2022-07398. Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC Form Nos. 1, 1T, 1-F, 1-FT, 3-Q, and 3-QT); Comment Request; Extensions

AGENCY:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION:

Notice of information collection and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the currently approved information collections, FERC Form Nos. 1 and 1T (Annual Report of Major Electric Utilities, Licensees, and Others), 1-F and 1-FT (Annual Report for Nonmajor Public Utilities and Licensees), and 3-Q and 3-QT (Quarterly Financial Report of Electric Utilities, Licensees, and Natural Gas Companies). The Commission published a 60-day notice in the Federal Register on November 18, 2021 and received one comment.

DATES:

Comments on the collections of information are due May 9, 2022.

ADDRESSES:

Send written comments on FERC Form Nos. 1 and 1T, 1-F and 1-FT, and 3-Q and 3-QT to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) through www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain, Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Desk Officer. Please identify the OMB Control Number: 1902-0021, 1902-0311, 1902-0029, 1902-0312, 1902-0205, and/or 1902-0028 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. IC22-3-000 and the form(s)) 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.

○ Mail via U.S. Postal Service only, addressed to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426.

○ Hand (including courier) delivery to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852.

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 [e-mail], or by phone at: [phone] (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 [e-mail] and telephone at [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Type of Request: Three-year extensions of FERC Form Nos. 1, 1T, 1-F, 1-FT, 3-Q, and 3Q-T with no changes to the current reporting requirements.^[1 2] This renewal incorporates the requirements and burden represented by the 1 and 1T, 1-F and 1-FT, 3-Q and 3-QT (electric and gas), respectively. Staff anticipates that the Commission will seek to retire the 1T, 1-FT, and 3-QT as duplicative after OMB decisions are made.

FERC Form No. 1, Annual Report of Major Electric Utilities, Licensees, and Others

OMB Control Nos. and Titles: 1902-0021 (FERC Form No. 1, Annual Report of Major Electric Utilities, Licensees, and Others) and 1902-0311 (FERC Form No. 1T, Annual Report of Major Electric Utilities, Licensees and Others—Modifications to Form 1 due to Final Rule in Docket No. RM19-12-000).

Abstract: FERC Form No. 1 is a comprehensive financial and operating report submitted annually by major electric utilities, licensees, and others. It is used by the Commission for electric rate regulation, market oversight analysis, and audit planning. Major is defined as having in each of the last three consecutive calendar years, sales or transmission services that exceed one of the following: (1) One million megawatt-hours of total sales; (2) 100 megawatt-hours of sales for resale; (3) 500 megawatt-hours of power exchanges delivered; or (4) 500 megawatt-hours of wheeling for others (deliveries plus losses).^[3]

FERC Form No. 1 is designed to collect financial and operational information and is made available to the public. FERC Form No. 1 includes a basic set of financial statements:

• Comparative Balance Sheet,
• Statement of Income,
• Statement of Retained Earnings,
• Statement of Cash Flows,
• Statements of Accumulated Comprehensive Income,
• Comprehensive Income, and Hedging Activities, and
• Notes to Financial Statements.

Supporting schedules contain:

• Supplementary information and outlines of corporate structure and governance,
• Information on formula rates, and
• Description of important changes during the year.

Other schedules provide:

• Information on revenues and the related quantities of electric sales and electricity transmitted,
• Account balances for all electric operation and maintenance expenses,
• Selected plant cost data, and
• Other statistical information.

XBRL, Order No. 859, and FERC Form No. 1

Previously, FERC Form No. 1 filers would transmit the information in the form to the Commission using a software application called Visual FoxPro (VFP). This application is no longer supported by its developer, Microsoft Corporation. As a result, in April 2015, the Commission issued an order announcing its intention to replace the VFP filing format for certain Commission forms (including FERC Form No. 1) with an eXtensible Markup Language (XML)-based filing format. On June 20, 2019, the Commission issued Order No. 859, which adopted eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) as the standard for filing FERC Form No. 1 and certain other Commission forms.^[4]

Type of Respondent: Major electric utilities.

Estimate of Annual Burden:  ^[5] The Commission estimates the annual burden and cost ^[6] for FERC Form No. 1 as follows:

Form 1 (OMB Control No. 1902-0021) Including Form 1-T (OMB Control No. 1902-0311)

Requirements	Number of respondents	Average annual number of responses per respondent	Total number of responses	Average annual burden (hrs.) & cost per response ($)	Total average annual burden (hrs.) & total annual cost ($)	Cost per respondent ($)
	(1)	(2)	(1) * (2) = (3)	(4)	(3) * (4) = (5)	(5) ÷ (1)
Form 1	217	1	217	1,168 $101,616	253,456 $22,050,672	$101,616
Form 1-T	217	1	217	14 $1,218	3,038 $264,306	1,218
Total (includes both Form 1 and Form 1-T)					256,494 $22,314,978	102,834

FERC Form No. 1-F, Annual Report for Nonmajor Public Utilities and Licensees

OMB Control Nos. and Titles: 1902-0029 (FERC Form No. 1-F, Annual Report for Nonmajor Public Utilities and Licensees) and 1902-0312 (FERC Form No. 1-FT, Annual Report for Nonmajor Public Utilities and Licensees, Modifications to FERC Form No. 1-F due to Final Rule in Docket No. RM19-12-000).

Abstract: FERC Form No. 1-F is a financial and operating report submitted annually by Nonmajor electric utilities and licensees. The Commission uses it for electric rate regulation, market oversight analysis, and planning audits. Nonmajor is defined as utilities and licensees that are not classified as Major, and having total sales in each of the last three consecutive years of 10,000 megawatt-hours or more.^[7]

FERC Form No. 1-F is designed to collect financial and operational information and is made available to the public. FERC Form No. 1-F includes a basic set of financial statements:

• Comparative Balance Sheet,
• Statement of Retained Earnings,
• Statement of Cash Flows,
• Statement of Comprehensive Income and Hedging Activities, and
• Notes to Financial Statements.

Supporting schedules contain:

• Supplementary information and include revenues and the related quantities of electric sales and electricity transmitted,
• Account balances for all electric operation and maintenance expenses,
• Selected plant cost data, and
• Other statistical information.

XBRL, Order No. 859, and FERC Form No. 1-F

Previously, FERC Form No. 1-F filers would transmit the information in the form to the Commission using a software application called VFP. This application is no longer supported by its developer, Microsoft Corporation. As a result, in April 2015, the Commission issued an order announcing its intention to replace the VFP filing format for certain Commission forms (including FERC Form No. 1-F) with an XML-based filing format. On June 20, 2019, the Commission issued Order No. 859, which adopted XBRL as the standard for filing FERC Form No. 1-F and other Commission forms.^[8]

Type of Respondent: Nonmajor electric utilities.

Estimate of Annual Burden: The estimated annual burden and cost follow. (The estimated hourly cost used for FERC Form No. 1-F is $87.00/hour (for wages plus benefits) and is described above, under FERC Form No. 1.) The burden hours and costs are rounded for ease of presentation.

Form 1-F (OMB Control No. 1902-0029) Including Form 1-FT (OMB Control No. 1902-0312)

Requirements	Number of respondents	Average annual number of responses per respondent	Total number of responses	Average annual burden (hrs.) & cost per response ($)	Total average annual burden (hrs.) & total annual cost ($)	Cost per respondent ($)
	(1)	(2)	(1) * (2) = (3)	(4)	(3) * (4) = (5)	(5) ÷ (1)
Form 1-F	2	1	2	122 $10,614	244 $21,228	$10,614
Form 1-FT	2	1	2	14 $1,218	28 $2,436	1,218
Total (includes both Form 1-F and Form 1-FT)					272 $23,664	11,832

FERC Form No. 3-Q, Quarterly Financial Report of Electric Utilities, Licensees, and Natural Gas Companies

OMB Control Nos. and Titles: 1902-0205 (FERC Form No. 3-Q, Quarterly Financial Report of Electric Utilities, Licensees, and Natural Gas Companies) and 1902-0313 (FERC Form No. 3-QT, Quarterly Financial Report-Electric and Gas, modifications to FERC Form No. 3-Q due to Final Rule in Docket No. RM19-12-000).

Abstract: FERC Form No. 3-Q is a quarterly financial and operating report for rate regulation, market oversight analysis, and financial audits which supplements (a) FERC Form Nos. 1 and 1-F, for the electric industry, or (b) FERC Form No. 2 (Annual Report for Major Natural Gas Companies; OMB Control No. 1902-0028) and FERC Form No. 2-A (Annual Report for Nonmajor Natural Gas Companies; OMB Control No. 1902-0030), for the natural gas industry. FERC Form No. 3-Q is submitted for all Major and Nonmajor electric utilities, licensees, and natural gas companies.^[9] FERC Form No. 3-Q includes a basic set of financial statements:

• Comparative Balance Sheet,
• Statement of Income and Statement of Retained Earnings,
• Statement of Cash Flows,
• Statement of Comprehensive Income and Hedging Activities, and
• Supporting schedules containing supplementary information.

Electric respondents report:

• Revenues and the related quantities of electric sales and electricity transmitted,
• Account balances for all electric operation and maintenance expenses,
• Selected plant cost data, and
• Other statistical information.

Natural gas respondents report:

• Monthly and quarterly quantities of gas transported and associated revenues,
• Storage, terminalling, and processing services,
• Natural gas customer accounts and details of service, and
• Operational expenses, depreciation, depletion, and amortization of gas plant.

XBRL, Order No. 859, and FERC Form No. 3-Q

Previously, FERC Form No. 3-Q filers would transmit the information in the form to the Commission using a software application called VFP. This application is no longer supported by its developer, Microsoft Corporation. As a result, in April 2015, the Commission issued an order announcing its intention to replace the VFP filing format for certain Commission forms (including FERC Form No. 3-Q) with an XML-based filing format. On June 20, 2019, the Commission issued Order No. 859, which adopted XBRL as the standard for filing these Commission forms.^[10]

Type of Respondent: Major and nonmajor electric utilities, licensees, and major and non-major natural gas companies.

Estimate of Annual Burden: The estimated annual burden and cost (as rounded) follow. (The estimated hourly cost used for FERC Form No. 3-Q is $87.00/hour (for wages plus benefits) and is described above, under FERC Form No. 1.) The burden hours and costs are rounded for ease of presentation. The quarterly filings are generally a subset of the annual filings. For this reason, the XBRL burden (“3-QT”) hours are “0” because the burden associated with the 3-QT is already incorporated into other burden numbers for FERC Form No. 1 and FERC Form No. 2.

Form 3-Q (Electric) (OMB Control No. 1902-0205) Including Form 3-QT (OMB Control No. 1902-0313)

Requirements	Number of respondents	Average annual number of responses per respondent	Total number of responses	Average annual burden (hrs.) & cost per response ($)	Total average annual burden (hrs.) & total annual cost ($)	Cost per respondent ($)
	1	2	(1) * (2) = (3)	4	(3) * (4) = (5)	(5) ÷ (1)
Form 3-Q (Electric)	221	3	663	168 $14,616	111,384 $9,690,408	$43,848
Form 3-QT (Electric)	221	3	663	0 $0	0
Total (includes both Form 3-Q (Electric) and 3-AT (Electric))					111,384 $9,690,408	43,848

Form 3-Q (Gas) (OMB Control No. 1902-0205) Including Form 3-QT (OMB Control No. 1902-0313)

Requirements	Number of respondents	Average annual number of responses per respondent	Total number of responses	Average annual burden (hrs.) & cost per response ($)	Total average annual burden (hrs.) & total annual cost ($)	Cost per respondent ($)
	1	2	(1) * (2) = (3)	4	(3) * (4) = (5)	(5) ÷ (1)
Form 3-Q (Gas)	147	3	441	167 $14,529	73,647 $6,407,289	$43,587
Form 3-QT (Gas)	147	3	441	0 $0	0 $0	0
Total (includes both Form 3-Q (Gas) and 3-AT (Gas))					73,647 $6,407,289	43,587

For the FERC Form 3-Q (electric and natural gas), the total average annual burden hours is 185,031, and the total annual cost is $16,097,697.

60-Day Notice Comments

Comments: The Commission published a 60-day notice on November 18, 2021, in the Federal Register (86 FR 67042) and received one comment from the government agency, Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

BEA Comment: BEA comments that it is interested in any modifications that are made to the FERC Form Nos. 1 and 1-F. BEA explains that it uses data from FERC Form Nos. 1 and 1-F indirectly in estimating the U.S. Census Bureau's Construction Value Put in Place (VPIP) for electric utilities. BEA further explains that census VPIP serves a major source data input to the national income and product account (NIPA) structures investment estimates. BEA states that while it uses the information indirectly through the VPIP program, it is considered an indispensable data source to the NIPA estimates.

FERC Response: The Commission finds BEA's comments regarding the usefulness of the FERC Form Nos. 1 and 1-F to be helpful. With respect to BEA's concern about modifications to the forms, the Commission generally does not make any changes to the data collected in the financial forms without first offering a public process by which interested parties, like BEA, may comment on any proposals to change the collection.

30-Day Notice Comments

Comments: Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the collections of information are 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 estimates of the burden and cost of the collections of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collections; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collections of information on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

Dated: April 1, 2022.

Kimberly D. Bose,

Secretary.

Footnotes

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. OMB can only have one OMB Control No. pending review at a time. To submit the rulemaking timely to OMB, we assigned alternate “temporary” information collection numbers (FERC Form No. 1T, 1-FT, and 3-QT (electric and gas). Accordingly, FERC Form Nos. 1T, 1-FT, and 3-QT represent the additional burden associated with the final rule in RM19-12-000. Revisions to the Filing Process for Comm'n Forms, Order No. 859, 84 FR 30620 (June 27, 2019), 167 FERC ¶ 61,241 (2019).

2.  For purposes of this notice, unless otherwise stated, FERC Form Nos. 1 and 1T are collectively referred to as “FERC Form No. 1,” FERC Form Nos. 1-F and 1-FT are collectively referred to as “FERC Form No. 1-F,” and FERC Form Nos. 3-Q (electric and natural gas) and 3-QT (electric and natural gas) are collectively referred to as “FERC Form No. 3-Q.”

3.  As detailed in 18 CFR part 101 (Uniform System of Accounts Prescribed for Public Utilities and Licensees Subject to the Provision of the Federal Power Act, General Instructions) and 18 CFR 141.1.

4.   Revisions to the Filing Process for Comm'n Forms, Order No. 859, 167 FERC ¶ 61,241 (2019).

5.  Burden is defined as the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, 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 CFR 1320.3. The burden hours and costs are rounded for ease of presentation.

6.  The cost is based on FERC's 2021 Commission-wide average salary cost (salary plus benefits) of $87.00/hour. The Commission staff believes the FERC FTE (full-time equivalent) average cost for wages plus benefits is representative of the corresponding cost for the industry respondents.

7.  As detailed in 18 CFR part 101 (Uniform System of Accounts Prescribed for Public Utilities and Licensees Subject to the Provision of the Federal Power Act, General Instructions) and 18 CFR 141.2.

8.   Revisions to the Filing Process for Comm'n Forms, Order No. 859, 167 FERC ¶ 61,241 (2019)

9.  18 CFR 260.1(b) states that for natural gas companies as defined by the Natural Gas Act, Major pertains to a company whose combined gas transported or stored for a fee exceed 50 million Dth in each of the three previous calendar years. 18 CFR 260.2(b) states that for natural gas companies as defined by the Natural Gas Act, Non-Major pertains to a company not meeting the filing threshold for FERC Form No. 2, but having total gas sales or volume transactions exceeding 200,000 Dth in each of the three previous calendar years.

10.   Revisions to the Filing Process for Comm'n Forms, Order No. 859, 167 FERC ¶ 61,241 (2019).