10560 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 46 / Wednesday, March 11, 2009 / Notices 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and 

hearing agenda (amended). 

DATE AND TIME: Tuesday, March 17, 

2009, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. EST (Meeting), 1– 

3 p.m. EST (Hearing). 

PLACE: U.S. Election Assistance 

Commission, 1225 New York Ave., NW., 

Suite 150, Washington, DC 20005 (Metro 

Stop: Metro Center). 

AGENDA: The Commission will hold a 

public meeting to consider 

administrative matters. The Commission 

will conduct a public hearing to receive 

presentations on the following topic: 

Voter Registration Databases: Initial 

Discussion on Reviewing HAVA 

Mandated Guidance. Members of the 

public may submit written testimony 

regarding HAVA mandated guidance on 

voter registration databases via e-mail at 

testimony@eac.gov, or via mail 

addressed to the U.S. Election 

Assistance Commission 1225 New York 

Ave., NW., Suite 1100, Washington, DC 

20005, or by fax at 202–566–3127. 

Written testimony must be received by 

5 p.m. EST on Monday, March 16, 2009. 

All testimony should have the heading 

‘‘Testimony on voter registration 

databases’’ in the subject/attention line. 

Members of the public may observe but 

not participate in EAC meetings unless 

this notice provides otherwise. Members 

of the public may use small electronic 

audio recording devices to record the 

proceedings. The use of other recording 

equipment and cameras requires 

advance notice to and coordination with 

the Commission’s Communications 

Office.* 

* View EAC Regulations 

Implementing Government in the 

Sunshine Act. 

This meeting and hearing will be 

open to the public. 

PERSON TO CONTACT FOR INFORMATION: 

Bryan Whitener, Telephone: (202) 566– 

3100. 

Thomas R. Wilkey, 

Executive Director, U.S. Election Assistance 

Commission. 

[FR Doc. E9–5363 Filed 3–9–09; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 6820–KF–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

[OE Docket No. EA–343] 

Application to Export Electric Energy; 

Midwest Independent Transmission 

System Operator, Inc. 

AGENCY: Office of Electricity Delivery 

and Energy Reliability, DOE. 

ACTION: Notice of application. 

SUMMARY: The Midwest Independent 

Transmission System Operator, Inc. 

(Midwest ISO) has applied for authority 

to transmit electric energy from the 

United States to Canada pursuant to 

section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act. 

DATES: Comments, protests, or requests 

to intervene must be submitted on or 

before April 10, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Comments, protests, or 

requests to intervene should be 

addressed as follows: Office of 

Electricity Delivery and Energy 

Reliability, Mail Code: OE–20, U.S. 

Department of Energy, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, 20585–0350 (Fax 202–586– 

8008). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ellen Russell (Program Office) 202–586– 

9624 or Michael Skinker (Program 

Attorney) 202–586–2793. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Exports of 

electricity from the United States to a 

foreign country are regulated by the 

Department of Energy (DOE) pursuant to 

sections 301(b) and 402(f) of the 

Department of Energy Organization Act 

(42 U.S.C. 7151(b), 7172(f)) and require 

authorization under section 202(e) of 

the Federal Power Act (FPA) (16 U.S.C. 

824a(e)). 

On July 11, 2008, DOE received an 

application from Midwest ISO for 

authority to transmit electric energy 

from the United States to Canada. 

Midwest ISO does not own or operate 

electric generation, transmission or 

distribution facilities nor does it have a 

franchised electric power service 

territory. Midwest ISO is a not-forprofit, non-stock corporation, a ‘‘public 

utility’’ under Part II of the FPA, and a 

‘‘Regional Transmission Organization’’ 

(RTO) approved by the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (FERC) under 

Order No. 2000, 18 CFR 35.34 et seq. 

As an RTO, Midwest ISO has 

authority (referred to as ‘‘functional 

control’’) to direct the use of 

transmission facilities owned, operated, 

and maintained by transmission owning 

members of Midwest ISO for the 

purpose of providing open access nondiscriminatory transmission service. In 

addition, Midwest ISO has administered 

day-ahead and real-time energy markets 

with financial transmission rights since 

April 2005. In its application, Midwest 

ISO indicated that beginning September 

9, 2008 (this was later changed to 

January 6, 2009) it would administer a 

market for operating reserves under its 

Energy and Operating Reserves Markets 

Tariff (Tariff). In so doing, Midwest ISO 

became a Balancing Authority registered 

with the North American Electric 

Reliability Corporation (NERC) and is 

responsible for meeting NERC reliability 

standards applicable to Balancing 

Authorities, including the requirement 

to enter into agreements with 

neighboring Balancing Authorities for 

coordination and emergency assistance. 

These agreements may require Midwest 

ISO to exchange emergency energy with 

Canadian counterparties, including 

Manitoba Hydro and the Independent 

Electric System Operator (IESO). 

Prior to Midwest ISO’s commencing 

to administer the market for operating 

reserves, emergency energy had been 

transmitted into Canada from the 

Midwest ISO region by one or more 

Balancing Authorities or Market 

Participants operating under the 

Midwest ISO Tariff, pursuant to 

bilateral agreements between the buyer 

and seller and pursuant to the terms and 

conditions of various export 

authorizations issued by DOE, using 

international transmission facilities 

authorized by Presidential permits. Not 

all of the international transmission 

facilities at the Canadian border subject 

to Presidential permits have been 

transferred to the functional control of 

Midwest ISO by their owners. Such 

facilities are not subject to the authority 

of Midwest ISO as an RTO. However, 

Midwest ISO, in its capacity as 

Reliability Coordinator, has the 

authority to direct actions necessary to 

preserve the safety and reliability of the 

Eastern Interconnection, which includes 

Manitoba Hydro and IESO. To the 

extent such direction affects such 

international transmission facilities, it 

takes into account, and is subject to, the 

conditions of the applicable Presidential 

permit. 

Effective January 6, 2009, Midwest 

ISO will be the responsible Balancing 

Authority for implementing the payback 

of unscheduled energy flows to the 

Eastern Interconnection. Unscheduled, 

or ‘‘inadvertent,’’ energy is the 

difference between the actual metered 

energy interchange and the scheduled 

energy interchange between two 

adjacent Balancing Authority Areas 

(previously called ‘‘control areas’’). 

Consequently, Midwest ISO may from 

time to time initiate unilateral payback 

of unscheduled energy resulting in 

energy flows across border facilities 

with the Canadian Balancing 

Authorities, or Midwest ISO may enter 

a bilateral schedule for energy exports 

directly to Manitoba Hydro or the IESO 

to affect the payback of unscheduled 

energy to those entities. 

Midwest ISO does not take title to 

electric energy in its market, or to 

energy transmitted out of its market, 

including electric energy exported to 

Canada. Even pursuant to its role as a 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 46 / Wednesday, March 11, 2009 / Notices 10561 

Balancing Authority, Midwest ISO will 

not take title to electric energy under 

any circumstances, but will buy or sell 

such energy ‘‘for and on behalf of’’ its 

Market Participants (as defined in the 

Midwest ISO Tariff) and will distribute 

revenues or collect the costs of such 

energy as set forth in the Tariff. 

In addition, in operating as a 

Balancing Authority, Midwest ISO will 

be a member of a contingency reserve 

sharing group that includes Manitoba 

Hydro and proposes to export 

emergency energy to Manitoba Hydro 

under the terms of the contingency 

reserve sharing agreement. 

Traditionally, DOE has required that 

the last entity to hold title to the 

electricity inside the U.S. obtain export 

authority. The rationale being that such 

an entity could affect the transfer and, 

therefore, impact the operational 

reliability of the system. Although 

Midwest ISO is not the title holder of 

the electricity bring exported, DOE 

believes that as a Balancing Authority, 

Midwest ISO occupies the position of 

affecting the export and as an RTO, has 

the legal responsibility for the reliable 

operation of the electric system. 

Based on the above, DOE believes that 

Midwest ISO must obtain authorization 

to export electricity under section 202(e) 

of the FPA. However, because of the 

fairly recent introduction of different 

types of entities, like RTOs, ISOs, 

Balancing Authorities, and similarly 

situated entities, each of whom may 

affect the transmission of electric energy 

from the United States to a foreign 

country and be responsible for the 

reliable operation of the electric system, 

DOE is inviting comments on the 

appropriateness of issuing export 

authorizations to entities like Midwest 

ISO. For the time being, DOE will 

address the question of whether a 

particular entity needs an export 

authorization on a case-by-case basis. 

DOE intends to initiate a proceeding in 

the near future to explore the more 

general question of what types of 

entities need an electricity export 

authorization from DOE. In that 

proceeding, DOE will be looking for 

ways to reduce the administrative 

burden on entities engaged in the 

international electricity market, while 

continuing to satisfy our statutory 

obligations. 

The electric energy which Midwest 

ISO proposes to export to Canada would 

be transmitted over the international 

transmission facilities owned by 

International Transmission Co., 

Minnesota Power, Inc., Minnkota Power 

Cooperative, Inc., and Northern States 

Power Company/Xcel.The construction, 

operation, maintenance, and connection 

of each of these international 

transmission facilities to be utilized by 

Midwest ISO has previously been 

authorized by a Presidential permit 

issued pursuant to Executive Order 

10485, as amended. 

On December 22, 2008, Midwest ISO 

submitted an application for emergency 

temporary authorization to export 

electric energy to Canada in this docket, 

asserting that FERC had issued a final 

order on December 18, 2008, 

authorizing Midwest ISO to begin 

operating its Ancillary Services Market 

on January 6, 2009. The application 

requested that DOE issue an emergency 

temporary export authorization pending 

completion of this proceeding. On 

December 24, 2008, DOE granted 

Midwest ISO the temporary authority to 

export electric energy to Canada 

beginning January 6, 2009 as requested, 

until final resolution of the matter in 

this proceeding. 

Procedural Matters: Any person 

desiring to become a party to these 

proceedings or to be heard by filing 

comments or protests to this application 

should file a petition to intervene, 

comment, or protest at the address 

provided above in accordance with 

§§ 385.211 or 385.214 of the Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission’s Rules 

of Practice and Procedures (18 CFR 

385.211, 385.214). Fifteen copies of each 

petition and protest should be filed with 

DOE on or before the date listed above. 

Comments on the Midwest ISO 

application to export electric energy to 

Canada should be clearly marked with 

Docket No. EA–343. Additional copies 

are to be filed directly with Gregory A. 

Troxell, Assistant General Counsel, 

Midwest ISO, P.O. Box 4202, Carmel, 

Indiana 46082–4202. A final decision 

will be made on this application after 

the environmental impacts have been 

evaluated pursuant to the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and 

a determination is made by DOE that the 

proposed action will not adversely 

impact on the reliability of the U.S. 

electric power supply system. 

Copies of this application will be 

made available, upon request, for public 

inspection and copying at the address 

provided above, by accessing the 

program Web site at http:// 

www.oe.energy.gov/ 

permits_pending.htm, or by e-mailing 

Odessa Hopkins at 

Odessa.hopkins@hq.doe.gov. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on March 4, 

2009. 

Anthony J. Como, 

Director, Permitting and Siting, Office of 

Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability. 

[FR Doc. E9–5167 Filed 3–10–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Biomass Research and Development 

Technical Advisory Committee 

AGENCY: Department of Energy, Office of 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of open teleconference 

meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces an 

open teleconference meeting of the 

Biomass Research and Development 

Technical Advisory Committee under 

the Biomass Research and Development 

Act of 2000. The Federal Advisory 

Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–463, 86 Stat. 

770) requires that agencies publish these 

notices in the Federal Register to allow 

for public participation. This notice 

announces the meeting of the Biomass 

Research and Development Technical 

Advisory Committee. 

DATES: March 19, 2009 at 11 a.m.–12 

p.m. EST. 

ADDRESSES: Meeting will be conducted 

via conference call. Call-in information 

can be obtained by contacting T.J. 

Heibel at (410) 997–7778 ext. 223; email: theibel@bcs-hq.com. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Valri Lightner, Designated Federal 

Official for the Committee, Office of 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, 

1000 Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585; (202) 586–0937 

or T.J. Heibel at (410) 997–7778 ext. 223; 

e-mail: theibel@bcs-hq.com 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose of Meeting: To provide 

advice and guidance that promotes 

research and development leading to the 

production of biobased fuels and 

biobased products. 

Tentative Agenda: Agenda will 

include the following: 

• Feedstock Subcommittee Report 

Out. 

Public Participation: In keeping with 

procedures, members of the public are 

welcome to observe the business of the 

Biomass Research and Development 

Technical Advisory Committee. To 

attend the meeting and/or to make oral 

statements regarding any of the items on 

the agenda, you should contact Valri 

Lightner at 202–586–0937; e-mail: 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES