156 FERC ¶ 61,055

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION

18 CFR Part 38

[Docket No. RM05-5-025]

Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities

(July 21, 2016)

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes to 

incorporate by reference the latest version (Version 003.1) of certain Standards for 

Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities adopted by the 

Wholesale Electric Quadrant (WEQ) of the North American Energy Standards Board 

(NAESB). These standards mainly modify and update NAESB’s WEQ Version 003

Standards. The Commission also proposes to revise its regulations to incorporate

NAESB’s updated Smart Grid Business Practice Standards in the Commission’s General 

Policy and Interpretations.

DATES: Comments are due [INSERT DATE 60 days after publication in the 

FEDERAL REGISTER].

ADDRESSES: Comments, identified by Docket No. RM05-5-025, may be filed in the 

following ways:
Docket No. RM05-5-025 ii

 Electronic Filing through http://www.ferc.gov. Documents created electronically 

using word processing software should be filed in native applications or print-toPDF format and not in a scanned format.

 Mail/Hand Delivery: Those unable to file electronically may mail or hand-deliver 

comments to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the 

Commission, 888 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426.

INSTRUCTIONS: For detailed instructions on submitting comments and additional 

information on the rulemaking process, see the Comment Procedures Section of this 

document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael P. Lee (technical issues)

Office of Energy Policy and Innovation

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

888 First Street, NE

Washington, DC 20426

(202) 502-6548

Gary D. Cohen (legal issues)

Office of the General Counsel

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

888 First Street, NE

Washington, DC 20426

(202) 502-8321

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Docket No. RM05-5-025 iii

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION

Standards for Business Practices and Communication 

Protocols for Public Utilities

Docket No. RM05-5-025

NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Paragraph Numbers

I. Background ............................................................................................................................6.

II. Discussion .............................................................................................................................17.

A. Revisions to WEQ OASIS Business Practice Standards in Light of Commission 

Policies...................................................................................................................................18.

1. Overview.......................................................................................................................18.

2. Redirects from Conditional Parent Reservations .........................................................19.

3. Requirement to Post ATC Narrative within One Day..................................................26.

4. SAMTS Point-to-Point Treatment................................................................................28.

5. Clarification of Discretion of Transmission Providers to Deny Service Requests 

under Standard WEQ-001-106.2.5 ....................................................................................30.

6. Modifications to Allow a Transmission Provider to Extend the Time to Perform 

its Biennial Reassessment..................................................................................................32.

7. Industry-Wide Mechanism for Consistent Posting of AFC-Related Data ...................34.

8. Use of DUNS Numbers................................................................................................36.

B. Revised and New Standards Designed to Complement NERC Reliability Standards 

and Developments..................................................................................................................38.

1. NERC Compliance Registry.........................................................................................38.

2. Electric Industry Registry Standards............................................................................39.

3. WEQ-023 Modeling Business Practice Standards .......................................................41.

C. Revisions to WEQ Business Practice Standards Not Requested by Commission or 

Developed to Comply with a Commission Directive ............................................................43.

1. Proper Method to Post Off-OASIS Resale Transactions .............................................44.

2. Unmasking of Final State Source and Sink Requests ..................................................46.

3. Modifications to Smart Grid Standards........................................................................48.

4. Modification to Standards on Abbreviations, Acronyms and Definitions of 

Terms.................................................................................................................................51.

5. Public Key Infrastructure-Related Standards...............................................................53.

D. Implementation.................................................................................................................56.

III. Notice of Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards ..............................................................57.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 iv

IV. Incorporation By Reference ................................................................................................59.

V. Information Collection Statement ........................................................................................62.

VI. Environmental Analysis......................................................................................................69.

VII. Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification ............................................................................70.

VIII. Comment Procedures........................................................................................................74.

IX. Document Availability ........................................................................................................78.
156 FERC ¶ 61,055

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION

NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING

(July 21, 2016)

1. In this notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR), the Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission (Commission) proposes to amend its regulations under the Federal Power 

Act1to incorporate by reference the latest version of certain Standards for Business 

Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities (Version 003.1) adopted by 

the Wholesale Electric Quadrant (WEQ) of the North American Energy Standards Board 

(NAESB) and filed with the Commission on October 26, 2015 (October 26 Filing). We 

also propose to list informationally, as guidance, NAESB’s updated Smart Grid Business 

Practice Standards in Standard WEQ-019. In addition, as explained further below, there 

are several NAESB standards included in the WEQ Version 003.1 package of standards 

that we are not proposing in this NOPR to incorporate by reference.

2. These revised NAESB standards update earlier versions of these standards that the 

Commission previously incorporated by reference into its regulations at 18 CFR 38.1 in 

 

1 16 U.S.C. 791a, et seq.

Standards for Business Practices and Communication 

Protocols for Public Utilities

Docket No. RM05-5-025
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 2 -

Order Nos. 676-E,2 676-H,3 764,4and 890.

5

 In addition, NAESB developed two new 

suites of standards in coordination with the North American Electric Reliability 

Corporation (NERC) (the Commission-certified “electric reliability organization” 

responsible for developing and enforcing mandatory Reliability Standards).

6 These two 

NAESB proposals would establish: (1) NAESB Electric Industry Registry (EIR) 

business practice standards that replace the NERC Transmission System Information 

Networks (TSIN) as the tool to be used by wholesale electric markets to conduct 

electronic transactions via electronic tagging (e-Tags); and (2) Modeling Business 

 

2 Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public 

Utilities, Order No. 676-E, 74 FR 63288 (Dec. 3, 2009), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,299 

(2009).

3 Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public 

Utilities, Order No. 676-H, 79 FR 56939 (Sept. 24, 2014), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,359, 

at n.81 (2014), corrected, 149 FERC ¶ 61,014 (2014).

4

Integration of Variable Energy Resources, Order No. 764, 77 FR 41,482 

(July 13, 2012), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,331 (2012).

5 Preventing Undue Discrimination and Preference in Transmission Service, 

Order No. 890, 72 FR 12266 (Mar. 15, 2007), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,241 (2007).

6 NERC is the Commission-certified “electric reliability organization” responsible 

for developing and enforcing mandatory Reliability Standards. See section 215 of the 

Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 824o (2012).
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 3 -

Practice Standards to support and complement NERC’s proposed retirement of its

“MOD A” Reliability Standards.

7

3. NAESB’s WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards include modifications 

to the following set of existing standards:8

WEQ Business Practice Standards

000 Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Definition of Terms 

001 Open Access Same-Time Information System (OASIS)

002 OASIS Standards and Communication Protocols (S&CP)

003 OASIS S&CP Data Dictionaries

004 Coordinate Interchange

006 Manual Time Error Corrections

012 Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)

013 OASIS Implementation Guide

019 Customer Energy Usage Information Communication

 

7

In a February 19, 2014 petition, NERC proposed to retire Reliability Standards 

MOD-001-1a, MOD-004-1, MOD-008-1, MOD-028-2, MOD-029-1a, and MOD-030-2

and requested approval of new Reliability Standard MOD-001-2. Generally, the “MOD” 

series of NERC Reliability Standards pertain to transmission system modeling. The 

Commission issued a NOPR in Docket No. RM14-7-000 that addressed NERC’s 

proposal, and the matter is currently pending before the Commission. Modeling, Data, 

and Analysis Reliability Standards, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 79 FR 36269 

(June 26, 2014), 147 FERC ¶ 61,208 (2014) (MOD NOPR).

8 On October 26, 2015, NAESB filed a report with the Commission (previously 

referenced as the October 26 Filing) presenting all the modifications it has made to the 

WEQ Version 003 Business Practice Standards since those standards were incorporated 

by reference by the Commission in 2014 in Order No. 676-H, as well as two new suites 

of standards that it has developed, which are further described below in P 12.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 4 -

4. Additionally, the Version 003.1 standards include two new suites of standards:

WEQ Business Practice Standards

022 Electric Industry Registry (EIR) 

023 Modeling

5. These NAESB standards, developed through the NAESB standards development 

process or the NAESB minor correction process, build upon the Version 003 WEQ 

Business Practice Standards that NAESB filed with the Commission on September 18, 

2012 and that the Commission incorporated by reference into its regulations in Order

No. 676-H, a final rule issued by the Commission on September 18, 2014.9

I. Background

6. NAESB is a non-profit standards development organization established in late 

2001 (as the successor to the Gas Industry Standards Board (GISB), which was 

established in 1994) and serves as an industry forum for the development of business 

practice standards and communication protocols for the wholesale and retail natural gas 

and electricity industry sectors. Since 1995, NAESB and its predecessor, the GISB, have 

been accredited members of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), 

complying with ANSI’s requirements that its standards reflect a consensus of the affected 

industries.10

 

9 See supra n.3.

10 Prior to the establishment of NAESB in 2001, the Commission’s development 

of business practice standards for the wholesale electric industry was aided by two ad hoc

industry working groups established during the rulemaking proceeding that resulted in 

issuance of Order No. 889 and the creation of the OASIS, while GISB’s efforts involved 

(continued...)
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 5 -

7. NAESB’s standards include business practices intended to standardize and

streamline the transactional processes of the natural gas and electric industries, as well as 

communication protocols and related standards designed to improve the efficiency of 

communication within each industry. NAESB supports all three quadrants of the gas and 

electric industries – wholesale gas, wholesale electric, and retail markets quadrant.

11

 All 

participants in the gas and electric industries are eligible to join NAESB and participate 

in standards development.

8. NAESB develops its standards under a consensus process so that the standards 

draw support from a wide range of industry members. NAESB’s procedures are designed 

to ensure that all persons choosing to participate can have input into the development of a 

standard, regardless of whether they are members of NAESB, and each standard NAESB 

adopts is supported by a consensus of the relevant industry segments. Standards that fail 

to gain consensus support are not adopted. NAESB’s consistent practice has been to 

submit a report to the Commission after it has made revisions to existing business 

practice standards or has developed and adopted new business practice standards. 

NAESB’s standards are voluntary standards, which become mandatory for public utilities 

upon incorporation by reference by the Commission.

 

the development of business practice standards for the wholesale natural gas industry. 

Once formally established, NAESB took over the standards development previously 

handled by GISB and by the electric working groups.

11 The retail gas quadrant and the retail electric quadrant were combined into the 

retail markets quadrant. NAESB continues to refer to these working groups as 

“quadrants” even though there are now only three quadrants.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 6 -

9. In Order No. 676,12 the Commission not only incorporated by reference into its 

regulations business practice standards and communication protocols for the wholesale 

electric industry, it also established a formal ongoing process for reviewing and 

upgrading the Commission’s OASIS standards and other wholesale electric industry 

business practice standards. In later orders in this series, the Commission incorporated 

by reference revisions to these standards.13

10. The WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards include six OASIS-related 

standards14 that NAESB modified in response to directives and guidance provided in 

Order Nos. 676-E, 676-H, and 890. Specifically, in response to the Commission’s 

guidance in Order No. 676-E, NAESB modified its OASIS standards to explicitly permit 

a transmission provider to extend the performance of the biennial assessment. In 

response to the Commission’s guidance in Order No. 676-H, NAESB made four 

modifications to the OASIS suite of standards regarding: (1) the treatment of redirects 

 

12 Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public 

Utilities, Order No. 676, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,216 (2006).

13 Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public 

Utilities, Order No. 676-C, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,274, reh’g denied, Order 

No. 676-D, 124 FERC ¶ 61,317 (2008); See supra n.2; Standards for Business Practices 

and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities, Order No. 676-F, FERC Stats. & 

Regs. ¶ 31,309 (2010); Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols 

for Public Utilities, Order No. 676-G, 78 FR 14654 (Mar. 7, 2013), FERC Stats. & Regs. 

¶ 31,343 (2013); See supra n.3.

14 The OASIS suite of standards is used collectively by NAESB to reference 

four business practice standards: WEQ-001 Open Access Same-Time Information 

System (OASIS); WEQ-002 OASIS Standards and Communication Protocols (S&CP); 

WEQ-003 OASIS S&CP Data Dictionaries; and WEQ-013 OASIS Implementation 

Guide.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 7 -

for transmission service from conditional parent reservations; (2) the one-day 

requirement for the posting of Available Transfer Capability (ATC) Narratives; (3) the 

treatment of point-to-point reservations under Service Across Multiple Transmission

Systems (SAMTS); and (4) the clarification of the requirements under which a 

transmission provider may deny a request to terminate service. To implement 

Commission guidance in Order No. 890, NAESB modified standards to allow for the 

consistent posting of Available Flowgate Capability (AFC) related data on OASIS sites.

11. In addition, as part of the standards development process, NAESB made two

additional revisions to the OASIS suite of standards that were not made in response to 

Commission orders. First, NAESB modified WEQ-001 and WEQ-013 to require 

resellers to enter off-OASIS resale transactions into OASIS sites in the “accepted” status 

to provide the assignee of the resale the opportunity to confirm the transaction on the 

OASIS. Second, NAESB revised WEQ-002-4.3.6.2 to allow for the unmasking of the 

source and sink of a request for transmission when that request is moved to any final 

state.

12. NAESB has adopted certain new and revised WEQ Version 003.1 Business 

Practice Standards based on developments involving NERC. First, NAESB developed 

the WEQ-022 Electric Industry Registry (EIR) Business Practice Standards to 

complement the transfer of registry functions from the NERC TSIN to the NAESB EIR. 

The EIR database serves as a central repository of information required for commercial 

interactions, including electronic transactions via e-Tags. Second, NAESB developed the 

WEQ-023 Modeling Business Practice Standards in response to a NERC petition to
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 8 -

delete and retire the six “MOD A” Reliability Standards. As mentioned above, NERC 

filed a petition with the Commission on February 10, 2014 proposing to retire 

NERC’s six MOD A Reliability Standards and replace them with Reliability Standard 

MOD-001-2, which NERC states will focus exclusively on the reliability aspects of ATC 

and AFC.

15

 On February 7, 2014, NERC submitted a request to NAESB (Standards 

Request 14002)16 asking NAESB to consider adopting standards that address the 

commercial and business aspects of the MOD standards proposed for retirement. 

NAESB subsequently developed the WEQ-023 Business Practice Standards to support 

and complement the proposed retirement of the MOD A Reliability Standards. The 

WEQ-023 Business Practice Standard specifies the requirements for calculating ATC and 

AFC and supports the task of reporting on the commercial aspects of these calculations.

17

13. Third, NAESB has adopted revisions to NAESB standards that need to match up

with NERC’s Interchange Scheduling and Coordination (INT) Reliability Standards. In 

this regard, NAESB modified certain WEQ-000 and WEQ-004 Business Practice 

Standards to complement NERC’s proposal to modify the INT Reliability Standards, 

including removal of the Load Serving Entity (LSE) category as one of the functional 

registration categories in the NERC Compliance Registry.18

 

15 As mentioned above, NERC proposes to retire Reliability Standards MOD-001-

1a, MOD-004-1, MOD-008-1, MOD-028-2, MOD-029-1a, and MOD-030-2.

16 https://www.naesb.org/pdf4/r140.

17 These terms are defined in WEQ-000-1.

18 NAESB October 26 Filing at 3.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 9 -

14. NAESB also includes as part of its Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards

additional non-OASIS standards modifications to WEQ Version 003.1 that it made in the 

course of normal standards development. In Order No. 764, the Commission required 

transmission providers to provide for the scheduling of interchange in 15-minute 

intervals. In response, NAESB made two changes to the WEQ-004 Coordinate 

Interchange Business Practice Standards. NAESB also modified WEQ-019 to ensure 

consistency between WEQ Business Practice Standards and other standards 

organizations’ standards. Additionally, NAESB modified WEQ-000 to harmonize 

definitions with NAESB Retail Market Quadrant efforts.

15. In Order 676-H, the Commission incorporated by reference WEQ Business 

Practice Standards to support Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). The WEQ Version 003.1

Business Practice Standards include additional PKI modifications to WEQ-002, WEQ004, and WEQ-012 to support the NAESB Authorized Certification Authority 

(Certification Authority) Certification Program and to account for technological 

advances.

16. NAESB also has in place a process to make necessary minor corrections to its 

standards, when needed. The WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards include 

seven new minor corrections made by NAESB.

19

 

19 These corrections are identified and explained in the October 26 Filing.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 10 -

II. Discussion

17. As discussed below, with certain enumerated exceptions, we propose to 

incorporate by reference (into the Commission’s regulations at 18 CFR 38.1(b)) the 

NAESB WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards.20 The Version 003.1

standards will replace the Version 003 standards currently incorporated by reference into 

the Commission’s regulations. Where we have proposed in this NOPR to incorporate a 

NAESB Business Practice Standard by reference into the Commission’s regulations, this 

has been based on a preliminary determination that the standard at issue is consistent with 

the Commission’s findings in Order No. 676-H and does not appear inconsistent with any 

Commission directives or findings in other orders.

A. Revisions to WEQ OASIS Business Practice Standards in Light of 

Commission Policies

1. Overview

18. The NAESB WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards contain six 

modifications to the OASIS suite of standards that NAESB developed to ensure 

 

20 Consistent with our past practice, we do not propose to incorporate by reference 

into the Commission’s regulations the following standards: Standards of Conduct for 

Electric Transmission Providers (WEQ-009); Contracts Related Standards (WEQ-010); 

and WEQ/WGQ eTariff Related Standards (WEQ-014). We also do not propose to 

incorporate by reference at this time the WEQ-023 Modeling Business Practice 

Standards. We do not propose to incorporate by reference standard WEQ-009 because it 

contains no substantive standards and merely serves as a placeholder for future standards. 

We do not propose to incorporate by reference standard WEQ-010 because this standard 

contains an optional NAESB contract regarding funds transfers and the Commission does 

not require utilities to use such contracts. Moreover, as discussed more specifically in the 

section below on Redirects from Conditional Parent Reservations, we do not propose in 

this NOPR to incorporate by reference certain portions of WEQ-001.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 11 -

consistency with certain policies articulated by the Commission in Order Nos. 676-H, 

676-E, and 890. NAESB states that four of the six modifications align the OASIS suite 

of standards with guidance provided by the Commission in Order No. 676-H concerning

the treatment of redirects for transmission service from conditional parent reservations, 

the one-day requirement for the posting of ATC Narratives, the treatment of point-topoint reservations under SAMTS, and new clarification of the requirements under which 

a transmission provider may deny a request to terminate service. In response to a 

directive in Order No. 676-E, NAESB also modified standards to explicitly permit a 

transmission provider to extend the performance of the biennial reassessment. 

Additionally, to implement the Commission’s guidance provided in Order No. 890, 

NAESB modified pertinent standards to allow for the consistent posting of AFC-related 

data on OASIS sites.

2. Redirects from Conditional Parent Reservations

19. In Order No. 676-H, the Commission declined to incorporate by reference NAESB 

Standards WEQ-001-9.5 and WEQ-001-10.5. The Version 003.0 WEQ-001-9.5 stated 

that, “upon confirmation of the request to Redirect on a firm basis, the Capacity 

Available to Redirect shall be reduced by the amount of the redirected capacity granted 

for the time period of that Redirect.” The Version 003.0 WEQ-001-10.5 contained nearly 

identical language relating to the confirmation of requests to redirect on a non-firm basis.

The Commission explained that it found both of these standards inconsistent with the 
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 12 -

Commission’s precedent in Dynegy Power Marketing, Inc.21 and Entergy Services, Inc.22

With regard to Standard WEQ-001-9.5, the Commission explained that, “as we found in 

these orders, reducing the capacity available to redirect prior to the passage of the 

conditional reservation deadline could lead to a customer paying firm transmission 

charges and losing capacity on both its original path and its redirect path.”23 The 

Commission further explained that the Dynegy policy “effects a reasonable balancing of 

interests between the customer and the transmission owner by ensuring that the customer

does not potentially lose rights to capacity, while at the same time still permitting the 

transmission owner to sell available capacity on a short term basis until the redirect 

becomes unconditional.” The Commission also found that Standard WEQ-001-10.5 

raised similar concerns regarding the confirmation of requests to redirect on a non-firm 

basis and also declined to incorporate by reference Standard WEQ-001-10.5 and 

requested that NAESB, likewise, give consideration to reworking this standard.

20. As the Commission stated in Entergy,

24 our guiding precedent on the issue of 

when a customer requesting redirect loses rights on the original path was set in Dynegy.

25

 

In Dynegy, the Commission found that a transmission customer receiving firm 

 

21 99 FERC ¶ 61,054, at P 9 (2002) (Dynegy).

22 143 FERC ¶ 61,143, at P 25 & n.68 (2013) (Entergy).

23 Id. P 47.

24 Id. P 25 & n.68.

25 Dynegy, 99 FERC ¶ 61,054 at P 9.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 13 -

transmission service does not lose its rights to its original path until the redirect request 

satisfies all of the following criteria: (1) it is accepted by the transmission provider; (2) it 

is confirmed by the transmission customer; and (3) it passes the conditional reservation 

deadline under section 13.2 of its Open Access Transmission Tariff.

21. Having NAESB revise its standards to accommodate the Commission’s policy in 

this area will help avoid confusion by public utilities as to their responsibilities under the 

Commission`s policy and under the NAESB standards. The Commission’s concern in 

Dynegy and Entergy was that a redirecting customer would lose its rights to the 

unconditional parent path and be left with no transmission service during the redirect 

period if the requested redirect was preempted by a competing service request.

22. We appreciate the extensive work that NAESB and its stakeholder have 

undertaken in response to our directive in Order 676-H. NAESB has reached consensus 

on standards relating to redirects related to unconditional parent reservations, and we 

propose to incorporate those standards by reference into our regulations.

23. NAESB reports, however, that it was unsure whether and to what extent the 

Dynegy policy applies to conditional parent reservations and non-firm service, and no 

consensus could be reached with respect to such standards. It therefore adopted a 

standard (WEQ-001-9.5) that allows individual transmission providers to craft provisions 

in their individual tariffs for how they will address redirects of requests for firm 

transmission service, rather than having an industry-wide business practice for such 

transactions. Because it could not reach consensus on these issues, the standards also do 

not prescribe when a public utility must reduce uncommitted capacity to account for 
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 14 -

redirects. NAESB also adopted a similar rewrite of the standard (WEQ-001-10.5) on 

redirects on a non-firm basis.

24. The concern about the negative effects of the potential loss of the customer’s 

parent path when the parent reservation is conditional and subject to competition 

arguably is much less compelling than when the parent reservation is unconditional. 

While Dynegy carved out an exception for unconditional parent reservations, the 

Commission has not explicitly ruled on whether Dynegy applies to conditional parent 

reservations, and such an extension may go beyond the policy concern with losing firm 

service articulated in Entergy.

25. We, therefore, invite comment on whether the Commission should apply the 

Dynegy policy to conditional and non-firm redirects. Parties also should address the four

redirect-related issues on which stakeholders have been unable to reach consensus. 

These are: (1) the treatment of a firm redirect for transmission service following the 

preemption of the conditional parent reservation; (2) the circumstances under which a 

firm redirect for transmission service may return to the conditional parent reservation;

(3) the number of subsequent firm redirects for transmission service that can stem from 

the original firm redirect for transmission service; and (4) the proper treatment of 

requests to redirect requests for non-firm transmission service. Based on these responses, 

the Commission will consider whether it will adopt regulations regarding redirects from 

conditional parent reservations and non-firm service.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 15 -

3. Requirement to Post ATC Narrative within One Day

26. NAESB developed Standard WEQ-001-14 to meet the requirement in Order No. 

890 for transmission providers to post a narrative in instances when ATC remains 

unchanged at a value of zero for six months or longer. In addition, Standard WEQ-001-

15 requires transmission providers to post a brief narrative that explains the reason for a 

change in monthly or yearly ATC values on a constrained path when a monthly or yearly 

ATC value changes as a result of a 10 percent change in total transfer capability. In 

Order No. 676-H, the Commission declined to incorporate by reference Standards WEQ001-14.1.3 and WEQ-011-15.1.2 after determining that these standards did not meet the 

Commission’s requirement to post the ATC narrative as soon as feasible.26 The 

Commission requested that NAESB “revise these standards to provide for a one-day 

posting requirement.”27 In response, NAESB modified Standards WEQ-001-14.1.3 and 

WEQ-011-15.1.2 and adopted business practice standards to support the one-day posting 

requirement.

27. NAESB’s revised standards appear consistent with our findings in Order No. 676-

H and do not appear inconsistent with any Commission directives or findings in other 

orders. Moreover, as we explained above,

28 below,29 and in previous orders, the NAESB 

 

26 Order No. 676-E, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,299 at P 39.

27 Id. P 29.

28 See supra P 8.

29 See infra P 57.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 16 -

standards are developed in an open consensus process that assures that the standards draw 

support from a wide range of industry members before being developed and adopted. 

Accordingly, we propose to incorporate by reference, into the Commission’s regulations 

at 18 CFR 38.1, NAESB’s revised standards on the timing of the required posting of 

ATC narratives, as set forth in NAESB’s WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice 

Standards.

4. SAMTS Point-to-Point Treatment

28. The NAESB SAMTS business practice standards that the Commission 

incorporated by reference in Order No. 676-H were developed in response to a 

Commission finding in Order No. 890 requesting that NAESB develop business practice 

standards in this area.30 In Order No. 676-H, the Commission found reasonable a 

NAESB request to treat a conditional point-to-point reservation included in a coordinated 

group displaced through preemption as comparable to a reservation being superseded as a 

result of preemption.31 NAESB therefore includes in the Version 003.1 standards 

modifications to the SAMTS-related standards to permit a customer with preempted 

transmission capacity from a reservation associated with a coordinated group to alter 

(reduce or terminate) the capacity of coordinate requests in the coordinated group.

29. The Commission finds that NAESB’s revised standards are consistent with our 

findings in Order No. 676-H and do not appear inconsistent with any Commission 

 

30 Order No. 890, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,241 at P 1377.

31 Order No. 676-H, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,359 at P 65.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 17 -

directives or findings in other orders. Accordingly, we propose to incorporate by 

reference, into the Commission’s regulations at 18 CFR 38.1, NAESB’s revised standards 

on SAMTS-Related standards as set forth in the WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice 

Standards.

5. Clarification of Discretion of Transmission Providers to Deny 

Service Requests under Standard WEQ-001-106.2.5

30. In Order No. 676-H, the Commission declined to incorporate by reference 

Standard WEQ-001-106.2.5, explaining that the standard was “unclear in its application 

and could be read to allow Transmission Providers discretion to deny requests to 

terminate service in situations where this might not be warranted.” 32 In response, 

NAESB modified Standard WEQ-001-106.2.1, added Standard WEQ-001-106.2.1.1, and 

deleted Standard WEQ-001-106.2.5. Together, these revised standards clarify that a 

transmission customer should submit an accurate termination request and, if the 

transmission customer fails to do so, the transmission provider may deny the request.

31. NAESB’s revised standards appear consistent with our findings in Order 

No. 676-H and do not appear inconsistent with any Commission directives or findings in 

other orders. Accordingly, we propose to incorporate by reference, into the 

Commission’s regulations at 18 CFR 38.1, NAESB’s revised Standards WEQ-WEQ-001-

106.2.21, WEQ-001-106.2.1.1, and WEQ-001-106.2.5, as set forth in the WEQ Version 

003.1 Business Practice Standards.

 

32 Id. P 58.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 18 -

6. Modifications to Allow a Transmission Provider to Extend the 

Time to Perform its Biennial Reassessment

32. In Order No. 676-E, the Commission stated “we reiterate here the Commission’s 

finding in Order No. 890 that a transmission provider is permitted to extend the 

timeframe to reassess the availability of conditional firm service. Since the 

Version 002.1 Standards do not specifically address this issue, we would ask the industry, 

working through NAESB, to continue to look at additional business practice standards 

facilitating a transmission provider’s extension of its right to perform a reassessment.”33

In response to this request, NAESB, in its Version 003.1 Standards, adopted 

modifications to five standards in the WEQ-001 OASIS Business Practice Standards and 

one standard in the WEQ-013 OASIS Implementation Guide Business Practice Standards 

that explicitly allow a transmission provider to extend the deadline by which it must 

perform its biennial reassessment of the availability on its system of conditional firm 

service.

33. NAESB’s revised standards appear consistent with our findings in Order 

No. 676-E and do not appear inconsistent with any Commission directives or findings in 

other orders. Accordingly, we propose to incorporate by reference, into the 

Commission’s regulations at 18 CFR 38.1, NAESB’s revisions to five standards to extend 

the deadline by which a transmission provider must perform its biennial reassessment of 

the availability on its system of conditional firm service, as set forth in the WEQ Version 

003.1 Business Practice Standards.

 

33 Order No. 676-E, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,299 at P 72.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 19 -

7. Industry-Wide Mechanism for Consistent Posting of AFCRelated Data

34. In Order No. 890-A, the Commission explained that “[t]o the extent MidAmerican 

or its customers find it beneficial also to post AFC, MidAmerican is free to post both 

ATC and AFC values.”34 In the WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards, 

NAESB includes revisions to provide an industry-wide mechanism for posting of AFCrelated data. NAESB adds three new data elements to the list of valid data element 

values for SYSTEM_ATTRIBUTE and SYSTEM_ELEMENT_TYPE in WEQ-003 

OASIS Data Dictionary and to the system data OASIS template in WEQ-013 OASIS 

Implementation Guide Business Practice Standards.

35. NAESB’s revised standards appear consistent with our findings in Order 

No. 890-A and do not appear inconsistent with any Commission directives or findings in 

other orders. Accordingly, we propose to incorporate by reference, into the 

Commission’s regulations at 18 CFR 38.1, NAESB’s revisions to the data elements in the 

OASIS Data Dictionary and to the data OASIS Template in Standard WEQ-013 to 

provide an industry-wide mechanism for posting of AFC-related data, as set forth in the 

WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards.

 

34 Order No. 890-A, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,261 at P 51.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 20 -

8. Use of DUNS Numbers

36. In Order No. 768, the Commission eliminated the requirement to use DUNS 

numbers

35 in Electronic Quarterly Report filings and stated that “DUNS numbers have 

proven to be imprecise identification systems, as entities may have multiple DUNS 

numbers, only one DUNS number, or no DUNS number at all.”36 NAESB has adopted 

revisions to Standard WEQ-001-3.1 to eliminate the use of a DUNS number to identify

an organization in OASIS postings. For consistency, NAESB also adopted changes or 

modifications to the Standard WEQ-000 Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Definition of 

Terms Business Practice Standards, WEQ-001 OASIS Business Practice Standards, 

WEQ-003 OASIS Data Dictionary Business Practice Standards, and WEQ-013 OASIS 

Implementation Guide Business Practice Standards.

37. NAESB’s revised standards appear consistent with the Commission’s findings in 

Order No. 768 and do not appear inconsistent with any Commission directives or findings 

in other orders. Accordingly, we propose to incorporate by reference, into the 

Commission’s regulations at 18 CFR 38.1, NAESB’s revisions to Standard WEQ-002-

4.3.6.2.

 

35 The Data Universal Numbering System, abbreviated as DUNS or D-U-N-S, is a 

proprietary system developed and regulated by Dun & Bradstreet that assigns a unique 

numeric identifier, referred to as a "DUNS number" to a single business entity.

36 Electricity Market Transparency Provisions of Section 220 of the Federal 

Power Act, Order No. 768, 77 FR 61896, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,336, at P 171 (2012).
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 21 -

B. Revised and New Standards Designed to Complement NERC

Reliability Standards and Developments

1. NERC Compliance Registry

38. The WEQ Version 003.1 standards include modifications to the WEQ-004 

Coordinate Interchange Business Practice Standards to include in the EIR items 

eliminated by NERC, in Docket No. RR15-4-000, from the NERC Compliance Registry 

including the elimination of the LSE, the Purchase Selling Entity, and the Interchange 

Authority roles. This proposal was accepted by the Commission in orders issued on 

March 19, 201537 and on October 15, 2015.38 Because the Commission has accepted the 

elimination of the LSE function from the NERC Compliance Registry, we propose to 

incorporate by reference, into the Commission’s regulations at 18 CFR 38.1, the NAESB 

modifications of WEQ-004 pertaining to Coordinate Interchange Business Practices.

2. Electric Industry Registry Standards

39. On November 13, 2012, the NAESB EIR replaced the NERC TSIN as the industry 

registry, a tool previously used by wholesale electric markets to help them develop 

e-Tags for electronic scheduling. Thus, the NAESB EIR is now the tool the industry uses 

to support OASIS users in the electronic scheduling of transactions by acting as the 

central repository for information used by the wholesale electric industry in the creation 

of e-Tags. The WEQ-004 Coordinate Interchange Business Practice Standards and e-Tag 

 

37 North American Electric Reliability Corporation, 150 FERC ¶ 61,213 (2015).

38 North American Electric Reliability Corporation, 153 FERC ¶ 61,024, at P 20 

(2015).
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 22 -

Functional Specifications and Schema provide the commercial framework for e-Tagging. 

The new WEQ-022 EIR Business Practice Standards establish business practices for the 

NAESB EIR and provide guidance for registry users.

40. NAESB’s revised Standard WEQ-004 appears reasonable and does not appear 

inconsistent with any Commission directives or findings in other orders. Accordingly, 

we propose to incorporate by reference, into the Commission’s regulations at 

18 CFR 38.1, NAESB’s revised Standard WEQ-004 as set forth in the WEQ Version 

003.1 Business Practice Standards.

3. WEQ-023 Modeling Business Practice Standards

41. WEQ’s Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards includes a new suite of 

standards, the WEQ-023 Modeling Business Practice Standards, which address technical 

issues affecting the calculation of ATC for wholesale electric transmission services. 

NAESB developed these Modeling standards after NERC proposed to retire the bulk of 

its MOD A Reliability Standards, which address ATC calculation, and NERC requested 

that NAESB consider developing replacement Business Practice Standards for 

requirements that NERC identified as being potentially relevant for commercial 

purposes.39 WEQ-023 includes two new requirements not previously included in the 

NERC Reliability Standards related to contract path management. These two standards, 

WEQ-023-1.4 and WEQ-023-1.4.1, limit the amount of firm transmission service across 

a path between balancing authorities to the contract path limit for that given path.

 

39 NERC’s proposal is currently pending before the Commission in the rulemaking

proceeding in Docket No. RM14-7-000, see supra n.7.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 23 -

42. The Commission is considering NERC’s proposed retirement of its ATC-related 

Reliability Standards in Docket No. RM14-7-000. In addition, the Commission has 

established a proceeding in Docket No. AD15-5-000 to consider proposed changes to the 

calculation of ATC, and has conducted a technical conference and received comments 

regarding such changes.40 As a result, we are not proposing to incorporate by reference 

the WEQ-023 Modeling Business Practice Standards in this NOPR, but will consider 

these standards as part of the overall inquiry into ATC calculation.

C. Revisions to WEQ Business Practice Standards Not Requested by

Commission or Developed to Comply with a Commission Directive

43. In addition to the standards revisions that NAESB made to comply with various 

Commission directives and requests, NAESB also developed and adopted five revisions 

to the Business Practice Standards at its own initiative. These revisions: (1) introduce a

requirement for resellers to post off-OASIS resale transactions on the OASIS in the 

“accepted” status to provide the assignee of the resale the opportunity to confirm the 

transaction on the OASIS; (2) allow for the unmasking of the source and sink of a request 

for transmission service, once that request is moved to any final state; (3) modify the 

Commission’s existing non-mandatory guidance on Smart Grid standards; (4) modify the 

WEQ Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Definition of Terms in Standard WEQ-000 to 

maintain consistency between the defined terms used in the NAESB standards, including 

 

40 See, e.g., the December 18, 2014 status report filed by NAESB in Docket 

Nos. RM05-5-000 and RM14-7-000, and the Commission’s April 21, 2015 workshop, 

Available Transfer Capability Standards for Wholesale Electric Transmission Services, 

Docket No. RM15-5-000.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 24 -

revisions to the terms “Demand Reduction Value” and “Energy Efficiency” to mirror 

definitions proposed by the Retail Market Quadrant and prevent industry confusion; and 

(5) modify the Commission’s PKI-related standards. We will now separately discuss 

each of these revisions.

1. Proper Method to Post Off-OASIS Resale Transactions

44. NAESB’s WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards include a revision to 

the WEQ-013 OASIS Implementation Guide Business Practice Standards to allow offOASIS resale transactions to be posted directly to the OASIS under an “accepted” status. 

Prior to the modification to WEQ-013-2.6.7.2, these transactions were posted only as 

confirmed transactions. NAESB has also adopted a revision to the WEQ-001 OASIS 

Business Practice Standards (WEQ-013-2.6.7.2) as a conforming change requiring a 

service agreement between an assignee and a transmission provider to be executed once 

the assignee has confirmed the resale transaction on the OASIS.

45. NAESB’s revised standards on this subject appear reasonable and do not appear 

inconsistent with any directives or findings in any Commission orders. Accordingly, we 

propose to incorporate by reference, into the Commission’s regulations at 18 CFR 38.1, 

NAESB’s revisions to Standard WEQ-013-2.6.7.2 and to the WEQ-013 OASIS 

Implementation Guide Standards.

2. Unmasking of Final State Source and Sink Requests

46. NAESB’s WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards modify Standard 

WEQ-002-4.3.6.2 to unmask the source and sink for a request for transmission service for 

all instances where the request for transmission service is moved to any final state. Prior 
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 25 -

to this modification, masking of the source and sink of a request for transmission service 

was permitted until the status of that request was confirmed.

47. NAESB’s revised standards appear reasonable and do not appear inconsistent with 

any directives or findings in any Commission order. Accordingly, we propose to 

incorporate by reference, into the Commission’s regulations at 18 CFR 38.1, NAESB’s 

revisions to Standard WEQ-002-4.3.6.2.

3. Modifications to Smart Grid Standards

48. In Order 676-H, the Commission recognized the values of the Smart Grid 

standards and encouraged “further developments in interoperability, technological 

innovation and standardization in this area.” In Order No. 676-H, the Commission 

adopted in its regulations as non-mandatory guidance five Smart Grid related standards: 

(1) WEQ-016 Specifications for Common Electricity Product and Pricing Definition 

Business Practice Standards; (2) WEQ-017 Specifications for Common Schedule 

Communication Mechanism for Energy Transactions; (3) WEQ-018 Specifications for 

Wholesale Standard Demand Response Signals Business Practice Standards; (4) WEQ019 Customer Energy Usage Information Communication Business Practice Standards;

and (5) WEQ-020 Smart Grid Standards Data Elements Table Business Practice 

Standards. This guidance is published in the Federal Register at 18 CFR 2.27.

49. In its Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards, NAESB has modified the 

Standard WEQ-019 Customer Energy Usage Information Communication Business 

Practice Standards. NAESB made this modification so that the revised standard will 

operate in harmony with other smart grid standards, including the Smart Energy Profile 
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 26 -

2.0, the International Electrotechnical Commission Information Model, the NAESB 

REQ.21 Energy Service Providers Interface, and standards developed by the American 

Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers.

50. Standard WEQ-019 provides for energy usage information and this revision allows 

consumers access to their energy usage information. These standards will not only be 

used by the wholesale electric industry, but also are important initiatives for use in

ongoing utility programs for consumer data access. We, therefore, propose to revise our 

non-mandatory guidance that we listed in 18 CFR 2.27(d) to reference NAESB’s updated 

Standard WEQ-019 as set out in the Version 003.1 package of WEQ Business Practice 

Standards, replacing the existing reference in 18 CFR 2.27(d) to Standard WEQ-019 as 

set out in the Version 003 WEQ Business Practice Standards.

4. Modification to Standards on Abbreviations, Acronyms and 

Definitions of Terms

51. Also included in Version 003.1 is a modification to WEQ Abbreviations, 

Acronyms, and Definition of Terms in Standard WEQ-000 to maintain consistency 

between the defined terms used in the NAESB standards, and modified the terms 

“Demand Reduction Value” and “Energy Efficiency” to mirror definitions proposed by 

the Retail Market Quadrant and prevent industry confusion.

52. NAESB’s revised standards appear reasonable and do not appear inconsistent with 

any directives or findings in any Commission orders. Accordingly, we propose to 

incorporate by reference, into the Commission’s regulations at 18 CFR 38.1, NAESB’s 

revisions to Standard WEQ-000.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 27 -

5. Public Key Infrastructure-Related Standards

53. NAESB includes three modifications to support the WEQ-012 PKI Business 

Practice Standards previously incorporated by reference by the Commission in Order

No. 676-H.41 The three PKI-related modifications made in the Version 003.1 Standards 

were to the WEQ-012 PKI Business Practice Standards, the WEQ-002 OASIS Standards 

and Communication Protocols Business Practice Standards, and the WEQ-004 

Coordinate Interchange Business Practice Standards. NAESB modified WEQ-012 to 

accommodate technology changes and security advances as well as to remove standards 

specifying criteria a certificate authority must meet. NAESB moved the standards 

specifying criteria that must be met out of the Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards 

and into a second document that outlines the prerequisites a certificate authority must 

meet to become a NAESB Certification Authority.

42

54. NAESB modified five standards and added three standards WEQ-002, which 

require the use of a certificate issued by a NAESB Certification Authority to access an 

OASIS site and include requirements related to support the implementation of PKI on 

OASIS sites as well as revisions to reflect the transmission of the registry from the NERC 

 

41 These three modifications were not included in the Version 003 filing NAESB 

made on September 18, 2012 but rather were filed separately by NAESB on January 29, 

2013 following the conclusion of standards development. See Submittal of Modifications 

to the NAESB Public Key Infrastructure Standards and Other Standards to support the 

Public Key Infrastructure, Docket Nos. RM05-5-000 and RM05-5-022, January 29, 2013.

42 The specifications document was created in recognition that certificate 

authorities may not be subject to the Commission’s jurisdictional authority under the 

Federal Power Act and that specification requirements can be modified through an 

accelerated process versus standards development.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 28 -

TSI to the NAESB EIR. NAESB includes one new standard, WEQ-004-2.3, which 

requires all e-Tagging communication to be secured by certifications issued by a NAESB 

Certification Authority. NAESB also includes modifications to WEQ-000 for 

consistency purposes.

55. In Order No. 676-H, the Commission incorporated by reference the WEQ-012 PKI 

Business Practice Standards. In Version 003.1, NAESB has filed three modifications to 

support these standards, requesting that the Commission also incorporate by reference 

these modifications. We propose to incorporate these revised standards by reference into 

the Commission’s regulations. These revised standards will require public utilities to 

conduct transactions securely when using the internet and will eliminate confusion over 

which transactions involving public utilities must follow the approved PKI procedures to 

secure their transactions. The revisions support the NAESB Authorized Certification 

Authority (ACA) Certification Program and account for technological advances 

following the original adoption of the standards by NAESB.43

D. Implementation

56. Consistent with the policy that we introduced in Order No. 676-H,44 we propose 

upon issuance of a final rule, to establish a specific date by which all public utilities must 

file compliance filings revising their tariffs to acknowledge their responsibility to comply 

with the revised standards. In Order No. 676-H, we permitted public utilities that wish to 

 

43 We note the NAESB ACA Certification Program is solely a service offered by 

NAESB, and is not include in WEQ-012.

44 Order No. 676-H, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,359 at P 71.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 29 -

incorporate the complete set of NAESB standards into their tariffs without modification 

to avoid having to make future compliance filings by specifying in their compliance 

filing that they are incorporating into their tariff all of the standards incorporated by 

reference by the Commission as specified in Part 38 of the Commission’s Rules of 

Practice and Procedure as updated and revised. Those public utilities that followed this 

approach after the issuance of Order No. 676-H will not need to make a compliance filing 

revising their tariff after issuance of a final rule in this proceeding as long as they 

continue to incorporate all of the standards without modification. Public utilities that 

have not availed themselves of this option in complying with Order No. 676-H would be 

free to do so in complying with a final rule in this proceeding.

III. Notice of Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards

57. The NAESB WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards were adopted by 

NAESB under NAESB's consensus procedures.45 As the Commission found in Order 

No. 676, adoption of consensus standards is appropriate because the consensus process 

helps ensure the reasonableness of the standards by requiring that the standards draw 

support from a broad spectrum of all segments of the industry. Moreover, since the 

industry itself has to conduct business under these standards, the Commission's 

regulations should reflect those standards that have the widest possible support. In 

 

45 Under this process, to be approved a standard must receive a super-majority 

vote of 67 percent of the members of the WEQ's Executive Committee with support from 

at least 40 percent from each of the five industry segments - transmission, generation, 

marketer/brokers, distribution/load serving entities, and end users. For final approval, 

67 percent of the WEQ's general membership must ratify the standards.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 30 -

section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, 

Congress affirmatively requires federal agencies to use technical standards developed by 

voluntary consensus standards organizations, like NAESB, as a means to carry out policy 

objectives or activities unless use of such standards would be inconsistent with applicable 

law or otherwise impractical.46

58. Office of Management and Budget Circular A-119 (section 11) (February 10, 

1998) provides that Federal Agencies should publish a request for comment in a NOPR 

when the agency is seeking to issue or revise a regulation proposing to adopt a voluntary 

consensus standard or a government-unique standard. In this NOPR, the Commission is 

proposing to incorporate by reference voluntary consensus standards developed by the 

WEQ of NAESB.

IV. Incorporation By Reference

59. The Office of the Federal Register requires agencies incorporating material by 

reference in final rules to discuss, in the preamble of the final rule, the ways that the 

materials it incorporates by reference are reasonably available to interested parties and 

how interested parties can obtain the materials.47 The regulations also require agencies to 

summarize, in the preamble of the final rule, the material it incorporates by reference. 

The NAESB standards we are proposing to incorporate by reference in this Final Rule 

can be summarized as follows:

 

46 Pub. L. No. 104-113, 12(d), 110 Stat. 775 (1996), 15 U.S.C. 272 note (1997).

47 1 CFR 51.5. See Incorporation by Reference, 79 FR 66267 (Nov. 7, 2014).
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 31 -

 Revisions to OASIS Standards. The Version 003.1standards include revisions to 

six OASIS-related standards made to conform to directives and guidance provided 

by the Commission in Order Nos. 676-E, 676-H, and 890. In addition, NAESB 

modified WEQ-001 and WEQ-013 to require resellers to enter off-OASIS resale 

transactions into OASIS sites in the “accepted” status to provide the assignee of 

the resale the opportunity to confirm the transaction on the OASIS and revised 

WEQ-002-4.3.6.2 to allow for the unmasking of the source and sink of a request 

for transmission when that request is moved to any final state. Finally, NAESB 

modified WEQ-001, WEQ-003, and WEQ-013 to be consistent with the 

Commission’s treatment of Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) numbers.

 Revisions to NERC-Related Standards. NAESB modified existing standards 

and developed new standards based on developments involving NERC. In 

addition, NAESB has adopted revisions to NAESB standards that need to match 

up with NERC’s Interchange Scheduling and Coordination (INT) Reliability 

Standards. The Commission is proposing to incorporate by reference the WEQ022 standards and the standards relating to NERC’s INT standards.

48

 Standards Development. NAESB also modified four additional standards in the 

course of normal standards development. In response to Order No. 764, NAESB 

modified WEQ-004 to provide for the scheduling of interchange in 15-minute 

 

48 As discussed above, NAESB has also adopted modifications to NERC-related 

standards, such as WEQ-023, that we do not propose in this NOPR to incorporate by 

reference.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 32 -

intervals and modified WEQ-019 to ensure consistency between WEQ Business 

Practice Standards and other standards organizations’ standards. Additionally, 

NAESB modified WEQ-000 to harmonize definitions with NAESB Retail Market 

Quadrant efforts.

 PKI Modifications. The standards include additional PKI modifications to WEQ002, WEQ-004, and WEQ-012 to support the NAESB Authorized Certification 

Authority (Certification Authority) Certification Program and to account for 

technological advances.

 Minor Corrections. Under its process to make necessary minor corrections to its 

standards, when needed, the WEQ Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards 

include seven new minor corrections made by NAESB.

60. Our regulations provide that copies of the NAESB standards incorporated by 

reference may be obtained from the North American Energy Standards Board, 

801 Travis Street, Suite 1675, Houston, TX 77002, Phone: (713) 356–0060. NAESB’s 

Web site is located at http://www.naesb.org/. Copies of the standards may be inspected 

at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Public Reference and Files Maintenance 

Branch, 888 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426, Phone: (202) 502–8371, 

http://www.ferc.gov.

49

61. NAESB is a private consensus standards developer that develops voluntary 

wholesale and retail standards related to the energy industry. The procedures used by 

 

49 18 CFR 284.12.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 33 -

NAESB make its standards reasonably available to those affected by the Commission 

regulations, which generally is comprised of entities that have the means to acquire the 

information they need to effectively participate in Commission proceedings.

50

 NAESB 

provides a free electronic read-only version of the standards for a three business day 

period or, in the case of a regulatory comment period, through the end of the comment 

period.51 Participants can join NAESB, for an annual membership cost of $7,000, which 

entitles them to full participation in NAESB and enables them to obtain these standards at 

no additional cost.52 Non-members may obtain a complete set of Standards Manuals, 

Booklets, and Contracts on CD for $2,000 and the Individual Standards Manual or 

Booklets for each standard by email for $250 per manual or booklet.

53

 In addition, 

NAESB considers requests for waivers of the charges on a case by case basis based on 

need.

 

50 As a private, consensus standards developer, NAESB needs the funds obtained 

from its membership fees and sales of its standards to finance the organization. The 

parties affected by these Commission regulations generally are highly sophisticated and 

have the means to acquire the information they need to effectively participate in 

Commission proceedings.

51 Procedures for non-members to evaluate work products before purchasing are 

available at https://www.naesb.org/misc/NAESB_Nonmember_Evaluation.pdf. See 

Incorporation by Reference, 79 FR at 66271, n.51 & 53 (Nov. 7, 2014) (citing to 

NAESB’s procedure of providing “no-cost, no-print electronic access,” NAESB 

Comment at 1, http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=OFR-2013-0001-0023).

52 North American Energy Standards Board Membership Application, 

https://www.naesb.org/pdf4/naesbapp.pdf.

53 NAESB Materials Order Form, https://www.naesb.org//pdf/ordrform.pdf.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 34 -

V. Information Collection Statement

62. The following collection of information contained in this proposed rule is subject 

to review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under section 3507(d) of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507(d).54 OMB’s regulations require 

approval of certain information collection requirements imposed by agency rules.55 Upon 

approval of a collection(s) of information, OMB will assign an OMB control number and 

an expiration date. Respondents subject to the filing requirements of this rule will not be 

penalized for failing to respond to these collections of information unless the collections 

of information display a valid OMB control number.

63. The Commission solicits comments on the Commission's need for this 

information, whether the information will have practical utility, the accuracy of the 

provided burden estimates, ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected, and any suggested methods for minimizing respondents’ 

burden, including the use of automated information techniques.

64. The following burden estimate is based on the projected costs for the industry to 

implement the new and revised business practice standards adopted by NAESB and 

proposed to be incorporated by reference in this NOPR.56

 

54 44 U.S.C. 3507(d).

55 5 CFR 1320.11.

56 Commission staff estimates that industry is similarly situated in terms of hourly 

cost (wages plus benefits). Based on the Commission average cost (wages plus benefits) 

for 2016, $74.50/hour is used.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 35 -

Revisions in NOPR in RM05-5-025

No. of 

Respondents

(1)

Annual No. 

of 

Responses 

Per 

Respondent

(2)

Total No. 

of 

Responses 

(1)*(2)=(3)

Average 

Burden 

(Hrs.) & 

Cost ($) Per 

Response

(4)

Total 

Annual 

Burden Hrs. 

& Total 

Annual Cost 

($)

(3)*(4)=(5)

FERC516E57

, 

58

(tariff filing)

132 1 132 6

$447

792 hours

$59,004 

FERC-717

(compliance 

with 

standards)59

132 1 132 3060

$2,235

3,960 hours

$295,020

Total 264 36 hours

$2,682

4,752 hours

$354,024

 

57 This burden category is intended for “FERC-516,” the Commission’s identifier 

that corresponds to OMB Control No. 1902-0096 (Electric Rate Schedules and Tariff 

Filings). However, another unrelated item is pending OMB review using this OMB 

Control No. and only one item per OMB Control No. may be pending at a time. 

Therefore, to ensure timely submission, Commission staff is using FERC-516E (OMB 

Control No. TBD), a temporary collection number.

58 These information collection requirements are one-time burden estimates. After 

implementation in Year 1, the revision proposed in this NOPR would be complete.

59 “FERC-717” is the Commission’s identifier that corresponds to OMB control 

no. 1902-0173 that identifies the information collection associated with Standards for 

Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities.

60 The 30-hour estimate was developed in Docket No. RM05-5-013, when the 

Commission prepared its estimate of the scope of work involved in transitioning to the 

NAESB Version 002.1 Business Practice Standards. See Order No. 676-E, FERC Stats. 

& Regs. ¶ 31,299 at P 134. We have retained the same estimate here, because the scope 

of the tasks involved in the transition to Version 003.1 of the Business Practice Standards 

is very similar to that for the transition to the Version 003 Standards.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 36 -

Costs to Comply with Paperwork Requirements:

The estimated annual costs are as follows:

• FERC-516E: 132 entities * 1 response/entity * (6 hours/response * $74.50/hour) = 

$57,024.

• FERC-717: 132 entities * 1 response/entity * (30 hours/response * $74.50/hour) = 

$285,120.

Titles: Electric Rate Schedule Filing (FERC-516E); Open Access Same Time 

Information System and Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols 

for Public Utilities (FERC-717).

Action: Proposed collection.

OMB Control Nos.: TBD (FERC-516E); 1902-0173 (FERC-717).

Respondents: Business or other for profit (Public Utilities – Generally not applicable to 

small businesses).61

Frequency of Responses: One-time implementation (business procedures, capital/startup).

65. Necessity of the Information: This proposed rule, if implemented would upgrade 

the Commission’s current business practice and communication standards and protocols 

modifications to support compliance with requirements established by the Commission in 

Order Nos. 890, 890-A, 890-B, and 890-C, as well as modifications to the OASIS-related 

standards to support Order Nos. 676, 676-A, 676-E, and 717.

 

61 See infra PP 72-73.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 37 -

66. Internal Review: The Commission has reviewed the revised business practice 

standards and has made a preliminary determination that the proposed revisions that we 

propose here to incorporate by reference are both necessary and useful. In addition, the 

Commission has assured itself, by means of its internal review, that there is specific, 

objective support for the burden estimate associated with the information requirements.

67. Interested persons may obtain information on the reporting requirements by 

contacting the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of the Executive Director, 

888 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426 [Attn: Ellen Brown, e-mail: 

DataClearance@ferc.gov, phone: (202) 502-8663, fax: (202) 273-0873].

68. Comments concerning the information collections proposed in this NOPR and the 

associated burden estimates should be sent to the Commission at this docket and by email to the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs [Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission]. For 

security reasons, comments should be sent by e-mail to OMB at the following e-mail 

address: oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. Please reference the docket number of this 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Docket No. RM05-5-25) and OMB Control Nos. TBD 

(FERC-516E) and 1902-0173 (FERC-717) in your submission.

VI. Environmental Analysis

69. The Commission is required to prepare an Environmental Assessment or an 

Environmental Impact Statement for any action that may have a significant adverse effect 
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 38 -

on the human environment.62 The Commission has categorically excluded certain actions 

from these requirements as not having a significant effect on the human environment.63 

The actions proposed here fall within categorical exclusions in the Commission’s 

regulations for rules that are clarifying, corrective, or procedural, for information 

gathering, analysis, and dissemination, and for sales, exchange, and transportation of 

electric power that requires no construction of facilities.64 Therefore, an environmental 

assessment is unnecessary and has not been prepared in this NOPR.

VII. Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

70. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA)65 generally requires a description 

and analysis of proposed rules that will have significant economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. The RFA does not mandate any particular outcome in a 

rulemaking. It only requires consideration of alternatives that are less burdensome to 

small entities and an agency explanation of why alternatives were rejected.

71. The Small Business Administration (SBA) revised its size standards (effective 

January 22, 2014) for electric utilities from a standard based on megawatt hours to a 

standard based on the number of employees, including affiliates. Under SBA’s 

 

62 Regulations Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 

Order No. 486, 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. & Regs., Regulations 

Preambles 1986-1990 ¶ 30,783 (1987).

63 18 CFR 380.4.

64 See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii), 380.4(a)(5), 380.4(a)(27).

65 5 U.S.C. 601-612.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 39 -

standards, some transmission owners will fall under the following category and 

associated size threshold: electric bulk power transmission and control, at 500 

employees.66

72. The Commission estimates that 5 of the 132 respondents are small. The 

Commission estimates that the impact on these entities is consistent with the paperwork 

burden of $2,682 per entity used above.67 The Commission does not consider $2,682 to 

be a significant economic impact.

73. Based on the above, the Commission certifies that implementation of the proposed 

Business Practice Standards will not have a significant impact on a substantial number of 

small entities. Accordingly, no initial regulatory flexibility analysis is required.

VIII. Comment Procedures

74. The Commission invites interested persons to submit comments on the matters and 

issues proposed in this notice to be adopted, including any related matters or alternative 

proposals that commenters may wish to discuss. Comments are due [INSERT DATE 60 

days after publication in the FEDERAL REGISTER]. Comments must refer to 

Docket No. RM05-5-025 and must include the commenter's name, the organization they 

represent, if applicable, and their address in their comments.

75. The Commission encourages comments to be filed electronically via the eFiling 

link on the Commission's web site at http://www.ferc.gov. The Commission accepts 

 

66 13 CFR 121.201, Sector 22 (Utilities), NAICS code 221121 (Electric Bulk 

Power Transmission and Control).

67 36 hours at $74.50/hour = $2,682.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 40 -

most standard word processing formats. Documents created electronically using word 

processing software should be filed in native applications or print-to-PDF format and not 

in a scanned format. Commenters filing electronically do not need to make a paper 

filing.

76. Commenters that are not able to file comments electronically must send an 

original of their comments to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the 

Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426.

77. All comments will be placed in the Commission's public files and may be viewed, 

printed, or downloaded remotely as described in the Document Availability section 

below. Commenters on this proposal are not required to serve copies of their comments 

on other commenters.

IX. Document Availability

78. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the Federal Register, the 

Commission provides all interested persons an opportunity to view and/or print the 

contents of this document via the Internet through the Commission's Home Page 

(http://www.ferc.gov) and in the Commission's Public Reference Room during normal 

business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time) at 888 First Street, NE, Room 2A, 

Washington, DC 20426.

79. From the Commission's Home Page on the Internet, this information is available 

on eLibrary. The full text of this document is available on eLibrary in PDF and 

Microsoft Word format for viewing, printing, and/or downloading. To access this 
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 41 -

document in eLibrary, type the docket number excluding the last three digits of this 

document in the docket number field.

80. User assistance is available for eLibrary and the Commission’s website during 

normal business hours from the Commission’s Online Support at (202) 502-6652 (toll 

free at 1-866-208-3676) or email at ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, or the Public Reference 

Room at (202) 502-8371, TTY (202) 502-8659. E-mail the Public Reference Room at 

public.referenceroom@ferc.gov.

List of subjects in 18 CFR Part 2

Electric utilities, Guidance and policy statements.

List of subjects in 18 CFR Part 38

Conflict of interests, Electric power plants, Electric utilities, Incorporation by reference, 

Reporting and recordkeeping requirements

By direction of the Commission.

( S E A L )

Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,

Deputy Secretary.
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 42 -

In consideration of the foregoing, the Commission proposes to amend Parts 2 and 38,

Chapter I, Title 18, Code of Federal Regulations, as follows:

PART 2- GENERAL POLICY AND INTERPRETATIONS

1. The authority citation for Part 2 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 601; 15 U.S.C. 717-717z, 3301-3432, 16 U.S.C. 792-828c, 2601-

2645; 42 U.S.C. 4321-4370h, 7101-7352.

2. Amend § 2.27 by revising paragraph (d) to read as follows:

§ 2.27 Availability of North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) Smart 

Grid Standards as non-mandatory guidance.

* * * 

(d) WEQ-019, Customer Energy Usage Information Communication (WEQ Version 

003.1, Sep. 30, 2015); and

* * * * *

PART 38 – STANDARDS FOR PUBLIC UTILITY BUSINESS OPERATIONS 

AND COMMUNICATIONS

3. The authority citation for Part 38 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 791-825r, 2601-2645; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 42 U.S.C. 7101-7352.

4. Amend § 38.1, by revising paragraph (b) to read as follows:

§ 38.1 Incorporation by reference of North American Energy Standards Board

Wholesale Electric Quadrant standards.

(b) * * *
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 43 -

(1) WEQ-000, Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Definition of Terms

(Version 003.1, Sep., 30, 2015);

(2) WEQ-001, Open Access Same-Time Information System (OASIS), OASIS 

Version 2.1 (WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 2015) with the exception of Standards 001-

9.5, 001-10.5, 001-14.1.3, 001-15.1.2 and 001-106.2.5);

(3) WEQ-002, Open Access Same-Time Information System (OASIS) Business 

Practice Standards and Communication Protocols (S&CP), OASIS Version 2.1 (WEQ

Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 2015);

(4) WEQ-003, Open Access Same-Time Information System (OASIS) Data 

Dictionary Business Practice Standards, OASIS Version 2.1 (WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 

30, 2015);

(5) WEQ-004, Coordinate Interchange (WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 2015);

(6) WEQ-005, Area Control Error (ACE) Equation Special Cases

(WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 2015);

(7) WEQ-006, Manual Time Error Correction (WEQ Version 003, Sep. 30, 2015);

(8) WEQ-007, Inadvertent Interchange Payback (WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 

30, 2015);

(9) WEQ-008, Transmission Loading Relief (TLR) – Eastern Interconnection

(WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 2015);

(10) WEQ-011, Gas/Electric Coordination (WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 2015);

(11) WEQ-012, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) (WEQ Version 003.1, 

Sep. 30, 2015);
Docket No. RM05-5-025 - 44 -

(12) WEQ-013, Open Access Same-Time Information System (OASIS)

Implementation Guide, OASIS Version 2.1 (WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 2015);

(13) WEQ-015, Measurement and Verification of Wholesale Electricity Demand 

Response (WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 2015);

(14) WEQ-021, Measurement and Verification of Energy Efficiency Products

(WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 2015).

(15) WEQ-022, Electric Industry Registry Business Practice Standards (WEQ 

Version 003.1, Sep. 30, 2015); and

(16) WEQ-023, Modeling Business Practice Standards (WEQ Version 003.1, Sep. 

30, 2015).

* * * * *