Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 22 / Monday, February 3, 1997 / Notices 4991

Tentative Agenda

Tuesday, February 11, 1997

8:30 AM–9:00 AM Opening Remarks

9:00 AM–9:30 AM Overview of the DOE

Openness Press Conference

9:30 AM–10:30 AM Working Session

10:30 AM–10:45 AM Break

10:45 AM–12:00 PM Working Session

12:00 PM–1:00 PM Lunch

1:00 PM–2:30 PM Working Session

2:30 PM–2:45 PM Break

2:45 PM–4:00 PM Working Session

4:00 PM–4:30 PM Public Comment

4:30 PM Adjourn

This tentative agenda is subject to change. A

final agenda will be available at the meeting.

Public Participation: The Chairman of

the Panel is empowered to conduct the

meeting in a fashion that will, in the

Chairman’s judgment, facilitate the

orderly conduct of business. During its

meeting in Washington, DC the Panel

welcomes public comment. Members of

the public will be heard in the order in

which they sign up at the beginning of

the meeting. The Panel will make every

effort to hear the views of all interested

parties. Written comments may be

submitted to David Cheney, Acting

Executive Director, Secretary of Energy

Advisory Board, AB–1, US Department

of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue,

SW, Washington, DC 20585. This notice

is being published less than 15 days

before the date of the meeting due to

programmatic issues that had to be

resolved prior to publication.

Minutes: Minutes and a transcript of

the meeting will be available for public

review and copying approximately 30

days following the meeting at the

Freedom of Information Public Reading

Room, 1E–190 Forrestal Building, 1000

Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, DC, between 9:00 AM and

4:00 PM, Monday through Friday except

Federal holidays.

Issued at Washington, DC, on January 28,

1997.

Rachel M. Samuel,

Acting Deputy Advisory Committee

Management Officer.

[FR Doc. 97–2557 Filed 1–31–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

Bonneville Power Administration

Firm Non-Requirements Products and

Services Contracts

AGENCY: Bonneville Power

Administration (BPA), Department of

Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of availability of

supplement to record of decision (ROD).

SUMMARY: This notice announces the

availability of a Supplement to the Firm

Non-Requirements Products and

Services Contracts (FNR) ROD (October

17, 1995). This Supplement relies on

BPA’s Business Plan Environmental

Impact Statement (EIS) (June 1995) and

the Business Plan ROD (August 15,

1995).

BPA has decided to modify an earlier

decision regarding the energy services

portion of its business. BPA’s historical

role in regional conservation is

extended to enlarge the energy

efficiency market beyond that which is

currently being profitably captured by

the private sector.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Business Plan,

Business Plan EIS, the Business Plan

ROD, and the FNR ROD and additional

copies of this Supplement to the FNR

ROD are available from BPA’s Public

Involvement Office, PO Box 12999,

Portland, Oregon 97212. Copies of these

documents may also be obtained by

using BPA’s nationwide toll-free

document request line, 1–800–622–

4520.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Katherine S. Pierce—EC, Bonneville

Power Administration, PO Box 3621,

Portland, Oregon, 97208–3621, phone

number (503) 230–3962, fax number

(503) 230–5166.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

The Bonneville Power Administration

(BPA) has decided to modify an earlier

decision regarding the energy services

portion of its business. BPA issued the

FNR ROD on October 17, 1995. The FNR

ROD was consistent with BPA’s

Business Plan, Business Plan EIS (DOE/

EIS–0183, June 1995), and the Business

Plan ROD (August 15, 1995).

The FNR ROD noted that, within the

context of increased marketplace

competitiveness, BPA needed to

develop new strategies to retain existing

customers and to attract new ones. FNR

contracts increased BPA’s flexibility and

offered BPA an opportunity to sell a

wide variety of power, transmission,

and energy products and services. The

FNR ROD also provided examples of

energy services business products and

services to increase business and

enhance BPA’s revenue potential.

Over the following year, BPA

continued to examine its energy services

role in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). On

June 19, 1996, BPA submitted a

proposal to the Comprehensive Review

to create an ‘‘Energy Services Business.’’

There were concerns in the region about

the broad scope of BPA’s activities and

the appearance BPA was competing

with the private sector. As a result, BPA

has decided to supplement the FNR

ROD. Only the Energy Services portion

of the FNR ROD is affected.

Description of Changes to the Energy

Services Business

On December 12, 1996, the

Comprehensive Review Steering

Committee released its final report to

the four PNW Governors. The report

proposed an energy efficiency market

development role for BPA. BPA’s

historical role in regional conservation

would be extended to enlarge the energy

efficiency market beyond that which is

currently being profitably captured by

the private sector. BPA worked closely

with the committee to develop the 13

guiding principles in the final report:

1. Not a Business: Bonneville’s energyefficiency activities are not a ‘‘business.’’ The

purpose of these activities is to serve

Bonneville’s statutory directive to promote

cost-effective energy-efficiency investments.

The Committee considers it unlikely that

these activities will completely recover their

costs without unduly competing with private

enterprises. To address concerns about the

net cost of these activities, the Committee

proposes borrowing and spending caps in

items 11 and 12 below.

2. Grow the Pie: Bonneville’s role in

market development should be structured

and managed to enlarge energy-efficiency

markets beyond that which is being

profitably captured by private business.

3. Market Catalyst: Bonneville’s market

development activities should be limited to

markets or individual situations that are not

currently accessible, viable, or profitable for

the private sector energy-efficiency industry.

4. Leverage Private Sector Services:

Bonneville’s market development activities

should be designed and implemented to take

full advantage of private sector energy goods

and services. These activities should not

favor one competitor over another.

5. Match Maker: Bonneville will act

primarily as a facilitator/aggregator of

transactions for services provided by its

partners.

6. Exiting Viable Markets After Cost

Recovery: Specific Bonneville market

development activities will be discontinued

when they become viable and profitable for

the private sector energy-efficiency business.

7. Establish Advisory Board: An advisory

board should be established immediately to

monitor Bonneville’s compliance with these

restrictions. The advisory board should

consist, among others, of private businesses

that could be adversely affected by

Bonneville’s failure to comply with these

restrictions as well as power and

transmission customers. Bonneville should

consult with and report to this board at

regular intervals, and the board should report

concerns to the Northwest Power Planning

Council.

8. Focus on Federal Agencies and Power

Sales Customers: Bonneville’s market

development activities should be limited to

its regional power sales contract customers

and federal agencies. Bonneville should

provide energy-efficiency services for federal
4992 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 22 / Monday, February 3, 1997 / Notices

agencies in cooperation with the serving

utility or when the serving utility cannot or

elects not to provide those services itself.

9. Full Cost Recovery: Agencies and

customers contracting for market

development services should repay the full

cost of those services, including repayment of

loans at the appropriate U.S. Treasury rate.

10. Energy-Efficiency Focus: Any

Bonneville organizational unit or activity

currently named ‘‘Energy Services’’ should

be renamed ‘‘Energy Efficiency.’’ This is

intended to clarify that previous proposals to

undertake a broad spectrum of other retail

services have been dropped, and to preclude

Bonneville support for load-building

activities that are inconsistent with

Bonneville’s conservation directives.

11. Capital Borrowing Guidelines:

Bonneville’s use of U.S. Treasury capital

should be limited to $5 million per year and

restricted to federal projects. This represents

a reduction of roughly 50 percent relative to

Bonneville’s October 31, 1996 proposal, and

a reduction of $71 million relative to the final

rate case figure. Capital borrowed from the

U.S. Treasury should be repaid in full by the

participating federal entity. All third party

borrowing shall be non-recourse to

Bonneville.

12. Self-Supporting: Bonneville’s net costs

for market development activities should not

exceed $8 million for the Fiscal Years 1997–

2001. Bonneville’s energy-efficiency

activities should be self-supporting by

September 30, 1999 or these activities should

be terminated.

13. ROD Modifications: Bonneville should

revise its October 1995 record of decision for

firm non-requirements products and services

contracts by replacing the ‘‘Energy Services’’

section with an ‘‘Energy-Efficiency’’ section

that incorporates a final plan for energyefficiency activities consistent with the

restrictions herein. The energy-efficiency

plan should not include activities listed in

the original Record of Decision ‘‘Energy

Services’’ section except those directly

related to energy-efficiency. Other new

activities listed in the original Record of

Decision ‘‘Energy Services’’ section should

not be offered by any part of Bonneville in

competition with the private sector.

In order to provide a public service to

help meet the region’s energy efficiency

needs and in response to principle 13

above, BPA is replacing, in total, the

Energy Services section of the FNR ROD

as outlined in the box below. This new

section, Energy Efficiency, more

accurately describes BPA’s intent to

properly manage the public assets to

enhance and enlarge the energy

efficiency market in the region through

a process that is consistent with the

other 12 principles.

Energy Efficiency

In order to fulfill its energy efficiency

market development role, BPA proposes to

provide products and services such as:

Rebates or incentives for achieving energy

or capacity conservation; Demand-side

management (DSM) services; Power quality

services; and

Tracking and accounting for the use of

power and other services under the terms of

customized contracts.

The fundamental purpose of these

products and services is to help enlarge the

energy efficiency marketplace. Using its

unique characteristics as a Federal agency

with extensive experience in managing

conservation efforts, BPA will serve as a

catalyst or facilitator in making energy

efficiency happen. While BPA must be

financially self-sufficient, it will not compete

with the private sector. Instead, BPA will

work with private business partners,

government and the utility community to

help overcome barriers to conservation and

efficiency efforts. BPA’s success will be

measured by its ability to make a difference,

increasing the amount of conservation

investments and expanding the business

opportunities for private sector partners.

All other parts of the original FNR

ROD remain unchanged to continue

quality service to the region’s electric

industry.

Anticipated Effects of These Changes

The supplement outlined above is

consistent with the Business Plan,

Business Plan EIS, the Business Plan

ROD, and the other sections of the FNR

ROD. No change in environmental

effects is expected. Nothing in this ROD

Supplement is intended to affect BPA’s

practice of providing traditional

reimbursable services to its customers.

Conclusion

I have decided that the focus of BPA’s

energy efficiency market development

role is to enlarge the energy efficiency

opportunities beyond that which is

currently being profitably captured by

the private sector. This decision remains

consistent with BPA’s Market-Driven

approach for participation in the

increasingly competitive electric power

market. BPA is ensuring continued

public benefits while being responsive

to its customers’’ needs.

Issued in Portland, Oregon, on January 21,

1997.

Randall W. Hardy,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97–2552 Filed 1–31–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. RP97–184–001]

Crossroads Pipeline Company; Notice

of Compliance Filing

January 28, 1997.

Take notice that on January 23, 1997,

Crossroads Pipeline Company

(Crossroads) tendered for filing as part

of its FERC Gas Tariff, Original Volume

No. 1, Fourth Substitute Original Sheet

No. 6, effective February 1, 1997.

Crossroads states that the purpose of

this filing is to comply with the

Commission’s Letter Order in the abovereferenced docket dated January 8, 1997.

Crossroads states further that copies

of the compliance filing were served on

its current firm and interruptible

customers and interested state

commissions.

Any person desiring to protest this

filing should file a protest with the

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,

888 First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C.

20426, in accordance with Rule 211 of

the Commission’s Rules of Practice and

Procedure (18 CFR 385.211). All such

protests must be filed in accordance

with Section 154.210 of the

Commission’s Regulations. Protests will

be considered by the Commission in

determining the appropriate action to be

taken in this proceeding, but will not

serve to make protestants parties to the

proceeding. Copies of the filing are on

file with the Commission and are

available for public inspection in the

Public Reference Room.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–2504 Filed 1–31–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

[Docket No. ER96–3144–000]

Northeast Utilities Service Company;

Notice of Filing

January 28, 1997.

Take notice that on January 23, 1997,

Northeast Utilities Service Company

tendered for filing an amendment in the

above-referenced docket.

Any person desiring to be heard or to

protest said filing should file a motion

to intervene or protest with the Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888

First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C.

20426, in accordance with Rules 211

and 214 of the Commission’s Rules of

Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.211

and 18 CFR 385.214). All such motions

or protests should be filed on or before

February 7, 1997. Protests will be

considered by the Commission in

determining the appropriate action to be

taken, but will not serve to make

protestants parties to the proceeding.

Any person wishing to become a party

must file a motion to intervene. Copies

of this filing are on file with the

Commission and are available for public

inspection.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–2506 Filed 1–31–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M