Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 95 / Monday, May 18, 1998 / Notices 27277

Copies of this filing were served upon

the Public Utilities Commission of the

State of California and all interested

parties.

Comment date: May 26, 1998, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

10. MidAmerican Energy Company

[Docket No. ER98–2926–000]

Take notice that on May 7, 1998,

MidAmerican Energy Company

(MidAmerican), 666 Grand Avenue, Des

Moines, Iowa 50309, filed with the

Commission a Firm Transmission

Service Agreement with Merchant

Energy Group of the Americas, Inc.

(Merchant) dated April 14, 1998, and

Non-Firm Transmission Service

Agreements with Merchant dated April

14, 1998, and Dayton Power & Light

Company dated April 22, 1998, entered

into pursuant to MidAmerican’s Open

Access Transmission Tariff.

MidAmerican requests an effective

date of April 14, 1998, for the

Agreements with Merchant, and April

22, 1998, for the Agreement with

Dayton, and accordingly seeks a waiver

of the Commission’s notice requirement.

MidAmerican has served a copy of the

filing on Merchant and Dayton, the Iowa

Utilities Board, the Illinois Commerce

Commission and the South Dakota

Public Utilities Commission.

Comment date: May 26, 1998, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

11. NGE Generation, Inc.

[Docket No. ER98–2929–000]

Take notice that NGE Generation, Inc.

(NGE Gen) on May 7, 1998 tendered for

filing pursuant to Section 35 of the

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission’s Rules of Practice and

Procedure, 18 CFR Part 35, service

agreements (collectively, the ‘‘Service

Agreements’’) under which NGE Gen

may provide capacity and/or energy to

Merchant Energy Group of America

(Merchant Energy), Northeast Energy

Services, Inc. (Northeast Energy), and e

prime, Inc. (e prime)(collectively, the

Purchasers) in accordance with NGE

Gen’s FERC Electric Tariff, Original

Volume No. 1.

NGE Gen has requested waiver of the

notice requirements so that the service

agreements with Merchant Energy,

Northeast Energy, and e prime become

effective as of May 8, 1998.

NGE Gen has served copies of the

filing upon the New York State Public

Service Commission, Merchant Energy,

Northeast Energy, and e prime.

Comment date: May 26, 1998, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

12. Duke Energy Corporation

[Docket No. ER98–2930–000]

Take notice that on May 7, 1998, Duke

Energy Corporation (Duke) tendered for

filing with the Commission Supplement

No. 12 to Supplement No. 24 to the

Interchange Agreement between Duke

and Carolina Power & Light Company

(CP&L) dated June 1, 1961, as amended

(Interchange Agreement). Supplement

No. 12 continues Duke’s monthly

transmission capacity rate under the

interchange Agreement at $1.0758 per

KW per month. Duke has proposed an

effective date of July 1, 1998.

Copies of this filing were mailed to

Carolina Power & Light Company, the

North Carolina Utilities Commission,

and the South Carolina Public Service

Commission.

Comment date: May 26, 1998, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

13. Consumers Energy Company

[Docket No. ES98–30–000]

Take notice that on April 30, 1998,

Consumers Energy Company

(Consumers) filed an application under

Section 204 of the Federal Power Act,

requesting an order for authority to

issue up to $900 million of short term

debt securities.

Comment date: June 5, 1998, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

Standard Paragraph

E. 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

the comment date. 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 these filings are on file with the

Commission and are available for public

inspection.

David P. Boergers,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–13147 Filed 5–15–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Western Area Power Administration

Replacement Resources Methods

Report, Grand Canyon Protection Act

of 1992

AGENCY: Western Area Power

Administration (Western), DOE.

ACTION: Notice of availability of

replacement resources methods report

and executive summary.

SUMMARY: The Secretary of Energy,

acting through Western, has the

responsibility of marketing

hydroelectric power generated at Glen

Canyon Dam Powerplant. Western has

been engaged in the Replacement

Resources Process to identify

economically and technically feasible

methods for replacing power resources

that are lost due to long-term

operational constraints at Glen Canyon

Dam Powerplant. Western announces

the availability of the Replacement

Resources Methods Report (Report) and

the Executive Summary, which satisfies

the requirement in section 1809 of the

Grand Canyon Protection Act (GCP Act)

of 1992, Title XVIII of Pub. L. 102–575.

ADDRESSES: To request a copy of the

Report and/or Executive Summary or to

provide written comments on the

Report, contact: Mr. S. Clayton Palmer,

Resource and Environmental Analysis

Team, CRSP Customer Service Center,

Western Area Power Administration,

P.O. Box 11606, Salt Lake City, UT

84147–0606.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Samuel D. Loftin, (801) 524–6381.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Report outlines the economically and

technically feasible methods that

Western will use to evaluate and select

resources to replace capacity made

unavailable (‘‘or lost’’) due to the

adoption of long-term operational

criteria for Glen Canyon Dam as

required by the GCP Act. The Report

includes a ‘‘proof-of-concept’’ analysis

of five hypothetical resource options

with varying degrees of complexity. The

methods are consistent with other

Western resource acquisition policies,

such as Western’s Principles of

Integrated Resource Planning (IRP). The

methods are also consistent with the

Salt Lake City Area/Integrated Projects

Contract Amendment, the Records of

Decision in the Salt Lake City Area/

Integrated Projects Power Marketing

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

and Energy Planning and Management

Program EIS, Reclamation’s Glen

Canyon Dam EIS, pertinent Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission orders,
27278 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 95 / Monday, May 18, 1998 / Notices

and laws affecting DOE, Western, and

the Colorado River Storage Project

(CRSP).

In the Report, Western provides

methods to replace lost capacity using

spot market, seasonal (6 months), and

mid- to long-term (1 year or more)

resource acquisitions. Western will

consult with firm power customers

periodically about the amount and term

of resource acquisitions to be made on

their behalf, which Western would then

acquire and deliver to them. Western

will evaluate and select resources based

on criteria broadly defined in the Report

and follow a least-cost strategy. Greater

public involvement and more complex

evaluation procedures and acquisition

methods will be used for long-term

acquisitions rather than for seasonal

acquisitions.

Western will use a screening tool and

a production cost computer model to

evaluate future resource offers from

potential suppliers. The Report details

how these evaluation tools are applied

to evaluate five hypothetical resource

purchases. These resource alternatives

were designed to illustrate the screening

and evaluation tools’ abilities to survey

and select from among many diverse

replacement resource options and to

consider transmission system

constraints and possible solutions. The

Report concludes that the screening

criteria and evaluation tools developed

will enable Western to select

economically and technically feasible

replacement power resources.

Public Involvement

Section 1809 of the GCP Act requires

the Secretary of Energy to consult with

representatives of the CRSP power

customers, environmental organizations,

the Colorado River Basin States, and

with the Department of the Interior in

this process. Western published a notice

initiating the formal, public

consultation process on August 8, 1994,

at 59 FR 40357. On October 7, 1994, at

59 FR 51191, Western announced four

regional public consultation meetings.

A 20-page, Replacement Resources

Information Packet was prepared that

included Western’s process to complete

the method identification requirement

of the GCP Act. On October 20, 1994,

Western mailed this information packet,

along with the text of the October

Federal Register notice, to 900-plus

organizations and individuals on

Western’s Replacement Resources

Methods mailing list, including

representatives of organizations with

which Western was required to consult.

In November 1994, Western held four

regional public involvement meetings in

Salt Lake City, Utah; Denver, Colorado;

Phoenix, Arizona; and Albuquerque,

New Mexico. Comments from

organizations and the public were

accepted through December 19, 1994,

the comment deadline.

Western prepared newsletters in

February and October 1995 that

provided updates on the status of

replacement resources activities. These

newsletters were distributed to

Western’s mailing list. On April 30,

1996, at Western’s CRSP Customer

Service Center’s Annual Customer

Meeting in Salt Lake City, Western

provided an update on replacement

resources activities to CRSP power

customers and to representatives of the

Department of the Interior, Bureau of

Reclamation. This update included a

discussion of public comment received

by Western.

On July 2, 1996, Western published a

notice of availability of a Draft Methods

Report at 61 FR 34433. Notice was made

to those entities who responded to

Western’s mailer and wanted

information or copies of the Draft

Report. Western held public

consultation meetings at Albuquerque,

Phoenix, Denver, and Salt Lake City

between July 23 and July 29, 1996. At

these meetings, Western presented the

proposed replacement resource

methods, which will be implemented

with the Report. A 60-day public

comment period closed on September 3,

1996. Western mailed a subsequent

newsletter in December 1996, updating

changes implemented by Western from

the comments received during the

public comment period.

Environmental Compliance

Western will comply with the

National Environmental Policy Act of

1969 through an appropriate level of

environmental analysis of the impacts of

specific replacement resources when

such specific resources are identified.

Regulatory Requirements

DOE has determined this is not a

significant regulatory action because it

does not meet the criteria of Executive

Order 12866, 58 FR 51735. Western has

an exemption from centralized

regulatory review under Executive

Order 12866; accordingly, no clearance

of this notice by the Office of

Management and Budget is required.

Dated: May 4, 1998.

Michael S. Hacskaylo,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 98–13103 Filed 5–15–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Western Area Power Administration

Amistad and Falcon Projects—Notice

of Order Confirming and Approving an

Extension of the Power Rate

Formula—WAPA–81

AGENCY: Western Area Power

Administration, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of rate order.

SUMMARY: This action is to extend the

existing Amistad and Falcon Projects’

power rate formula until June 7, 1999.

Without this action, the existing power

rate formula will expire June 7, 1998;

and no rate formula will be in effect for

this service.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Dave Sabo, CRSP Manager, CRSP

Customer Service Center, Western Area

Power Administration, P.O. Box 11606,

Salt Lake City, UT 84147–0606,

telephone (801) 524–5493.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: By

Amendment No. 3 to Delegation Order

No. 0204–108, published November 10,

1993 (58 FR 59716), the Secretary of

Energy delegated (1) the authority to

develop long-term power and

transmission rates on a nonexclusive

basis to the Administrator of the

Western Area Power Administration

(Western); (2) the authority to confirm,

approve, and place such rates into effect

on an interim basis to the Deputy

Secretary; and (3) the authority to

confirm, approve, and place into effect

on a final basis, to remand, or to

disapprove such rates to the Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Pursuant to Delegation Order No.

0204–108 and existing Department of

Energy (DOE) procedures for public

participation in power rate adjustments

at 10 CFR Part 903, the power rate

formula for Western’s Amistad and

Falcon Projects was submitted to FERC

for confirmation and approval on June

10, 1993. On September 29, 1993, in

Docket No. EF93–5101–000 at 64 FERC

¶ 62,225, FERC issued an order

confirming, approving, and placing into

effect on a final basis the power rate

formula for the Amistad and Falcon

Projects. The rate was approved for the

5-year period beginning June 8, 1993,

and ending June 7, 1998.

All of the generation from these

projects is marketed by Western under

the terms of Contract No. 7–07–50–

P0890 dated August 9, 1977, and

amended on April 10, 1986. According

to the terms of the Contract, the

customers, Medina Electric Cooperative,

Inc. and South Texas Electric

Cooperative, Inc., agreed to purchase the