2018-15835. Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-585); Comment Request; Extension

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, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is submitting its information collection, FERC-585 (Reporting of Electric Energy Shortages and Contingency Plans Under PURPA Section 206) 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 Notice in the Federal Register on April 12, 2018, requesting public comments. The Commission received no comments on the FERC-585 and is making this notation in its submittal to OMB.

DATES:

Comments on the collection of information are due August 24, 2018.

ADDRESSES:

Comments filed with OMB, identified by the OMB Control No. 1902-0138, 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. IC18-11-000, 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], telephone at [phone], and fax at [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: FERC-585 (Reporting of Electric Energy Shortages and Contingency Plans Under PURPA ^[1] Section 206).

OMB Control No.: 1902-0138.

Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-585 information collection requirements with no changes to the current reporting requirements.

Abstract: The Commission uses the information collected under the requirements of FERC-585 to implement the statutory provisions of Section 206 of PURPA. Section 206 of PURPA amended the Federal Power Act (FPA) by adding a new subsection (g) to section 202, under which the Commission, by rule, was to require each public utility to report to the Commission and any appropriate state regulatory authority:

• Any anticipated shortages of electric energy or capacity which would affect the utility's capability to serve its wholesale customers; and
• a contingency plan that would outline what circumstances might give rise to such occurrences.
• In Order No. 575,^[2] the Commission modified the reporting requirements in 18 CFR 294.101(b) to provide that, if a public utility includes in its rates schedule, provisions that during electric energy and capacity shortages:

• It will treat firm power wholesale customers without undue discrimination or preference; and
• it will report any modifications to its contingency plan for accommodating shortages within 15 days to the appropriate state regulatory agency and to the affected wholesale customers, then the utility need not file with the Commission an additional statement of contingency plan for accommodating such shortages.

This revision merely changed the reporting mechanism; the public utility's contingency plan would be located in its filed rate rather than in a separate document.

In Order No. 659,^[3] the Commission modified the reporting requirements in 18 CFR 294.101(e) to provide that public utilities must comply with the requirements to report shortages and anticipated shortages by submitting this information electronically using the Office of Electric Reliability's pager system at [e-mail] in lieu of submitting an original and two copies to the Secretary of the Commission. The Commission uses the information to evaluate and formulate an appropriate option for action in the event an unanticipated shortage is reported and/or materializes. Without this information, the Commission and State agencies would be unable to:

• Examine and approve or modify utility actions;
• prepare a response to anticipated disruptions in electric energy; and/or
• ensure equitable treatment of all public utility customers under the shortage situation.

The Commission implements these filing requirements in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) under 18 CFR part 294.101.

Type of Respondents: Public Utilities.

Estimate of Annual Burden: ^[4] The Commission estimates the annual public reporting burden for the information collection as:

FERC-585 (Reporting of Electric Shortages and Contingency Plans Under PURPA Section 206) ⁵

	Number of respondents	Annual number of responses per respondent	Total number of responses	Average burden and cost per Response 6	Total annual burden hours and total annual cost	Cost per respondent
	(1)	(2)	(1) * (2) = ( 3)	(4)	(3) * (4) = (5)	($) 5) ÷ (1)
Contingency Plan	1	1	1	73 hrs.; $5,767	73 hrs.; $5,767	$5,767
Capacity Shortage	1	1	1	0.25 hrs.; $19.75	0.25 hrs.; $19.75	$19.75
Total					73.25 hrs.; $5,786.75

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: July 18, 2018.

Kimberly D. Bose,

Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  PURPA = Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1979 (Pub. L. 95-617, 92 Stat. 3117), enacted 11/9/1978.

2.  Final Rule in Docket RM92-12-000, issued on 1/13/1995.

3.  Final Rule in Docket RM05-19-000, issued on 5/27/2005.

4.  “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.

5.  The estimates in this table are slightly different from the estimates in the 60-day notice. In the 60-day notice we used wage figures from 2017. In May 2018, we began using the 2018 cost estimates. There are no other changes from the 60-day notice other than the change to wage figures. The difference in the burden cost is minimal. The burden hours remain unchanged.

6.  The estimates for cost per response are derived using the following formula: Average Burden Hours per Response * 79.00 per Hour = Average Cost per Response. This is Based upon FERC's 2018 FTE average salary plus benefits. Commission staff believes that any industry effort applied to FERC-585 would be compensated similarly to FERC's average salary.