2016-05773. Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-915); Comment Request

AGENCY:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Energy.

ACTION:

Comment request.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is submitting its information collection FERC-915 (Public Utility Market-Based Rate Authorization Holders—Records Retention Requirements) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review of the information collection requirements. 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 issued a 60-day notice (80 FR 28264, 5/18/2015) and a 30-day notice (80 FR 52469, 8/28/2015) in the Federal Register requesting public comments. The Commission received no comments on the FERC-915 in response to its previous notices. The Commission is issuing this notice to clarify the burden and cost (not related to burden) for the FERC-915 information collection. The Commission is requesting comment on these clarifications.

DATES:

Comments on the collection of information are due by March 25, 2016.

ADDRESSES:

Comments filed with OMB, identified by the OMB Control No. 1902-0250 or collection number (FERC-915), 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 202-395-0710.

A copy of the comments should also be sent to the Commission, in Docket No. IC15-7-000, by either of the following methods:

• eFiling at Commission's Web site: 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-915, Public Utility Market-Based Rate Authorization Holders—Records Retention Requirements.

OMB Control No.: 1902-0250.

Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-915 information collection requirements with no changes to the reporting requirements.

Abstract: The Commission has the regulatory responsibility under section 205 of the Federal Power Act (FPA) to ensure that wholesale sales of electricity are just and reasonable and provided in a non-discriminatory manner. The Commission uses the information maintained by the respondents under FERC-915 to monitor the entities' sales, ensure that the prices are just and reasonable, maintain the integrity of the wholesale jurisdictional sales markets, and ensure that the entities comply with the requirements of the FPA and any orders authorizing market-based rate sales. FERC-915 information collection requirements are contained in 18 Code of Federal Regulations part 35.41(d). The purpose of this notice is to clarify the burden and cost (not related to burden). Commission staff discovered that burden in the 60 and 30-day notices was incorrectly presented. Specifically, labor costs (for 1,955 burden hours) associated with electronic record retention/storage cost ($27,370) was not included in the burden table (but was presented elsewhere in the notices). Additionally, the electronic record storage cost should be $29,814 (rather than $13,191). These clarifications are provided in the “Estimate of Annual Burden.”

Type of Respondents: Public Utility Market-Based Rate Authorization Holders.

Estimate of Annual Burden ^[1] : The Commission estimates the total Public Reporting Burden for this information collection as:

FERC-915—Public Utility Market-Based Rate Authorization Holders—Record Retention Requirements ²

	Number of respondents	Annual number of responses per respondent	Total number of responses	Average burden & cost per response	Total annual burden hours & total annual cost	Cost per respondent ($)
	(1)	(2)	(1)*(2) = (3)	(4)	(3)*(4) = (5)	(5) ÷ (1)
Electric Utilities with Market-Based Rate Authority (paper storage) 3	1,955	1	1,955	1 hr.; $30.66	1,955 hrs.; $59,940	$30.66
Electric Utilities with Market-Based Rate Authority (electronic storage) 4	1,955	5 1	1,955	0.5 hr.; $14 6	977.5 hrs.; $27,370	$14
Total			7 1,955		2,932.5 hrs.; $87,310

Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents:

• Record retention/storage cost for paper records (using an estimate of 48,891 cubic feet): $315,792 ^[8]

• Electronic record storage cost: 1,955 respondents * $15.25/year ^[9] = $29,814

Total non-labor costs: $345,606 ($315,792 + $29,814 = $345,606)

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: March 9, 2016.

Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,

Deputy Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  The Commission defines burden 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.

2.  Each of these entities' records consist of 50% paper and 50% electronic records.

3.  The estimates for cost per response are derived using the following formula: Average Burden Hours per Response * $30.66 per Hour = Average Cost per Response. The hourly cost figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Web site (http://www.bls.gov/​oes/​current/​naics2_​22.htm). The occupation title is “file clerk” and the occupation code is 43-4071. 69.4 percent of this cost is hourly wages. The rest of the cost is benefits (http://www.bls.gov/​news.release/​ecec.nr0.htm).

4.  Upon further research, Commission staff discovered that both the 60-day (80 FR 28264, 5/18/2015) and 30-day (80 FR 52469, 8/28/2015) notices had accounted for electronic storage cost incorrectly. The burden table has been corrected to include labor related to electronic storage in this row. The number of responses and related burden/cost has been adjusted.

5.  Only 50% of records for each entity are stored in electronic format.

6.  The Commission bases the $28/hour figure on a FERC staff study that included estimating public utility recordkeeping costs.

7.  The total number of responses will be 1,955 due to the Commisson's assumption that each entity has records in both paper and electronic storage.. The burden for each category of storage is separated by row in this burden table.

8.  The Commission bases this figure on industry archival storage costs.

9.  The Commission bases the estimated $15.25/year for each entity on the estimated cost to service and to store 1 GB of data (based on the aggregated cost of an IBM advanced data protection server).