2018-28411. Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725G); Consolidated Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Comment request.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is submitting its information collection FERC-725G (Reliability Standards for the Bulk Power System: PRC Reliability Standards, OMB Control No. 1902-0252) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review of the information collection requirements.

As part of this extension request, FERC will transfer the information collection requirements and burden of the FERC-725G1 (OMB Control No. 1902-0284) and FERC-725G4 (OMB Control No. 1902-0282) into FERC-725G. FERC-725G1 and FERC-725G4 information collections will eventually be discontinued.

Any interested person may file comments directly with OMB and should address a copy of those comments to the Commission as explained below. The Commission previously published a Notice in the Federal Register on 10/17/2018, requesting public comments. The Commission received no comments on the FERC-725G (or the transfers of FERC-725G1 and FERC-725G4) and will make this notation in its submittal to OMB.

DATES:

Comments on the collection of information are due by January 30, 2019.

ADDRESSES:

Comments filed with OMB, identified by the OMB Control No. 1902-0252 (FERC-725G), should be sent via email to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs: [e-mail]. Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Desk Officer. The Desk Officer may also be reached via telephone at 202-395-8528.

A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Commission, in Docket No. IC18-21-000, by either of the following methods:

• eFiling at Commission's website: http://www.ferc.gov/​docs-filing/​efiling.asp.
• Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426.

Instructions: All submissions must be formatted and filed in accordance with submission guidelines at: http://www.ferc.gov/​help/​submission-guide.asp. For user assistance, contact FERC Online Support by email at [e-mail], or by phone at: [phone] (toll-free), or [phone] for TTY.

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/​docs-filing/​docs-filing.asp.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ellen Brown may be reached by email at [e-mail], by telephone at [phone], and by fax at [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: FERC-725G (Reliability Standards for the Bulk Power System: PRC Reliability Standards). ^[1]

OMB Control No.: 1902-0252.

Type of Request: Request a three-year extension of the FERC-725G information collection requirements (including the information collection requirements transferred from the FERC-725G1 and FERC-725G4) with no changes to the current reporting requirements.

Abstract: The information collected by the FERC-725G is required to implement the statutory provisions of section 215 of the Federal Power Act (FPA).^[2] Section 215 of the FPA buttresses the Commission's efforts to strengthen the reliability of the interstate bulk power grid.

The FERC-725G information collection currently contains the reporting and recordkeeping requirements for the following Reliability Standards:

• PRC-002-2 (Disturbance Monitoring and Reporting Requirements).
• PRC-006-2 (Automatic Underfrequency Load Shedding).
• PRC-012-2 (Remedial Action Schemes).
• PRC-019-1 (Coordination of Generating Unit or Plant Capabilities, Voltage Regulating Controls, and Protection).
• PRC-023-4 (Transmission Relay Loadability).
• PRC-024-1 (Generator Frequency and Voltage Protective Relay Settings).
• PRC-025-1 (Generator Relay Loadability).
• PRC-026-1 (Relay Performance During Stable Power Swings).
• PRC-027-1 (Coordination of Protection Systems for Performance During Faults).

Additionally, the information collection requirements of the following Reliability Standards will be transferred into FERC-725G:

• PRC-004-5(i) ^[3] (Protection System Misoperation Identification and Correction) and

• PRC-010-2 ^[4] (Undervoltage Load Shedding).

Each of these Reliability Standards has three components that impose burden upon affected industry:

• Requirements (e.g., denoted in each Reliability Standard as R1, R2. . .).
• Measures (e.g., denoted in each Reliability Standard as M1, M2. . .).
• Evidence Retention.

These three components can be reviewed for the Reliability Standards in NERC petitions in FERC's eLibrary system (http://www.ferc.gov/​docs-filing/​elibrary.asp) or on NERC's own website (www.nerc.com).

Type of Respondents: Transmission owners, generator owners, distribution providers, planning coordinators and transmission planners.

Estimate of Annual Burden: ^[5] The Commission estimates the annual public reporting burden and cost ^[6] for the information collection as:

FERC-725G: Mandatory Reliability Standards: PRC Reliability Standards

Reliability standards	Number of respondents 7	Annual number of responses per respondent	Total number of responses	Average burden & cost ($) (rounded) per response	Total annual burden hours & total annual cost ($) (rounded)	Cost per respondent (rounded) ($)
	(1)	(2)	(1) * (2) = (3)	(4) 8	(3) * (4) = (5)	(5) ÷ (1)
Reporting Requirements
PRC-023-4	741 (TO, GO, DP, PC)	1	741	42.445 hrs.; $2,840	31,452 hrs.; $2,104,139	$2,840
PRC-002-2	521 (TO, GO)	1	521	73.729 hrs.; $4,932	38,413 hrs.; $2,569,830	4,932
PRC-006-2	80 (TO, DP)	1	80	47 hrs.; $3,144	3,760 hrs.; $251,544	3,144
PRC-012-2	3,291 (RC, PC, TO, GO, DP)	1	3,291	23.746 hrs.; $1,589	78,147 hrs.; $5,228,034	1,589
PRC-019-1	738 (GO, TO)	1	738	17 hrs.; $1,137	12,546 hrs.; $839,327	1,137
PRC-024-1	738 (GO)	1	738	17 hrs.; $1,137	12,546 hrs.; $839,327	1,137
PRC-025-1	1,019 (GO, TO, DP)	1	1,019	6.622 hrs.; $443	6,748 hrs.; $451,441	443
PRC-026-1	1,092 (GO, PC, TO)	1	1,092	7.868 hrs.; $526	8,592 hrs.; $574,805	526
PRC-027-1	1,727 (TO, GO, DP)	1	1,727	19.757 hrs.; $1,322	34,120 hrs.; $2,282,628	1,322
PRC-004-5(i) 9 (formerly in FERC-725G1)	648 (TO, GO, DP)	1	648	8 hrs.; $535 10	5,184 hrs.; $346,810	535
PRC-010-2 (formerly in FERC-725G4)	26 (PC, TP, DP)	1	26	36 hrs.; $2,408	936 hrs.; $62,618	2,408
Record-Keeping (Evidence Retention) Requirements
PRC-023-4	741 (TO, GO, DP, PC)	1	741	513.858 hrs.; $20,390	380,769 hrs.; $15,108,914	20,390
PRC-002-2	521 (TO, GO)	1	521	31.599 hrs.; $1,254	16,463 hrs.; $653,252	1,254
PRC-006-2	80 (TO, DP)	1	80	5 hrs.; $198	400 hrs.; $15,872	198
PRC-012-2	3,291 (RC, PC, TO, GO, DP)	1	3,291	11.754 hrs.; $466	38,684 hrs.; $1,534,981	466
PRC-019-2	738 (GO, TO)	1	738	1 hr.; $40 11	738 hrs.; $29,284	40
PRC-024-1	738 (GO)	1	738	1 hr.; $40 12	738 hrs.; $29,284	40
PRC-025-1	1,019 (GO, TO, DP)	1	1,019	2.044 hrs.; $81	2,083 hrs.; $82,653	81
PRC-026-1	1,092 (GO, PC, TO)	1	1,092	12 hrs.; $476	13,104 hrs.; $519,967	476
PRC-027-1	1,727 (TO, GO, DP)	1	1,727	15.854 hrs.; $629	27,380 hrs.; $1,086,438	629
PRC-004-5(i) (formerly in FERC-725G1)	648 (TO, GO, DP)	1	648	12 hrs.; $476	7,776 hrs.; $308,552	476
PRC-010-2 (formerly in FERC-725G4)	26 (PC, TP, DP)	1	26	12 hrs.; $476	312 hrs.; $12,380	476
Subtotal for Reporting Requirements					232,444 hrs.; $15,550,503
Subtotal for Record-keeping Requirements					488,447 hrs.; $19,381,577 13
Total					720,891 hrs.; $34,932,080 13

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.

Dated: December 21, 2018.

Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,

Deputy Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  The current information collection requirements of the FERC-725G1 (Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System: Reliability Standard PRC-004-3; OMB Control No. 1902-0284) and FERC-725G4 (Mandatory Reliability Standards: Reliability Standard PRC-010-1 (Undervoltage Load Shedding); OMB Control No. 1902-0282) are being transferred into the FERC-725G.

2.  16 U.S.C. 824o.

3.  This standard is currently contained in the FERC-725G1 information collection. FERC-725G1 will eventually be discontinued.

4.  This standard is currently contained in the FERC-725G4 information collection. FERC-725G4 will eventually be discontinued.

5.  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, refer to 5 Code of Federal Regulations 1320.3.

6.  The hourly cost (for salary plus benefits) uses the figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2017. Unless otherwise specified, this figure includes salary (https://www.bls.gov/​oes/​current/​naics2_​22.htm) and benefits http://www.bls.gov/​news.release/​ecec.nr0.htm) for an Electrical Engineer (Occupation Code: 17-2071, $66.90/hour) and an Information and Record Clerk (Occupation Code: 43-4199, $39.68/hour). All of the reporting requirements use the electrical engineer rate for cost calculation. Similarly, all of the record-keeping requirements use the information and record clerk rate for cost calculation.

7.  GO = generator owner, TO = transmission owner, DP = distribution planner; PC = planning coordinator, TP = transmission planners, RC = Reliability Coordinator.

8.  The average costs are rounded to the nearest dollar.

9.  Reliability Standard PRC-004-5(i) is an updated standard that neither added nor removed reporting and record keeping requirements (and corresponding burden) as compared to Reliability Standards PRC-004-3 and PRC-004-4.

10.  The reporting requirements for Reliability Standard PRC-004-5(i) are being reduced by 2 hours/response (annually, to 8 hrs. rather than 10) due to completion of a one-time requirement imposed by the Order in Docket No. RD14-14-000.

11.  This hourly figure was revised from the 60-day public notice from 0 hours/response to 1 hour/response. This results in a total annual burden of 738 hours for Reliability Standard PRC-019-2.

12.  This hourly figure was revised from the 60-day public notice from 0 hours/response to 1 hour/response. This results in a total annual burden of 738 hours for Reliability Standard PRC-024-1.

13.  These hour and cost figures were updated from cost posited in the 60-day notice based due to updated hour and cost figures related to Reliability Standards PRC-019-2 and PRC-024-1.