Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 23 / Wednesday, February 4, 2004 / Notices 5331

electric load in the states of Ohio, 

Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, 

Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, 

and New Jersey and the Canadian 

province of Ontario. The blackout began 

a few minutes after 4 p.m. eastern 

daylight time (16:00 e.d.t.), and power 

was not restored for two days in some 

parts of the United States. Parts of 

Ontario suffered rolling blackouts for 

more than a week before full power was 

restored. 

On August 15, 2003, President Bush 

and Canadian Prime Minister Jean 

Chre ́tien directed that a joint U.S.-

Canada Power System Outage Task 

Force be established to investigate the 

causes of the blackout and how to 

reduce the possibility of future outages. 

Since the Task Force was formed, it has 

been investigating the causes of the 

outage and is currently engaged in 

developing recommendations 

concerning how to reduce the 

possibility of future outages and to 

minimize the scope of any outages that 

do occur. 

In November 2003, the Task Force 

issued an Interim Report, which is 

available on the Web at the Internet 

address identified in the ADDRESSES

section of this notice. The Interim 

Report presented the facts that the binational investigation had found 

regarding the causes of the August 14, 

2003, blackout. 

When it issued the Interim Report, the 

Task Force requested that the public 

submit comments on any aspect of the 

Report. The Task Force also called for 

interested parties to submit proposed 

recommendations for the Task Force’s 

consideration. Subsequently, three 

public meetings were held at which 

Task Force representatives received 

public comments and proposed 

recommendations. Those meetings were 

held on December 4, 2003, in Cleveland, 

Ohio, on December 5, 2003, in New 

York, New York, and on December 8, 

2003, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 

Numerous parties also have submitted 

written comments and 

recommendations, all of which are 

available for public inspection at the 

Internet address identified in the 

ADDRESSES section of this notice. 

All persons interested in submitting 

comments on the Interim Report, 

proposed recommendations, and/or 

comments on proposed 

recommendations, must submit their 

comments to the Task Force by the date 

specified in the DATES section of this 

notice; after that date, no further 

submissions will be entertained. 

Comments must be submitted to one of 

the addresses listed in the ADDRESSES

section of this notice. The Task Force 

will consider recommendations and 

comments received by the specified 

deadline when preparing the Task 

Force’s final report.

Issued in Washington, DC, on January 29, 

2004. 

James W. Glotfelty, 

Director, Office of Electric Transmission and 

Distribution.

[FR Doc. 04–2229 Filed 2–3–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy 

On-Board Fuel Processing Go/No-Go 

Decision

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Golden Field Office, 

Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of on-board fuel 

processing go/no-go decision. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Energy 

(the Department or DOE) today gives 

notice of the June 30, 2004, decision 

regarding the future of on-board fuel 

processing activities within the 

Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure 

Technologies Program. A review panel 

has been assembled by the National 

Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to 

review the current state of fuel 

processing activities against technical 

criteria. Based on the panel findings, 

NREL will submit a written 

recommendation to the Department 

regarding the technical decision 

regarding the future of on-board 

processing activities on or before June 

18, 2004. The NREL review panel will 

meet during the May 24 through June 18 

time frame to hear presentations that 

include data to support the technical 

decision. Position papers regarding the 

go/no-go decision will be accepted by 

DOE for consideration in this decision 

and will also be forwarded to NREL for 

consideration as a presentation to the 

review panel. Position papers are 

limited to 10 pages maximum.

DATES: Written position papers for 

consideration by the Department 

regarding this decision must be received 

by May 15, 2004. NREL must receive 

requests to speak before the review 

panel no later than May 15, 2004. 

Attendees at the review panel will be 

limited to the current presenter, the 

panel and NREL, Argonne National 

Laboratory and DOE representatives.

ADDRESSES: Written position papers 

regarding the decision and requests to 

speak before the review panel are 

welcomed. Please submit 10 copies of 

the position paper to: U.S. Department 

of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency 

and Renewable Energy, Mail Station 

EE–2H, Attn: Valri Lightner, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121, e-mail 

valri.lightner@ee.doe.gov. Requests to 

present before the panel should be sent 

to: U.S. Department of Energy, National 

Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 

Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401–

3393, Attn: Dale Gardner or via e-mail 

to dale_gardner@nrel.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Valri Lightner, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Mail Station EE–2H, 

Attn: Valri Lightner, 1000 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585–

0121, phone: (202) 586–0937, e-mail 

valri.lightner@ee.doe.gov or Mr. Dale 

Gardner, U.S. Department of Energy, 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 

1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO 

80401–3393, Attn: Dale Gardner, phone 

(303) 275–3020, e-mail 

dale_gardner@nrel.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

mission of the Department of Energy’s 

Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure 

Technologies Program is to research, 

develop and validate fuel cell and 

hydrogen production, delivery, and 

storage technologies such that hydrogen 

from diverse domestic resources will be 

used in a clean, safe, reliable and 

affordable manner in fuel cell vehicles; 

central station electric power 

production; distributed thermal electric; 

and combined heat and power 

applications. The President’s Hydrogen 

Fuel Initiative accelerates research, 

development and demonstration of 

hydrogen production, delivery and 

storage technologies to support an 

industry commercialization decision on 

the hydrogen economy by 2015. The 

FreedomCAR partnership is on track for 

an industry commercialization decision 

on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by 2015. 

The transition to a hydrogen economy 

will take decades. During this transition, 

from about 2010 to 2030, technologies 

that enable the use of the current liquid 

fuels infrastructure to provide the 

hydrogen to power fuel cell vehicles 

will be required. Several options are 

being considered, such as fuel reforming 

on-site at fueling stations or fuel 

reforming on-board the vehicle for 

transportation applications. The 

Department has funded research and 

development (R&D) of on-board vehicle, 

fuel processing technologies for 10 

years. The R&D has focused on the 

development of a fuel flexible, fuel 

processor targeting gasoline, ethanol, 

methanol and natural gas. Based on the

5332 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 23 / Wednesday, February 4, 2004 / Notices 

current state of technology 

development, it is uncertain that onboard fuel processing activities will be on track to meet the ultimate technical 

criteria to support the transition to a 

hydrogen economy as shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1. 

Attribute Units 2003 

status 2004 demo criteria Ultimate target 

Transient .................................................. sec ........................... 60 <5, 10% to 90% and 90% to 

10%.

<1, 10% to 90% and 90% to 

10% 

Start-up Time ........................................... sec ........................... <600 

(+20°C) 

<60 to 90% traction power ........ <2 to 10%, <30 to 90% 

Start-up Energy ........................................ MJ/50kWe ................ .............. <2 .............................................. <2 

Efficiency .................................................. % .............................. 78 78 .............................................. >80 

Power density .......................................... W/L ........................... 700 700 ............................................ 2,000 

Durability .................................................. hours ........................ 2000 2000 and >50 stop/starts .......... 5,000 and 20,000 starts 

Sulfur Tolerance ...................................... ppb ........................... .............. <50 out from 30 ppm in ............ <10 out from 30 ppm in 

Turndown, cost ........................................ ratio .......................... .............. 20:1 ........................................... >50:1 

$/kWe ....................... 65 n/a ............................................. <10 

Specifically challenging are start-up 

time/energy and cost. The Department 

has decided to review the current state 

of on-board fuel processing and the 

technology path forward as a ‘‘Go/NoGo Decision’’ whether to continue onboard fuel processing activities in June 

2004. The criteria for the review will be 

to demonstrate that the 2004 

demonstration criteria can be met using 

available technology as demonstrated in 

experimental hardware. A clear 

technical path to achieving the ultimate 

targets is also required. It is desired that 

a single system be demonstrated that 

meets all criteria simultaneously; 

however, if integration with other 

technologies is needed to 

simultaneously meet all targets, the 

technologies must be compatible. For 

more information about the Hydrogen, 

Fuel Cells and Infrastructure 

technologies Program and related fuel 

processing activities visit the program’s 

Web site at www.eere.energy.gov/

hydrogenandfuelcells.

Issued in Golden, Colorado, on January 21, 

2004. 

Mary Hartford, 

Acting Director, Office of Acquisition and 

Financial Assistance.

[FR Doc. 04–2272 Filed 2–3–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket Nos. ER04–242–000, EL04–50–000, 

ER04–115–000, EL04–47–000] 

Pacific Gas and Electric Company and 

California Independent System 

Operator Corporation; Notice of 

Initiation of Proceeding and Refund 

Effective Date 

January 27, 2004. 

Take notice that on January 23, 2004, 

the Commission issued an order in the 

above-referenced dockets initiating an 

investigation in Docket No. EL04–50–

000 under section 206 of the Federal 

Power Act. 

The refund effective date in Docket 

No. EL04–50–000, established pursuant 

to section 206(b) of the Federal Power 

Act, will be 60 days following 

publication of this notice in the Federal 

Register.

Magalie R. Salas, 

Secretary.

[FR Doc. E4–177 Filed 2–3–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

Notice of Application Accepted for 

Filing and Soliciting Motions To 

Intervene, Protests, and Comments 

January 28, 2004. 

Take notice that the following 

hydroelectric application has been filed 

with the Commission and is available 

for public inspection: 

a. Type of Application: Preliminary 

Permit. 

b. Project No.: 12481–000. 

c. Date filed: December 19, 2003. 

d. Applicant: AMG Energy, LLC. 

e. Name of Project: Selden Dam 

Project. 

f. Location: On the Black Warrior 

River, in Greene and Hale Counties, 

Alabama, utilizing the U.S. Army Corps 

of Engineers’ Selden Dam. 

g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power 

Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)—825(r). 

h. Applicant Contact: Janis Millett, 

Esq., AMG Energy, LLC, Lincoln Square, 

555 Eleventh Street, NW., Sixth Floor, 

Washington, DC 20004, (202) 508–3415. 

i. FERC Contact: Robert Bell, (202) 

502–6062. 

j. Deadline for filing comments, 

protests, and motions to intervene: 60 

days from the issuance date of this 

notice. 

All documents (original and eight 

copies) should be filed with: Magalie R. 

Salas, Secretary, Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, 888 First 

Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426. 

Please include the project Number (P–

12481–000) on any comments, protests, 

or motions filed. 

The Commission’s Rules of Practice 

and Procedure require all interveners 

filing documents with the Commission 

to serve a copy of that document on 

each person in the official service list 

for the project. Further, if an intervener 

files comments or documents with the 

Commission relating to the merits of an 

issue that may affect the responsibilities 

of a particular resource agency, they 

must also serve a copy of the document 

on that resource agency. 

k. Description of Project: The 

proposed project utilizing the Corps 

existing Selden Dam and would consist 

of: (1) A proposed powerhouse 

containing 2 or 3 generating units and 

having a total installed capacity of 6 

megawatts, (2) a proposed 2-mile-long, 

14.7 kilovolt transmission line, and (3) 

appurtenant facilities. Applicant