31876 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 101 / Wednesday, May 25, 2022 / Notices 

7The applicant has 15 days from the submittal of 

a motion to intervene to file a written objection to 

the intervention. 

8 18 CFR 385.214(c)(1). 

9 18 CFR 385.214(b)(3) and (d). 

1Order Confirming and Approving Rate 

Schedules on a Final Basis, FERC Docket No. EF18– 

3–000, 163 FERC ¶ 62,115 (2018). 

First Street NE, Washington, DC 

20426 

The Commission encourages 

electronic filing of motions to intervene 

(option 1 above) and has eFiling staff 

available to assist you at (202) 502–8258 

or FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov. 

Protests and motions to intervene 

must be served on the applicant either 

by mail or email (with a link to the 

document) at: David A. Alonzo, 

Manager, Project Authorizations, 

Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC 700 

Louisiana Street, Suite 1300, Houston, 

Texas 77002–2700, ph. 832.320.5477, 

email: david_alonzo@tcenergy.com. 

And Brian S. Heslin, Deputy General 

Counsel, Duke Energy Corporation, 550 

S. Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28202, 

(980) 373–0550, or by email at 

brian.heslin@duke-energy.com. Any 

subsequent submissions by an 

intervenor must be served on the 

applicant and all other parties to the 

proceeding. Contact information for 

parties can be downloaded from the 

service list at the eService link on FERC 

Online. 

All timely, unopposed 7 motions to 

intervene are automatically granted by 

operation of Rule 214(c)(1).8 Motions to 

intervene that are filed after the 

intervention deadline are untimely, and 

may be denied. Any late-filed motion to 

intervene must show good cause for 

being late and must explain why the 

time limitation should be waived and 

provide justification by reference to 

factors set forth in Rule 214(d) of the 

Commission’s Rules and Regulations.9

A person obtaining party status will be 

placed on the service list maintained by 

the Secretary of the Commission and 

will receive copies (paper or electronic) 

of all documents filed by the applicant 

and by all other parties. 

Tracking the Proceeding 

Throughout the proceeding, 

additional information about the project 

will be available from the Commission’s 

Office of External Affairs, at (866) 208– 

FERC, or on the FERC website at http:// 

www.ferc.gov using the ‘‘eLibrary’’ link 

as described above. The eLibrary link 

also provides access to the texts of all 

formal documents issued by the 

Commission, such as orders, notices, 

and rulemakings. 

In addition, the Commission offers a 

free service called eSubscription which 

allows you to keep track of all formal 

issuances and submittals in specific 

dockets. This can reduce the amount of 

time you spend researching proceedings 

by automatically providing you with 

notification of these filings, document 

summaries, and direct links to the 

documents. For more information and to 

register, go to www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ 

esubscription.asp. 

Intervention Deadline: 5:00 p.m. 

Eastern Time on June 9, 2022. 

Dated: May 19, 2022. 

Debbie-Anne A. Reese, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2022–11239 Filed 5–24–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Western Area Power Administration 

Loveland Area Projects-Rate Order No. 

WAPA–202 

AGENCY: Western Area Power 

Administration, DOE. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed firm electric 

service and sale of surplus products 

formula rates. 

SUMMARY: The Rocky Mountain Region 

(RMR) of the Western Area Power 

Administration (WAPA) proposes 

revised formula rates for the Loveland 

Area Projects (LAP) firm electric service 

and sale of surplus products. LAP 

consists of the Fryingpan-Arkansas 

Project (Fry-Ark) and the Pick-Sloan 

Missouri Basin Program (P–SMBP)— 

Western Division (WD), which were 

integrated for marketing and ratemaking purposes in 1989. The existing 

formula rates for these services, under 

Rate Schedules L–F11 and L–M2, expire 

on December 31, 2022. RMR is 

proposing to update the formula rates 

for firm electric service under Rate 

Schedule L–F12 and sale of surplus 

products under Rate Schedule L–M3, 

effective January 1, 2023, through 

December 31, 2027. 

DATES: A consultation and comment 

period will begin May 25, 2022 and end 

August 23, 2022. RMR will present a 

detailed explanation of the proposed 

LAP formula rates and other 

modifications at a public information 

forum that will be held on June 15, 

2022, at 8:30 a.m. MDT to no later than 

10:30 a.m. MDT. RMR will host a public 

comment forum on June 29, 2022, at 

11:00 a.m. MDT to no later than noon 

MDT. 

The public information forum and the 

public comment forum will be 

conducted via WebEx. Instructions for 

participating in the forums will be 

posted on RMR’s website at least 14 

days prior to the public information and 

comment forums at: www.wapa.gov/ 

regions/RM/rates/Pages/2023-RateAdjustment---Firm-Power.aspx. 

RMR will accept comments any time 

during the consultation and comment 

period. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and 

requests to be informed of Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) 

actions concerning the proposed 

formula rates submitted by RMR to 

FERC for approval should be sent to: 

Barton V. Barnhart, Regional Manager, 

Rocky Mountain Region, Western Area 

Power Administration, 5555 East 

Crossroads Boulevard, Loveland, CO 

80538–8986, or email lapfirmadj@

wapa.gov. RMR will post information 

about the proposed formula rates and 

written comments received to its 

website at: www.wapa.gov/regions/RM/ 

rates/Pages/2023-Rate-Adjustment--- 

Firm-Power.aspx. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sheila D. Cook, Rates Manager, Rocky 

Mountain Region, Western Area Power 

Administration, 5555 East Crossroads 

Boulevard, Loveland, CO 80538–8986, 

telephone (970) 685–9562 or email 

scook@wapa.gov or lapfirmadj@

wapa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 

24, 2018, FERC confirmed and approved 

Rate Schedule L–F11 and Rate Schedule 

L–M2, under Rate Order No. WAPA– 

179, on a final basis through December 

31, 2022.1 These schedules apply to 

firm electric service and the sale of 

surplus products. 

RMR intends the proposed formula 

rates to go into effect January 1, 2023. 

The proposed formula rates would 

remain in effect until December 31, 

2027, or until WAPA supersedes or 

changes the formula rates through 

another public rate process pursuant to 

10 CFR part 903, whichever occurs first. 

The proposed formula rates would 

provide sufficient revenue to recover 

annual operation, maintenance, and 

replacement (OM&R) expenses, interest 

expense, irrigation assistance, and 

capital repayment requirements while 

ensuring repayment of the project 

within the cost recovery criteria set 

forth in Department of Energy (DOE) 

Order RA 6120.2. For more information 

on the proposed rates, please see the 

customer brochure located on RMR’s 

website at: www.wapa.gov/regions/RM/ 

rates/Pages/2023-Rate-Adjustment--- 

Firm-Power.aspx. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 101 / Wednesday, May 25, 2022 / Notices 31877 

2The exact values are $64,143,960, $67,839,200, 

and $6,838,720 respectively. 

Firm Electric Service 

The P–SMBP and the Fry-Ark Fiscal 

Year 2021 Power Repayment Studies 

(PRSs) revenue requirements and 

current water conditions are the 

determining factors for this proposed 

rate adjustment. 

The base component costs for the P– 

SMBP have increased primarily due to: 

(1) Increased OM&R from WAPA and 

the generating agencies; (2) increased 

purchase power, including during the 

severe winter weather event in February 

2021 (Winter Storm Uri); (3) pricing 

volatility; and (4) the loss of certain 

balancing authority revenues for 

services that WAPA no longer provides 

after joining the Western Energy 

Imbalance Service Market. Winter Storm 

Uri was not a water or generation issue; 

therefore, its costs only impact the base 

component. 

The base component costs for the FryArk have increased primarily due to: (1) 

Increased OM&R from both WAPA and 

the Bureau of Reclamation 

(Reclamation); (2) increased 

transmission and ancillary services 

costs; and (3) changes in costs related to 

Reclamation’s Mount Elbert 

Rehabilitation project. Increased 

purchase power and price volatility are 

also causing upward pressure. 

The driver behind the P–SMBP 

drought adder component increase is 

the Army Corps of Engineers Annual 

Operating Plan projecting less than 

average generation for the next several 

years in the P–SMBP mainstem dams. 

Uncertainties with water inflows, hydro 

generation, and replacement energy 

prices continue to pose potential risks 

for meeting firm power contractual 

commitments. 

The net effect of these adjustments to 

the base and drought adder components 

results in an overall increase to the LAP 

rate. A comparison of the current and 

proposed revenue requirements is 

shown in Table 1: 

TABLE 1—SUMMARY OF CURRENT AND PROPOSED REVENUE REQUIREMENTS

Firm electric service 

Current 

under 

L–F11 

as of 

January 1, 

2018 

(in million $) 

Proposed 

under 

L–F12 

as of 

January 1, 

2023 

(in million $) 

Percent 

change 

LAP Revenue Requirement ......................................................................................................... 64.1 74.7 16.5 

Pick-Sloan—WD 1 ........................................................................................................................ 50.8 58.6 15.4 

Fry-Ark ......................................................................................................................................... 13.3 16.1 21.1 

1Additional information on the overall P–SMBP PRS and charge components can be found under Rate Order No. WAPA–203 and on WAPA’s

Upper Great Plains Region’s website at: www.wapa.gov/regions/UGP/Rates/Pages/2023-firm-rate-adjustment.aspx. 

Under the current rate methodology, 

rates for LAP firm electric service are 

designed to recover an annual revenue 

requirement that includes investment 

repayment, interest, purchase power, 

OM&R, and other expenses within the 

allowable period. The annual revenue 

requirement continues to be allocated 

equally between capacity and energy. 

A comparison of the current and 

proposed rates is shown in Table 2: 

TABLE 2—SUMMARY OF CURRENT AND PROPOSED RATES

Firm electric service 

Current 

under L–F11 

as of January 

1, 2018 

Proposed 

under L–F12 

as of January 

1, 2023 

Percent 

change 

LAP Composite Rate ................................................................................................................... 31.44 36.61 16.4 

Firm Capacity Rate ($/kilowatt-month) ........................................................................................ $4.12 $4.80 16.5 

Firm Energy Rate (mills/kilowatt-hour) ........................................................................................ 15.72 18.31 16.5 

As a part of the current and proposed 

rate schedules, RMR provides for a 

formula-based adjustment of the 

drought adder component, with an 

annual increase of up to 2 mills per 

kilowatt-hour (kWh) each year. The 2 

mills/kWh cap places a limit on the 

amount the drought adder component 

can be adjusted upward relative to 

associated drought costs included in the 

drought adder formula rate for any oneyear cycle. Continuing to identify the 

firm electric service revenue 

requirement using base and drought 

adder components will assist RMR in 

the presentation of future impacts of 

droughts, demonstrate repayment of 

drought-related costs in the PRSs, and 

allow RMR to be more responsive to 

changes caused by drought-related 

expenses. RMR will continue to charge 

and bill its customers firm electric 

service rates for energy and capacity, 

which are the sum of the base and 

drought adder components. 

The proposed adjustment updates the 

base component with present costs from 

a revenue requirement of $64.1 million 

to $67.8 million and increases the 

drought adder component revenue 

requirement. For rate year 2023 the 

drought adder revenue requirement 

increases from zero to $6.8 million.2

A comparison of the current and 

proposed components is shown in Table 

3: 


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31878 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 101 / Wednesday, May 25, 2022 / Notices 

3 50 FR 37835 (Sept. 18, 1985) and 84 FR 5347 

(Feb. 21, 2019). 

4This Act transferred to, and vested in, the 

Secretary of Energy the power marketing functions 

of the Secretary of the Department of the Interior 

and Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) under the 

Reclamation Act of 1902 (ch. 1093, 32 Stat. 388), 

as amended and supplemented by subsequent laws, 

particularly section 9(c) of the Reclamation Project 

Act of 1939 (43 U.S.C. 485h(c)) and section 5 of the 

Flood Control Act of 1944 (16 U.S.C. 825s); and 

other acts that specifically apply to the projects 

involved. 

5 In compliance with the National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 

4321–4347; the Council on Environmental Quality 

Regulations for implementing NEPA (40 CFR parts 

1500–1508); and DOE NEPA Implementing 

Procedures and Guidelines (10 CFR part 1021). 

TABLE 3—SUMMARY OF LAP CHARGE COMPONENTS

Current charges under 

rate schedule L–F11 as of January 1, 

2018 

Proposed charges under 

rate schedule L–F12 as of January 1, 

2023 Percent 

change 

Base 

component 

Drought 

adder 

component 

Total 

charge 

Base 

component 

Drought 

adder 

component 

Total 

charge 

Firm Capacity ($/kilowatt-month) ........................... $4.12 $0 $4.12 $4.36 $0.44 $4.80 16.5 

Firm Energy (mills/kWh) ........................................ 15.72 0 15.72 16.63 1.68 18.31 16.5 

Sale of Surplus Products 

The Sale of Surplus Products rate 

schedule is formula-based, providing for 

LAP Marketing to sell LAP surplus 

energy and capacity products. If LAP 

surplus products are available, as 

specified in the rate schedule, the 

charge will be based on market rates 

plus administrative costs. The customer 

will be responsible for acquiring 

transmission service necessary to 

deliver the product(s) for which a 

separate charge may be incurred. The 

proposed Rate Schedule, L–M3, 

continues to allow for the sale of energy, 

frequency response, regulation, and 

reserves. 

Legal Authority 

Existing DOE procedures for public 

participation in power and transmission 

rate adjustments (10 CFR part 903) were 

published on September 18, 1985, and 

February 21, 2019.3 The proposed 

action is a major rate adjustment, as 

defined by 10 CFR 903.2(d). In 

accordance with 10 CFR 903.15(a) and 

10 CFR 903.16(a), RMR will hold public 

information and public comment 

forums for this rate adjustment. RMR 

will review and consider all timely 

public comments at the conclusion of 

the consultation and comment period 

and adjust the proposal as appropriate. 

The rates will then be approved on an 

interim basis. 

WAPA is establishing the formula 

rates for LAP in accordance with section 

302 of the DOE Organization Act (42 

U.S.C. 7152).4

By Delegation Order No. 00–037.00B, 

effective November 19, 2016, the 

Secretary of Energy delegated: (1) The 

authority to develop power and 

transmission rates to WAPA’s 

Administrator; (2) the authority to 

confirm, approve, and place such rates 

into effect on an interim basis to the 

Deputy Secretary of Energy; and (3) the 

authority to confirm, approve, and place 

into effect on a final basis, or to remand 

or disapprove such rates to FERC. By 

Delegation Order No. S1–DEL–S4–2022, 

effective March 14, 2022, the Secretary 

of Energy also delegated the authority to 

confirm, approve, and place such rates 

into effect on an interim basis to the 

Under Secretary for Science (and 

Innovation). By Redelegation Order No. 

S4–DEL–OE1–2021–2, effective 

December 8, 2021, the Under Secretary 

for Science (and Innovation) redelegated 

the authority to confirm, approve, and 

place such rates into effect on an 

interim basis to the Assistant Secretary 

for Electricity. By Redelegation Order 

No. 00–002.10–05, effective July 8, 

2020, the Assistant Secretary for 

Electricity further redelegated the 

authority to confirm, approve, and place 

such rates into effect on an interim basis 

to WAPA’s Administrator. This 

redelegation order, despite predating the 

December 2021 and March 2022 

delegations, remains valid. 

Availability of Information 

All brochures, studies, comments, 

letters, memorandums, or other 

documents that RMR initiates or uses to 

develop the proposed formula rates will 

be available for inspection and copying 

at the Rocky Mountain Regional Office 

located at 5555 East Crossroads 

Boulevard, Loveland, Colorado. Many of 

these documents and supporting 

information are also available on RMR’s 

website at: www.wapa.gov/regions/RM/ 

rates/Pages/2023-Rate-Adjustment--- 

Firm-Power.aspx. 

Ratemaking Procedure Requirements 

Environmental Compliance 

WAPA is in the process of 

determining whether an environmental 

assessment or an environmental impact 

statement should be prepared or if this 

action can be categorically excluded 

from those requirements.5

Determination Under Executive Order 

12866 

WAPA 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. 

Signing Authority 

This document of the Department of 

Energy was signed on May 4, 2022, by 

Tracey A. LeBeau, Administrator, 

Western Area Power Administration, 

pursuant to delegated authority from the 

Secretary of Energy. That document, 

with the original signature and date, is 

maintained by DOE. For administrative 

purposes only, and in compliance with 

requirements of the Office of the Federal 

Register, the undersigned DOE Federal 

Register Liaison Officer has been 

authorized to sign and submit the 

document in electronic format for 

publication, as an official document of 

the Department of Energy. This 

administrative process in no way alters 

the legal effect of this document upon 

publication in the Federal Register. 

Signed in Washington, DC, on May 18, 

2022. 

Treena V. Garrett, 

Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. 

Department of Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2022–11029 Filed 5–24–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Western Area Power Administration 

Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program— 

Eastern Division-Rate Order No. 

WAPA–203 

AGENCY: Western Area Power 

Administration, DOE. 


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