2011-13153. Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-516A), Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension

AGENCY:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the requirements of section 3506(c)(2)(a) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the information collection described below.

DATES:

Comments in consideration of the collection of information are due July 26, 2011.

ADDRESSES:

Commenters must send an original of their comments to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426. Comments may be filed either on paper or on CD/DVD, and should refer to Docket No. IC11-516A-000. Documents must be prepared in an acceptable filing format and in compliance with Commission submission guidelines at http://www.ferc.gov/​help/​submission-guide.asp. eFiling and eSubscription are not available for Docket No. IC11-516A-000, due to a system issue.

All comments and FERC issuances may be viewed, printed or downloaded remotely through FERC's eLibrary at http://www.ferc.gov/​docs-filing/​elibrary.asp, by searching on Docket No. IC11-516A. For user assistance, contact FERC Online Support by e-mail at [e-mail], or by phone at: [phone] (toll-free), or [phone] for TTY.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The information collected under the requirements of FERC-516A, “Small Generator Interconnection Agreements” (OMB No. 1902-2003), is used by the Commission to enforce the statutory provisions of sections 205 and 206 of the Federal Power Act (FPA), as amended by Title II, section 211 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA)(16 U.S.C. 825d). FPA sections 205 and 206 require the Commission to remedy undue discriminatory practices within interstate electric utility operations.

The Commission amended its regulations in 2005 with Order No. 2006 to require public utilities that own, control, or operate facilities used for the transmission of electric energy in interstate commerce to amend their Open Access Transmission Tariffs (OATTs) to include a Commission-approved pro forma interconnection procedures document and a standard interconnection agreement for the interconnection of generating facilities having a capacity of no more than 20 MW (Small Generators).^[1]

Prior to Order No. 2006, the Commission's policy had been to address interconnection issues on a case-by-case basis. Although a number of transmission providers had filed interconnection procedures as part of their OATTs, many industry participants remained dissatisfied with existing interconnection policies and procedures. With an increasing number of interconnection-related disputes, it became apparent that the case-by-case approach was an inadequate and inefficient means to address interconnection issues. This prompted the Commission to adopt, in Order No. 2006, a single set of procedures for jurisdictional transmission providers and a single uniformly applicable interconnection agreement for transmission providers to use in interconnecting with Small Generators.

With the incorporation of these documents in their OATTs, there is no longer a need for transmitting utilities to file case-by-case interconnection agreements and procedures with the Commission. However, on occasion, circumstances warrant non-conforming agreements or a situation-specific set of procedures. These non-conforming documents must be filed in their entirety with the Commission for review and action.

The information collected is in response to a mandatory requirement. The Commission implements these filing requirements in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) under 18 CFR part 35, 35.28(f).

Action: The Commission is requesting a three-year extension of the current expiration date, with no changes to the existing collection of data.

Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this collection is estimated as:

Number of respondents annually	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden hours per response	Total annual burden hours
(1)	(2)	(3)	(1) × (2) × (3)
238 (maintenance of documents)	1	1	238
40 (filing of conforming agreements)	1	25	1,000
Totals			1,238

The estimated burden of the continued requirement to maintain the procedures and agreement documents in transmission providers' OATTs is reflected herein as is the filing of non-conforming interconnection procedures and agreements that occur on occasion. The estimated total cost to respondents is $84,739 (rounded). [1,238 hours divided by 2,080 hours ^[2] per year, times $142,372 ^[3] equals $84,739]. The average cost per respondent is $305 (rounded).

The reporting burden includes the total time, effort, or financial resources expended to generate, maintain, retain, disclose, or provide the information including: (1) Reviewing instructions; (2) developing, acquiring, installing, and utilizing technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, verifying, processing, maintaining, disclosing and providing information; (3) adjusting the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements; (4) training personnel to respond to a collection of information; (5) searching data sources; (6) completing and reviewing the collection of information; and (7) transmitting, or otherwise disclosing the information.

The estimate of cost for respondents is based upon salaries for professional and clerical support, as well as direct and indirect overhead costs. Direct costs include all costs directly attributable to providing this information, such as administrative costs and the cost for information technology. Indirect or overhead costs are costs incurred by an organization in support of its mission. These costs apply to activities, which benefit the whole organization rather than any one particular function or activity.

Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the proposed 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 of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology e.g. permitting electronic submission of responses.

Dated: May 20, 2011.

Kimberly D. Bose,

Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  Standardization of Small Generator Interconnection Agreements and Procedures, Order No. 2006, 70 FR 34189 (May 12, 2005), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,180 (2005).

2.  Number of hours an employee works each year.

3.  Average annual salary, benefits, and overhead per employee.