-party access to transmission service over the
facilities covered by the Presidential Permits, and to regulate the
rates, terms and conditions for such service. Specifically, the
delegation order authorizes the Commission to impose terms and
conditions, and to issue such supplemental orders, as the Commission
deems necessary and appropriate in the following DOE dockets:
El Paso Electric Company
DOE Docket No. PP-48-3--Presidential Permit
DOE Docket No. PP-92--Presidential Permit
DOE Docket No. EA-48-I--Export Authorization
The delegation amends to this limited extent, but does not
otherwise rescind or supersede, the Secretary's prior delegation of
authority to regulate exports of electricity to the Assistant Secretary
for Fossil Energy (DOE Delegation Order No. 0204-127, February 7,
1989), subdelegated to the Director of the Office of Coal and
Electricity (Delegation Order dated September 24, 1993).
DOE has issued export authorizations to four entities (other than
EPE), including EPMI, that authorize export over EPE's border
facilities. Further applications from other parties for authorization
to export over these facilities may be received. DOE will retain its
jurisdiction over these authorizations, and will consider making
modifications, if necessary, to reflect any action taken by the
Commission with regard to this matter.
Issued in Washington, D.C. on October 29, 1996.
Hazel R. O'Leary,
Secretary.
Delegation Order No. 0204-163
Pursuant to the authority vested in me as the Secretary of Energy
(Secretary) by sections 642 and 402(e) of the Department of Energy
Organization Act (Pub. L. 95-91) (DOE Act), there is hereby delegated
and assigned to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission)
the authority to carry out such functions as are vested in the
Secretary to regulate access to, and the rates, terms and conditions
for, transmission services over facilities owned, controlled or
operated by the El Paso Electric Company and covered by Presidential
Permits PP-48-3 and PP-92.
In exercising the authority delegated by this Order the Commission
is specifically authorized to modify, revoke, or attach terms and
conditions to Presidential Permits PP-48-3 and PP-92 and Export
Authorization EA-48-I under Executive Order 10485, as amended by
Executive Order 12038, and section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act
(FPA) and such other sections of the FPA vested in the Secretary as may
be relevant, and to issue such supplemental orders in these dockets, as
the Commission finds necessary and appropriate to the public interest.
This authority is delegated to the Commission for the sole purpose of
authorizing the Commission to take actions necessary, if any, to
effectuate open access transmission over the United States portion of
the lines connecting the Diablo and Ascarate substations in the United
States with the Insurgentes and Riverena substations in Mexico.
The authority delegated to the Commission may be further delegated
within the Commission, in whole or in part, as may be appropriate.
All actions taken pursuant to authority delegated prior to this
Order or pursuant to any authority delegated by this Order taken prior
to and in effect on the date of this Order are hereby confirmed and
ratified, and shall remain in full force and effect as if taken under
this Order, unless and until rescinded, amended, or superseded.
Nothing in this Order shall preclude the Secretary from exercising
or further delegating any of the authority hereby delegated, whenever,
in the Secretary's judgment, the exercise or further delegation of such
authority is necessary or appropriate to administer the functions
vested in the Secretary.
This Order is effective on November 1, 1996.
Hazel R. O'Leary,
Secretary of Energy.
[FR Doc. 96-28278 Filed 10-30-96; 2:50 pm]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
