4228 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 17 / Tuesday, January 27, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

their views on issues affecting this 

rulemaking. DOE also encourages 

participants to provide views and 

comments on the topics identified in 

section III of the NOPR, Issues on Which 

DOE Seeks Comment, or raised at the 

information session held on January 7, 

2015. Each participant will be allowed 

to make a general statement (within 

time limits determined by DOE), before 

the discussion of specific topics. DOE 

will permit, as time allows, other 

participants to comment briefly on any 

general statements. At the end of all 

prepared statements on a topic, DOE 

will permit participants to clarify their 

statements briefly and comment on 

statements made by others. Participants 

should be prepared to answer questions 

by DOE and by other participants 

concerning these issues. DOE 

representatives may also ask questions 

concerning other matters relevant to this 

rulemaking. The official conducting the 

public meeting will accept additional 

comments or questions from those 

attending, as time permits. The 

presiding official will announce any 

further procedural rules or modification 

of the above procedures that may be 

needed for the proper conduct of the 

public meeting. 

In addition, DOE will accept for 

consideration questions or suggestions 

on topics for comment in advance of the 

workshop, by February 10, 2015. DOE 

may use the questions or topic 

suggestions to structure the discussion 

and enhance participation. A transcript 

of the public meeting will be included 

in the docket, which can be viewed as 

described in the Docket section of this 

notice. 

C. Procedure for Submitting Prepared 

General Statements and Suggested 

Topics 

Persons who plan to present a 

prepared general statement may request 

that copies of the statement be made 

available at the public workshop. Such 

persons may submit requests, along 

with an advance electronic copy of their 

statement in PDF to the appropriate 

address shown in the ADDRESSES section 

of this notice. The request and advance 

copy of statements must be received at 

least one week before the public 

meeting and may be emailed, or sent by 

mail. DOE prefers to receive requests 

and advance copies via email. Please 

include a telephone number to enable 

DOE staff to make a follow-up contact, 

if needed. 

Persons who plan to submit questions 

and topic suggestions for the meeting 

must do so by February 10, 2015, via 

email or by mail, to the appropriate 

address shown in the ADDRESSES section 

of this notice. DOE prefers to receive the 

requests via email. Please include a 

telephone number to enable DOE staff to 

make a follow-up contact, if needed. 

D. Submission of Comments 

DOE will continue to accept 

comments, data, and information 

concerning this NOPR before and after 

the workshop, but no later than March 

17, 2015. Interested parties may submit 

comments using any of the methods 

described in the ADDRESSES section of 

this notice. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on January 21, 

2015. 

Samuel T. Walsh, 

Deputy General Counsel for Energy Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2015–01401 Filed 1–26–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Bureau of Economic Analysis 

15 CFR Part 801 

[Docket No. 150108021–5021–01] 

RIN 0691–AA84 

International Services Surveys: BE– 

180, Benchmark Survey of Financial 

Services Transactions Between U.S. 

Financial Services Providers and 

Foreign Persons 

AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would 

amend regulations of the Bureau of 

Economic Analysis (BEA), Department 

of Commerce, to reinstate reporting 

requirements for the BE–180, 

Benchmark Survey of Financial Services 

Transactions between U.S. Financial 

Services Providers and Foreign Persons. 

Benchmark surveys are conducted every 

five years; the prior survey covered 

2009. For the 2014 benchmark survey, 

BEA proposes one change in the data 

items collected. This mandatory survey 

would be conducted under the authority 

of the International Investment and 

Trade in Services Survey Act (the Act). 

Unlike most other BEA surveys 

conducted pursuant to the Act, a 

response would be required from 

persons subject to the reporting 

requirements of the BE–180, Benchmark 

Survey of Financial Services 

Transactions between U.S. Financial 

Services Providers and Foreign Persons, 

whether or not they are contacted by 

BEA, to ensure complete coverage of 

financial services transactions between 

U.S. financial services providers and 

foreign persons. 

DATES: Comments on this proposed rule 

will receive consideration if submitted 

in writing on or before 5 p.m., March 30, 

2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN 0691–AA84, and 

referencing the agency name (Bureau of 

Economic Analysis), by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

For Keyword or ID, enter ‘‘EAB–2015– 

0001.’’ 

• Email: christopher.stein@bea.gov. 

• Fax: Christopher Stein, Services 

Surveys Branch, Balance of Payments 

Division, (202) 606–5318. 

• Mail: Christopher Stein, Chief, 

Services Surveys Branch (BE–50), 

Balance of Payments Division, Bureau of 

Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of 

Commerce, Washington, DC 20230. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Christopher 

Stein, Chief, Services Surveys Branch 

(BE–50), Balance of Payments Division, 

Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. 

Department of Commerce, Shipping and 

Receiving, Section M100, 1441 L Street 

NW., Washington, DC 20005. 

Written comments regarding the 

burden-hour estimates or other aspects 

of the collection-of-information 

requirements contained in the proposed 

rule should be sent to both BEA through 

any of the methods above and to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB), OIRA, Paperwork Reduction 

Project 0608–0062, Attention PRA Desk 

Officer for BEA, via email at pbugg@

omb.eop.gov, or by FAX at 202–395– 

7245. 

Public Inspection: All comments 

received are a part of the public record 

and will generally be posted to http:// 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All personal identifying information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit confidential business 

information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. BEA will accept 

anonymous comments (enter N/A in 

required fields if you wish to remain 

anonymous). Attachments to electronic 

comments will be accepted in Microsoft 

Word, Excel, or Adobe portable 

document file (pdf) formats only. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Christopher Stein, Chief, Services 

Surveys Branch (BE–50), Balance of 

Payments Division, Bureau of Economic 

Analysis, U.S. Department of 

Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; 

phone (202) 606–9850. 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 17 / Tuesday, January 27, 2015 / Proposed Rules 4229 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BE– 

180, Benchmark Survey of Financial 

Services Transactions between U.S. 

Financial Services Providers and 

Foreign Persons, is a mandatory survey 

and is conducted once every five years 

by BEA under the authority provided by 

the International Investment and Trade 

in Services Survey Act, 22 U.S.C. 3101– 

3108 (the Act), and by Section 5408 of 

the Omnibus Trade and 

Competitiveness Act of 1988. 

By rule issued in 2012 (77 FR 24373), 

BEA established guidelines for 

collecting data on international trade in 

services and direct investment through 

notices, rather than through rulemaking. 

This proposed rule would amend the 

regulations to require a response from 

persons subject to the reporting 

requirements of the BE–180, whether or 

not they are contacted by BEA, to ensure 

complete coverage of financial services 

transactions between U.S. financial 

services providers and foreign persons. 

The proposed BE–180 survey is 

intended to cover financial services 

transactions with foreign persons. In 

nonbenchmark years, the universe 

estimates covering these transactions are 

derived from the sample data reported 

on BEA’s BE–185, Quarterly Survey of 

Financial Services Transactions 

between U.S. Financial Services 

Providers and Foreign Persons. 

The data are used by BEA to estimate 

the financial services component of the 

U.S. International Transactions 

Accounts and other economic accounts 

compiled by BEA. The data are needed 

to monitor U.S. exports and imports of 

financial services; analyze their impact 

on the U.S. and foreign economies; 

support U.S. international trade policy 

on financial services; and assess and 

promote U.S. competitiveness in 

international trade in services. In 

addition, they will improve the ability 

of U.S. businesses to identify and 

evaluate market opportunities. 

The services covered by the BE–180 

would include the following 

transactions: (1) Brokerage services 

related to equity transactions; (2) other 

brokerage services; (3) underwriting and 

private placement services; (4) financial 

management services; (5) credit-related 

services, except credit card services; (6) 

credit card services; (7) financial 

advisory and custody services; (8) 

securities lending services; (9) 

electronic funds transfer services; and 

(10) other financial services. 

This proposed rule would amend 15 

CFR part 801 by adding a new section 

801.9 to set forth the reporting 

requirements for the BE–180, 

Benchmark Survey of Financial Services 

Transactions between U.S. Financial 

Services Providers and Foreign Persons. 

As part of its continuing effort to reduce 

paperwork and respondent burden, the 

Department of Commerce invites the 

general public and other Federal 

agencies to comment on proposed and/ 

or continuing information collections, 

as required by the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501–3520 (PRA). 

Description of Changes 

The proposed changes would amend 

the regulations and the survey form for 

the BE–180 Benchmark Survey of 

Financial Services Transactions 

between U.S. Financial Services 

Providers and Foreign Persons. These 

amendments include changes in the 

data items collected and questionnaire 

design. 

If the proposed rule is made final, 

unlike most other BEA surveys 

conducted pursuant to the Act, persons 

subject to the reporting requirements of 

the BE–180 would be required to 

respond whether or not they are 

contacted by BEA. 

BEA proposes to add one item to the 

benchmark survey form based upon 

information obtained from reporting 

companies that suggests this additional 

information is readily available in 

existing financial records. Specifically, 

questions would be added to collect 

equity- and debt-related underwriting 

transactions separately on the 2014 BE– 

180. A number of reporters include 

language in their financial statements 

that suggests equity- and debt-related 

underwriting transactions are readily 

obtainable from their accounting 

records. 

In addition, BEA proposes to redesign 

the format and wording of the survey 

questionnaires. The new design would 

incorporate improvements made to 

other BEA surveys. Survey instructions 

and data item descriptions would be 

changed to improve clarity and to make 

the benchmark survey forms more 

consistent with those of other BEA 

surveys. 

Executive Order 12866 

This proposed rule has been 

determined to be not significant for 

purposes of E.O. 12866. 

Executive Order 13132 

This proposed rule does not contain 

policies with Federalism implications 

sufficient to warrant preparation of a 

Federalism assessment under E.O. 

13132. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This proposed rule contains a 

collection-of-information requirement 

subject to review and approval by the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction 

Act (PRA). The requirement will be 

submitted to OMB for approval as a 

reinstatement, with change, of a 

previously approved collection for 

which approval has expired under OMB 

control number 0608–0062. 

Notwithstanding any other provisions 

of law, no person is required to respond 

to, nor shall any person be subject to a 

penalty for failure to comply with, a 

collection of information subject to the 

requirements of the PRA unless that 

collection displays a currently valid 

OMB control number. 

The BE–180 survey, as proposed, is 

expected to result in the filing of reports 

from approximately 8,750 respondents. 

Approximately 1,250 respondents 

would report mandatory or voluntary 

data on the survey and approximately 

7,500 would file exemption claims. The 

respondent burden for this collection of 

information would vary from one 

respondent to another, but is estimated 

to average ten hours for the respondents 

that file mandatory or voluntary data— 

including time for reviewing 

instructions, searching existing data 

sources, gathering and maintaining the 

data needed, and completing and 

reviewing the collection of 

information—and two hours for other 

responses. Thus the total respondent 

burden for this survey is estimated at 

27,500 hours, compared to 24,000 hours 

for the previous BE–180 benchmark 

survey in 2009. The increase in burden 

hours is due to an increase in the size 

of the respondent universe. 

Comments are requested concerning: 

(a) Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(b) The accuracy of the burden estimate; 

(c) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, 

and clarity of the information collected; 

and (d) Ways to minimize the burden of 

the collection of information on the 

respondents, including the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Written comments regarding the 

burden-hour estimates or other aspects 

of the collection-of-information 

requirements contained in the proposed 

rule should be sent to both BEA and 

OMB following the instructions given in 

the ADDRESSES section above. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Chief Counsel for Regulation, 

Department of Commerce, has certified 

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy, 

Small Business Administration, under 

the provisions of the Regulatory 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
4230 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 17 / Tuesday, January 27, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 605(b), that this 

proposed rulemaking, if adopted, will 

not have a significant economic impact 

on a substantial number of small 

entities. The changes proposed in this 

rule are discussed in the preamble and 

are not repeated here. 

A BE–180 report would be required of 

any U.S. company that is a financial 

services provider or intermediary that 

had sales to, or purchases from, foreign 

persons. While the survey would not 

collect data on total sales or other 

measures of the overall size of the 

businesses that respond to the survey, 

historically the respondents to the 

existing quarterly survey of financial 

services transactions and to the previous 

benchmark surveys have been 

comprised mainly of major U.S. 

corporations. The proposed benchmark 

survey would be required from U.S. 

financial companies whose sales or 

purchases of the covered financial 

services with foreign persons exceeded 

$3 million for fiscal year 2014. This 

exemption level would exclude most 

small businesses from mandatory 

coverage. Any small businesses that 

may be required to report would likely 

have engaged in only a few covered 

transactions, and is therefore expected 

to be below the expected average burden 

of 10 hours per response. Even if the 

responses for small businesses took the 

expected average burden of 10 hours per 

response, that would not constitute a 

significant impact on any small business 

or other entity. Because this rule would 

not have a significant impact on any 

small entities, an Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis is not required and 

none has been prepared. 

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 801 

International transactions, Economic 

statistics, Foreign trade, Penalties, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

Dated January 21, 2015. 

Brian C. Moyer, 

Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis. 

For reasons set forth in the preamble, 

BEA proposes to amend 15 CFR part 801 

as follows: 

PART 801—SURVEY OF 

INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SERVICES 

BETWEEN U.S. AND FOREIGN 

PERSONS AND SURVEYS OF DIRECT 

INVESTMENT 

■ 1. The authority citation for 15 CFR 

part 801 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 15 U.S.C. 4908; 

22 U.S.C. 3101–3108; E.O. 11961 (3 CFR, 

1977 Comp., p. 86), as amended by E.O. 

12318 (3 CFR, 1981 Comp. p. 173); and E.O. 

12518 (3 CFR, 1985 Comp. p. 348). 

■ 2. Revise § 801.3 to read as follows: 

§ 801.3 Reporting requirements. 

Except for surveys subject to 

rulemaking in §§ 801.7, 801.8 and 801.9, 

reporting requirements for all other 

surveys conducted by the Bureau of 

Economic Analysis shall be as follows: 

(a) Notice of specific reporting 

requirements, including who is required 

to report, the information to be reported, 

the manner of reporting, and the time 

and place of filing reports, will be 

published by the Director of the Bureau 

of Economic Analysis in the Federal 

Register prior to the implementation of 

a survey; 

(b) In accordance with section 

3104(b)(2) of title 22 of the United States 

Code, persons notified of these surveys 

and subject to the jurisdiction of the 

United States shall furnish, under oath, 

any report containing information 

which is determined to be necessary to 

carry out the surveys and studies 

provided for by the Act; and 

(c) Persons not notified in writing of 

their filing obligation by the Bureau of 

Economic Analysis are not required to 

complete the survey. 

■ 3. Add § 801.9 to read as follows: 

§ 801.9 Rules and regulations for the BE– 

180, Benchmark Survey of Financial 

Services Transactions Between U.S. 

Financial Services Providers and Foreign 

Persons—2014. 

A BE–180, Benchmark Survey of 

Financial Services Transactions 

Between U.S. Financial Services 

Providers and Foreign Persons will be 

conducted covering 2014. All legal 

authorities, provisions, definitions, and 

requirements contained in §§ 801.1 

through 801.2 and §§ 801.4 through 

801.6 are applicable to this survey. 

Specific additional rules and regulations 

for the BE–180 survey are given in 

paragraphs (a) through (e) of this 

section. More detailed instructions are 

given on the report forms and in 

instructions accompanying the report 

forms. 

(a) Response required. A response is 

required from persons subject to the 

reporting requirements of the BE–180, 

Benchmark Survey of Financial Services 

Transactions Between U.S. Financial 

Services Providers and Foreign 

Persons—2014, contained herein, 

whether or not they are contacted by 

BEA. Also, a person, or its agent, that is 

contacted by BEA about reporting in 

this survey, either by sending a report 

form or by written inquiry, must 

respond in writing pursuant this 

section. This may be accomplished by: 

(1) Completing and returning the BE– 

180 by the due date of the survey; or, 

(2) If exempt, by completing pages 

one through five of the BE–180 survey 

and returning them to BEA. 

(b) Who must report. (1) A BE–180 

report is required of each U.S. person 

that is a financial services provider or 

intermediary, or whose consolidated 

U.S. enterprise includes a separately 

organized subsidiary, or part, that is a 

financial services provider or 

intermediary, and that had transactions 

(either sales or purchases) directly with 

foreign persons in all financial services 

combined in excess of $3,000,000 

during its fiscal year covered by the 

survey on an accrual basis. The 

$3,000,000 threshold should be applied 

to financial services transactions with 

foreign persons by all parts of the 

consolidated U.S. enterprise combined 

that are financial services providers or 

intermediaries. Because the $3,000,000 

threshold applies separately to sales and 

purchases, the mandatory reporting 

requirement may apply only to sales, 

only to purchases, or to both. 

(i) The determination of whether a 

U.S. financial services provider or 

intermediary is subject to this 

mandatory reporting requirement may 

be based on the judgment of 

knowledgeable persons in a company 

who can identify reportable transactions 

on a recall basis, with a reasonable 

degree of certainty, without conducting 

a detailed manual records search. 

(ii) Reporters that file pursuant to this 

mandatory reporting requirement must 

provide data on total sales and/or 

purchases of each of the covered types 

of financial services transactions and 

must disaggregate the totals by country 

and by relationship to the foreign 

transactor (foreign affiliate, foreign 

parent group, or unaffiliated). 

(2) Voluntary reporting. If, during the 

fiscal year covered, sales or purchases of 

financial services by a firm that is a 

financial services provider or 

intermediary, or by a firm’s subsidiaries, 

or parts, combined that are financial 

services providers or intermediaries, are 

$3,000,000 or less, the U.S. person is 

requested to provide an estimate of the 

total for each type of service. Provision 

of this information is voluntary. The 

estimates may be judgmental, that is, 

based on recall, without conducting a 

detailed records search. Because the 

$3,000,000 threshold applies separately 

to sales and purchases, this voluntary 

reporting option may apply only to 

sales, only to purchases, or to both. 

(3) Exemption claims. Any U.S. 

person that receives the BE–180 survey 

form from BEA, but is not subject to the 

mandatory reporting requirements and 

chooses not to report voluntarily, must 

file an exemption claim by completing 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 17 / Tuesday, January 27, 2015 / Proposed Rules 4231 

1 16 U.S.C. 824b. 

2 16 U.S.C. 824b(a)(4). 

3See Inquiry Concerning the Commission’s 

Merger Policy Under the Federal Power Act: Policy 

Statement, Order No. 592, 61 FR 68595 (Dec. 30, 

Continued 

pages one through five of the BE–180 

survey and returning it to BEA. This 

requirement is necessary to ensure 

compliance with reporting requirements 

and efficient administration of the Act 

by eliminating unnecessary follow-up 

contact. 

(c) BE–180 definition of financial 

services provider. The definition of 

financial services provider used for this 

survey is identical to the definition of 

the term as used in the North American 

Industry Classification System, United 

States, 2012, Sector 52–Finance and 

Insurance, and holding companies that 

own or influence, and are principally 

engaged in making management 

decisions for these firms (part of Sector 

55–Management of Companies and 

Enterprises). For example, companies 

and/or subsidiaries and other separable 

parts of companies in the following 

industries are defined as financial 

services providers: Depository credit 

intermediation and related activities 

(including commercial banking, savings 

institutions, credit unions, and other 

depository credit intermediation); nondepository credit intermediation 

(including credit card issuing, sales 

financing, and other non-depository 

credit intermediation); activities related 

to credit intermediation (including 

mortgage and nonmortgage loan brokers, 

financial transactions processing, 

reserve, and clearinghouse activities, 

and other activities related to credit 

intermediation); securities and 

commodity contracts intermediation 

and brokerage (including investment 

banking and securities dealing, 

securities brokerage, commodity 

contracts and dealing, and commodity 

contracts brokerage); securities and 

commodity exchanges; other financial 

investment activities (including 

miscellaneous intermediation, portfolio 

management, investment advice, and all 

other financial investment activities); 

insurance carriers; insurance agencies, 

brokerages, and other insurance related 

activities; insurance and employee 

benefit funds (including pension funds, 

health and welfare funds, and other 

insurance funds); other investment 

pools and funds (including open-end 

investment funds, trusts, estates, and 

agency accounts, real estate investment 

trusts, and other financial vehicles); and 

holding companies that own, or 

influence the management decisions of, 

firms principally engaged in the 

aforementioned activities. 

(d) Covered types of services. The BE– 

180 survey covers the following types of 

financial services transactions (sales or 

purchases) between U.S. financial 

companies and foreign persons: 

Brokerage services related to equity 

transactions; other brokerage services; 

underwriting and private placement 

services; financial management services; 

credit-related services, except credit 

card services; credit card services; 

financial advisory and custody services; 

securities lending services; electronic 

funds transfer services; and other 

financial services. 

(e) Due date. A fully completed and 

certified BE–180 report, or qualifying 

exemption claim with pages one 

through five completed, is due to be 

filed with BEA not later than October 1, 

2015. 

[FR Doc. 2015–01491 Filed 1–26–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

18 CFR Part 33 

[Docket No. PL15–3–000] 

Policy Statement on Hold Harmless 

Commitments 

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, DOE. 

ACTION: Proposed policy statement. 

SUMMARY: The Commission proposes, as 

a statement of policy, the following 

clarifications regarding hold harmless 

commitments offered by applicants as 

ratepayer protection mechanisms to 

mitigate adverse effects on rates that 

may result from transactions subject to 

section 203 of the Federal Power Act 

(FPA). First, the Commission proposes 

to clarify the scope and definition of the 

costs that should be subject to hold 

harmless commitments. Second, the 

Commission proposes to clarify that 

applicants offering hold harmless 

commitments must implement controls 

and procedures to track the costs from 

which customers will be held harmless. 

The Commission also proposes to clarify 

the types of controls and procedures 

that applicants offering hold harmless 

commitments must implement. Third, 

the Commission proposes to no longer 

accept hold harmless commitments that 

are limited in duration. Fourth, the 

Commission proposes to clarify that 

applicants may demonstrate that, under 

certain circumstances, transactions will 

not have an adverse effect on rates 

without relying on hold harmless 

commitments or other ratepayer 

protection mechanisms. 

DATES: Comments on the proposed 

policy statement are due within March 

30, 2015. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Eric Olesh (Technical Information), 

Office of Energy Market Regulation, 

888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 

20426, (202) 502–6524, eric.olesh@

ferc.gov. 

Adam Batenhorst (Legal Information), 

Office of the General Counsel, 888 

First Street NE., Washington, DC 

20426, (202) 502–6150, 

adam.batenhorst@ferc.gov. 

Olga Anguelova (Accounting 

Information), Office of Enforcement, 

888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 

20426, (202) 502–8098, 

olga.anguelova@ferc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. We propose, as a statement of 

policy, the following clarifications 

regarding hold harmless commitments 

offered by applicants as ratepayer 

protection mechanisms to mitigate 

adverse effects on rates that may result 

from transactions that are subject to 

section 203 of the Federal Power Act 

(FPA).1 First, we propose to clarify the 

scope and definition of the costs that 

should be subject to hold harmless 

commitments. Second, we propose to 

clarify that applicants offering hold 

harmless commitments must implement 

controls and procedures to track the 

costs from which customers will be held 

harmless. We also propose to clarify the 

types of controls and procedures that 

applicants offering hold harmless 

commitments must implement. Third, 

we propose to no longer accept hold 

harmless commitments that are limited 

in duration. Fourth, we propose to 

clarify that applicants may demonstrate 

that, under certain circumstances, 

transactions will not have an adverse 

effect on rates without relying on hold 

harmless commitments or other 

ratepayer protection mechanisms. 

I. Background 

A. The Commission’s Analysis of 

Proposed Transactions Under FPA 

Section 203 

2. FPA section 203(a)(4) requires the 

Commission to approve a transaction if 

it determines that the transaction will be 

consistent with the public interest.2 The 

Commission has stated that its analysis 

of whether a transaction will be 

consistent with the public interest 

generally involves consideration of 

three factors: (1) The effect on 

competition; (2) the effect on rates; and 

(3) the effect on regulation.3 FPA section 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS