Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 104 / Wednesday, June 2, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 29491 

1 16 U.S.C. 791a, et seq. (2018). 

Paragraph 6010(a) Domestic VOR Federal 

Airways. 

* * * * * 

V–487 [Amended] 

From LaGuardia, NY; Bridgeport, CT; INT 

Bridgeport 343° and Cambridge, NY, 189° 

radials; Cambridge; INT Burlington, VT, 187° 

and Cambridge 002° radials; Burlington. 

* * * * * 

Issued in Washington, DC, on May 25, 

2021. 

George Gonzalez, 

Acting Manager, Rules and Regulations 

Group. 

[FR Doc. 2021–11429 Filed 6–1–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

18 CFR Parts 37 and 38 

[Docket Nos. RM05–5–029 and RM05–5– 

030; Order No. 676–J] 

Standards for Business Practices and 

Communication Protocols for Public 

Utilities 

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (Commission) is 

revising its regulations to incorporate by 

reference the latest version (Version 

003.3) of the 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). The WEQ Version 

003.3 Standards include, in their 

entirety, the WEQ–023 Modeling 

Business Practice Standards contained 

in the WEQ Version 003.1 Standards, 

which address the technical issues 

affecting Available Transfer Capability 

(ATC) and Available Flowgate 

Capability (AFC) calculation for 

wholesale electric transmission services, 

with the addition of certain revisions 

and corrections. The Commission also 

revises its regulations to provide that 

transmission providers must avoid 

unduly discriminatory and preferential 

treatment in the calculation of ATC. 

DATES: Effective date: This rule is 

effective August 2, 2021. 

Incorporation by reference: The 

incorporation by reference of certain 

publications listed in this rule is 

approved by the Director of the Federal 

Register as of August 2, 2021. The 

incorporation by reference of certain 

other publications listed in this rule was 

approved by the Director of the Federal 

Register as of April 27, 2020. 

Compliance date: Public utilities must 

make a compliance filing to comply 

with the requirements of this final rule 

through eTariff twelve months after 

implementation of the WEQ Version 

003.2 Standards, but no earlier than 

October 27, 2022. Compliance filings for 

cybersecurity and Parallel Flow 

Visualization standards are due March 

2, 2022. 

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. 

Peter Whitman (technical issues), Office 

of Energy Policy and Innovation, 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, 888 First Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502– 

6225. 

Michael A. Chase (legal issues), Office 

of the General Counsel, Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 

First Street NE, Washington, DC 

20426, (202) 502–6205. 

Mark Bennett (legal issues), Office of the 

General Counsel, Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, 888 First 

Street NE, Washington, DC 20426, 

(202) 502–8524. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

Paragraph 

Nos. 

I. Background .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 3. 

A. NAESB and Past Standards ....................................................................................................................................................... 3. 

B. Summary of NAESB WEQ Version 003.3 ................................................................................................................................. 9. 

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

A. Overview ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 17. 

B. Issues Raised by Commenters .................................................................................................................................................... 20. 

1. Changes to OASIS ................................................................................................................................................................ 21. 

2. Incorporation of WEQ–023 Standards 1.4 and 1.4.1 ......................................................................................................... 25. 

3. Changes to the Regulatory Text .......................................................................................................................................... 33. 

III. Waiver Requests and Implementation Issues .................................................................................................................................. 41. 

A. Waiver Requests ......................................................................................................................................................................... 41. 

1. Comments ............................................................................................................................................................................. 41. 

2. Commission Determination ................................................................................................................................................. 42. 

B. Implementation ........................................................................................................................................................................... 43. 

1. NOPR Proposal ..................................................................................................................................................................... 43. 

2. Comments ............................................................................................................................................................................. 44. 

3. Commission Determination ................................................................................................................................................. 48. 

IV. Notice of Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards .......................................................................................................................... 52. 

V. Incorporation by Reference ............................................................................................................................................................... 53. 

VI. Information Collection Statement ................................................................................................................................................... 71. 

VII. Environmental Analysis .................................................................................................................................................................. 75. 

VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Act ............................................................................................................................................................. 76. 

IX. Document Availability ..................................................................................................................................................................... 79. 

X. Effective Date and Congressional Notification ................................................................................................................................. 82. 

1. The Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission (Commission) is amending 

its regulations under the Federal Power 

Act (FPA) 1 to incorporate by reference 

into its regulations as mandatory 

enforceable requirements, the latest 

version (Version 003.3) of the Standards 

for Business Practices and 

Communication Protocols for Public 

Utilities adopted by the Wholesale 

Electric Quadrant (WEQ) of the North 


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2Standards for Bus. Practices & Commc’n 

Protocols for Pub. Utils., Order No. 676–I, 85 FR 

10,571 (Feb. 25, 2020), 170 FERC ¶ 61,062 (2020). 

3The OASIS suite of standards are the WEQ–001 

OASIS Business Practice Standards, the WEQ–002 

OASIS Standards and Communication Protocols 

Business Practice Standards, the WEQ–003 OASIS 

Data Dictionary Business Practice Standards, and 

the WEQ–013 OASIS Implementation Guide 

Business Practice Standards. 

4Prior 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 

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. 

5The 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. 

6See Docket No. RM05–5–027, Report of the 

North American Energy Standards Board on 

Wholesale Electric Quadrant Business Practice 

Standards Version 003.2 under RM05–5 (Dec. 8, 

2017) (NAESB WEQ Version 003.2 Report). 

7See Standards for Bus. Practices & Commc’n 

Protocols for Pub. Utils., Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking, 84 FR 24050 (May 16, 2019), 167 FERC 

¶ 61,127 (2019) (WEQ Version 003.2 NOPR). 

8WEQ Version 003.2 NOPR, 167 FERC ¶ 61,127 

at P 12. See also Standards for Bus. Practices & 

Commc’n Protocols for Pub. Utils., Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking, 81 FR 49580 (Jul. 28, 2016), 

156 FERC ¶ 61,055, at P 42 (2016) (WEQ Version 

003.1 NOPR). 

9NAESB filed the WEQ Version 003.1 Standards 

on October 26, 2015 (October 2015 Filing). See, e.g., 

WEQ Version 003.1 NOPR, 156 FERC ¶ 61,055. 

10The following WEQ–023 Modeling Business 

Practice Standards were incorporated by reference 

in Order No. 676–I: WEQ–023–5; WEQ–023–5.1; 

WEQ–023–5.1.1; WEQ–023–5.1.2; WEQ–023– 

5.1.2.1; WEQ–023–5.1.2.2; WEQ–023–5.1.2.3; 

WEQ–023–5.1.3; WEQ–023–5.2; WEQ–023–6; 

WEQ–023–6.1; WEQ–023–6.1.1; WEQ–023–6.1.2; 

and WEQ–023–A Appendix A. 

American Energy Standards Board 

(NAESB), filed with the Commission on 

March 30, 2020 (March 30 Filing). The 

WEQ Version 003.3 Standards build 

upon an earlier version of the standards 

that the Commission previously 

included and incorporated by reference 

into its regulations at 18 CFR parts 2 

and 38, respectively, in Order No. 676– 

I.2

2. The WEQ Version 003.3 Standards 

include newly created standards as well 

as modifications to existing standards 

developed through the NAESB Business 

Practice Standards development or 

minor correction processes. The WEQ 

Version 003.3 Standards include 

revisions related to the surety 

assessment on cybersecurity performed 

by Sandia National Laboratories 

(Sandia) designed to strengthen the 

practices and cybersecurity protections 

established within the standards. 

NAESB also revised its Open Access 

Same-Time Information System (OASIS) 

suite of standards,3 including revisions 

to support new OASIS functionality that 

will allow for the posting of third party 

offers of planning redispatch services as 

well as providing additional 

information regarding the curtailment of 

firm transmission service. In addition, 

the WEQ Version 003.3 Standards 

include revisions to the NAESB WEQ– 

023 Modeling Business Practice 

Standards. The Commission also revises 

18 CFR 37.6(b)(2)(i) to codify that the 

calculation of Available Transfer 

Capability (ATC) must be conducted in 

manner that is transparent, consistent 

with system conditions and outages for 

the relevant timeframe, and not unduly 

discriminatory or preferential. 

I. Background 

A. NAESB and Past Standards 

3. 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’s predecessor GISB and 

subsequently NAESB itself 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.4

4. 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.5 All 

participants in the gas and electric 

industries are eligible to join NAESB 

and participate in standards 

development. 

5. 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 must be 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 revised existing business practice 

standards or has developed and adopted 

new business practice standards. 

NAESB’s standards are initially 

voluntary standards, which become 

mandatory for public utilities upon 

incorporation by reference by the 

Commission. 

6. NAESB filed its WEQ Version 003.2 

Business Practices Standards (WEQ 

Version 003.2 Standards) on December 

8, 2017 (December 8 Filing), in Docket 

No. RM05–5–027.6 After consideration 

of the December 8 Filing, the 

Commission issued the WEQ Version 

003.2 NOPR on May 16, 2019, wherein 

the Commission proposed to revise its 

regulations to incorporate by reference 

the WEQ Version 003.2 Standards, with 

certain enumerated exceptions.7 The 

Commission announced that NAESB’s 

WEQ–023 Modeling Business Practice 

Standards would be addressed 

separately, proposing only to 

incorporate by reference the WEQ–023 

Modeling Business Practice Standards 

that were moved from the WEQ–001 

OASIS Business Practice Standards by 

the changes made to the WEQ Version 

003.1 Standards.8

7. On February 4, 2020, the 

Commission issued Order No. 676–I, in 

which it amended its regulations under 

the FPA to incorporate by reference into 

its regulations as mandatory enforceable 

requirements, with certain enumerated 

exceptions, the WEQ Version 003.2 

Standards. The WEQ Version 003.2 

Standards included the changes 

proposed in WEQ Version 003.1 

Standards, which were the subject of an 

earlier notice of proposed rulemaking.9

All of these standards, except for the 

WEQ–022 and WEQ–023 Business 

Practice Standards, update and replace 

standards that the Commission 

previously incorporated by reference in 

Order No. 676–H. 

8. Among the NAESB Business 

Practice Standards incorporated by 

reference in Order No. 676–I, the 

Commission incorporated the WEQ–022 

Electric Industry Registry (EIR) Business 

Practice Standards, but did not 

incorporate by reference in its entirety 

the WEQ–023 Modeling Business 

Practice Standards. The Commission 

only incorporated by reference the 

WEQ–023 Modeling Business Practice 

Standards that were moved from the 

WEQ–001 OASIS Business Practice 

Standards by the changes made to the 

WEQ Version 003.1 Standards.10 The 

Commission also did not adopt the 

NOPR proposal to incorporate by 


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11See NAESB WEQ Version 003.3 Report (filed 

March 30, 2020). 

12Standards for Bus. Practices & Commc’n 

Protocols for Pub. Utils., 85 FR 55201 (Sept. 4, 

2020) 172 FERC ¶ 61,047 (2020) (WEQ Version 

003.3 NOPR). 

13See NAESB WEQ Version 003.3 Report, 

Transmittal at 1–2. 

14 Id. at 3–4. 

15Preventing Undue Discrimination & Preference 

in Transmission Serv., Order No. 890, 72 FR 12266 

(Mar. 15, 2007), 118 FERC ¶ 61,119, order on reh’g, 

Order No. 890–A, 73 FR 2984 (Jan. 16, 2008), 121 

FERC ¶ 61,297 (2007), order on reh’g, Order No. 

890–B, 123 FERC ¶ 61,299 (2008), order on reh’g, 

Order No. 890–C, 74 FERC 12540 (Mar. 25 2009), 

126 FERC ¶ 61,228, order on clarification, Order 

No. 890–D, 74 FR 61511 (Nov. 25, 2009), 129 FERC 

¶ 61,126 (2009). 

16NAESB WEQ Version 003.3 Report, Transmittal 

at 4. WEQ–001–13.2 adds new Third Party Offers 

for Planning Redispatch Services Business Practice 

Standards to allow for posting of third-party offers 

of planning redispatch services. WEQ–001–28 adds 

new Curtailment Posting Requirements Business 

Practice Standards for the posting of additional 

information on OASIS regarding firm transmission 

curtailments. 

17 In Dynegy Power Marketing, Inc, 99 FERC 

¶ 61,054 (2002) (Dynegy), the Commission 

established its policy on a customer’s right to keep 

its contractual rights to point-to-point firm 

transmission service on the original path it has 

reserved while the customer’s request for a redirect 

is pending. 

18With respect to e-Tagging, NAESB also 

modified the WEQ–004 Coordinate Interchange 

Business Practice Standards’ Commercial Timing 

Tables to clarify commercial timing requirements. 

19NAESB WEQ Version 003.3 Report, Transmittal 

at 4. 

20 Id. 

21Comprised of North American Reliability 

Coordinators, Transmission Operators, 

Transmission Owners, and Balancing Authorities, 

EIDSN, Inc. manages the Electric Information 

Network (EInet), a data-sharing network for its 

members to promote the reliable and efficient 

operation of the Eastern and Quebec 

Interconnections. See EIDSN, Inc., Our Mission, at 

https://eidsn.org/. 

22NAESB WEQ Version 003.3 Report, Transmittal 

at 5. 

23Minor corrections were made to the WEQ–001 

OASIS Business Practice Standards and the WEQ– 

003 OASIS Data Dictionary Business Practice 

Standards. 

reference NAESB’s latest version of the 

WEQ–006 Manual Time Error 

Correction Business Practice Standards. 

B. Summary of NAESB WEQ Version 

003.3 

9. On March 30, 2020, NAESB filed 

the WEQ Version 003.3 Standards.11

The WEQ Version 003.3 Standards build 

upon the standards included in the 

WEQ Version 003.2 Standards. After 

consideration of the March 30 Filing, 

the Commission issued the WEQ 

Version 003.3 NOPR on July 16, 2020, 

wherein the Commission proposed to 

incorporate the WEQ Version 003.3 

Standards, with certain enumerated 

exceptions.12

10. NAESB’s WEQ Version 003.3 

Standards include newly created 

standards as well as modifications to 

existing standards developed through 

the NAESB Business Practice Standards 

development or minor correction 

processes.13 The WEQ Version 003.3 

Standards also include additions and 

revisions to the NAESB WEQ–023 

Modeling Business Practice Standards, 

which the Commission addresses 

herein. 

11. The WEQ Version 003.3 Standards 

include revisions related to the surety 

assessment on cybersecurity performed 

by Sandia. NAESB responded to a U.S. 

Department of Energy (DOE) request 

that NAESB act on an expedited basis to 

ensure the WEQ cybersecurity standards 

developed in response to the surety 

assessment were included in the WEQ 

Version 003.3 Standards.14 NAESB 

reports that the changes strengthen the 

practices and cybersecurity protections 

established within the standards by 

aligning security requirements with 

other cybersecurity guidelines, 

mitigating potential vulnerabilities, and 

incorporating more secure 

communication and encryption 

methodologies. 

12. In support of directives contained 

in Order No. 890,15 NAESB also revised 

the OASIS suite of standards. The WEQ 

Version 003.3 Standards include 

additions and revisions to support new 

OASIS functionality that will allow for 

the posting of third party offers of 

planning redispatch services (WEQ– 

001–13.2) as well as providing 

additional information regarding the 

curtailment of firm transmission service 

(WEQ–001–28) prescribed in the OASIS 

suite of standards.16 In response to 

Order No. 676–I, NAESB also revised 

the standards as necessary to conform 

with the Commission’s Dynegy policy, 

and stated that any standards from these 

efforts will be incorporated into future 

versions of the WEQ Business Practice 

Standards.17

13. The WEQ Version 003.3 Standards 

also include changes that were made to 

support consistency with the North 

American Electric Reliability 

Corporation (NERC) Reliability 

Standards, including NERC’s retirement 

of the NERC Interchange Scheduling 

and Coordination Reliability Standards 

and retirement of the NERC Modeling, 

Data, and Analysis Reliability 

Standards. NAESB coordinated with 

NERC to make modifications and 

revisions pertaining to electronic 

tagging (e-Tagging),18 and to the 

calculation of ATC and AFC.19

14. The WEQ Version 003.3 Standards 

also include additions, revisions, and 

reservations made to the WEQ–008 

Transmission Load Relief (TLR)— 

Eastern Interconnection Business 

Practice Standards, which NAESB 

advises completes the standards 

development effort for the Parallel Flow 

Visualization (PFV) enhanced 

congestion management process (PFV 

Standards).20 The PFV Standards are the 

culmination of a multi-year 

coordination effort between NAESB, 

NERC, and the Eastern Interconnect 

Data Sharing Network (EIDSN), Inc.,21

and the standards are designed to 

improve upon the congestion 

management procedures for the Eastern 

Interconnection through the use of realtime data in calculations for 

transmission loading relief obligations. 

15. Moreover, as part of the standards 

development process, NAESB made five 

additional revisions to the OASIS suite 

of standards that were not made in 

response to Commission orders.22 First, 

NAESB modified the OASIS suite of 

standards to improve OASIS query 

functionalities. Second, NAESB 

modified the OASIS suite of standards 

for new OASIS functionality to fully 

document all encumbrances to 

unconditional firm transmission service, 

such as untagged pseudo-ties. Third, 

NAESB modified the OASIS suite of 

standards to expand notice functionality 

and establish standards for providing 

dynamic notification to transmission 

customers of the renewal deadline for 

rollover rights for point-to-point 

transmission service. Fourth, NAESB 

modified WEQ–001 OASIS Business 

Practice Standards for use of Next Hour 

Market Service and the 0–NX 

transmission product codes. Fifth, 

NAESB modified the OASIS suite of 

standards to modify Network Integration 

Transmission Service (NITS) 

requirements. Finally, NAESB revised 

the OASIS suite of standards to make 

three minor corrections.23

16. The WEQ Version 003.3 Standards 

include the WEQ–023 Modeling 

Business Practice Standards that 

provide technical details concerning the 

calculation of ATC for wholesale 

electric transmission services. The 

WEQ–023 Modeling Business Practice 

Standards address aspects of certain of 

the NERC MOD A Reliability Standards 

relating to modeling, data and analysis 

that are included in the NERC’s 

proposed retirement of its MOD A 

Reliability Standards. 

II. Discussion 

A. Overview 

17. NAESB’s WEQ Version 003.3 

Standards, which we are incorporating 

by reference in this final rule, include 

modifications, reservations, and/or 


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24See NAESB WEQ Version 003.3 Report, 

Transmittal at 3. 

25Standards for Business Practices and 

Communication Protocols for Public Utilities, Order 

No. 676–H, 79 FR 56939 (Sept. 24, 2015), 148 FERC 

¶ 61,205, at P 21, n.27 (2014). (‘‘WEQ’s procedures 

ensure that all industry members can have input 

into the development of a business practice 

standard, whether or not they are members of 

NAESB, and each standard it adopts is supported 

by a consensus of the seven industry segments: 

Transmission, generation, marketer/brokers, 

distribution/load serving entities, end users, 

independent grid operators/planners, and 

technology services. Under the WEQ process, for a 

standard to be approved, it must receive a supermajority vote of 67 percent of the members of the 

WEQ’s Executive Committee with support from at 

least 40 percent of each of the seven industry 

segments. For final approval, 67 percent of the 

WEQ’s general membership must ratify the 

standards.’’). 

26Public Law 104–113, 12(d), 110 Stat. 775 

(1996), 15 U.S.C. 272 note (1997). 

27The ISO/RTO Council specifically endorsed the 

WEQ Version 003.3 NOPR proposal to incorporate 

by reference business practice standards necessary 

to effectuate the PFV enhanced congestion 

management process. ISO/RTO Council Comments 

at 2, 4–5. 

28Order No. 890, 118 FERC ¶ 61,119 at P 1627. 

29 ISO/RTO Council Comments at 13. 

30 Id. 

31 Id. 

additions to the following set of existing 

standards: 24

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. 

008 ............... Transmission Loading Relief 

(TLR)—Eastern Interconnection Business Practice Standards. 

013 ............... OASIS Implementation Guide. 

023 ............... Modeling. 

18. The specific NAESB standards 

that we are incorporating by reference in 

this final rule establish a set of business 

practice standards and communication 

protocols for the electric industry that 

will continue to enable industry 

members to achieve efficiencies by 

streamlining utility business and 

transactional processes and 

communication procedures. All of these 

standards, except for portions of the 

WEQ–023 Modeling Business Practice 

Standards, update and replace standards 

that the Commission previously 

incorporated by reference in Order No. 

676–I. 

19. As the Commission has explained 

in prior orders, NAESB approved the 

standards under its consensus 

procedures.25 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 must conduct 

business under these standards, the 

Commission’s regulations should reflect 

those standards that have the widest 

possible support. In 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, to carry out 

policy objectives or activities.26

B. Issues Raised by Commenters 

20. Comments in response to the WEQ 

Version 003.3 NOPR were filed by four 

commenters. Commenters expressed 

general support for the Commission’s 

proposals,27 and no comments opposed 

the basic direction of the NOPR, 

although some commenters took issue 

with specific details of the NOPR 

proposal. Specifically, commenters 

raised discrete concerns regarding the 

WEQ–023 Business Practice Standards 

and the Commission’s proposed 

regulatory text regarding nondiscriminatory ATC calculations. 

Commenters also commented on 

whether the Commission should require 

industry to implement WEQ Version 

003.2 prior to WEQ Version 003.3, or 

instead should cancel the 

implementation obligation of WEQ 

Version 003.2 and require 

implementation of all accepted WEQ 

Version 003.3 Business Practice 

Standards (including WEQ 003.2 

changes) within 18 months. We will 

incorporate by reference into the 

Commission’s regulations all of the 

WEQ Version 003.3 Standards and 

amend the regulatory text at 

§ 37.6(b)(2)(i) as described below. We 

will separately discuss each of the 

issues raised by commenters. 

1. Changes to OASIS 

a. Background 

21. Order No. 890 requires 

transmission providers to post to OASIS 

‘‘all circumstances and events 

contributing to the need for a firm 

service curtailment, specific services 

and customers curtailed (including the 

transmission provider’s own retail 

loads), and the duration of the 

curtailment.’’ 28 As the Commission 

explained in the NOPR, NAESB made 

additional modifications to the OASIS 

suite of standards, as well as 

consistency changes to WEQ–000 

Abbreviations, Acronyms, and 

Definition of Terms Business Practice 

Standards. NAESB’s changes to the 

standards included modifications to 

existing templates and the creation of 

two new templates to provide the 

mechanism for transmission providers 

to post the required additional 

information regarding the curtailment of 

firm transmission service, including the 

curtailment of non-firm transmission 

service that preceded any firm 

transmission curtailments. 

22. The information needed to meet 

the posting requirements is contained in 

two separate tools: The Interchange 

Distribution Calculator (IDC) tool for the 

Eastern Interconnection, managed by 

EIDSN, Inc., and the Enhanced 

Curtailment Calculator (ECC) tool for 

the Western Interconnection, managed 

by the California Independent System 

Operator. Although both the IDC and 

ECC tools produce information to be 

posted to OASIS in accordance with the 

standards, NAESB states that its 

members determined that the need for a 

mechanism to transfer data from the 

tools to OASIS should be addressed as 

part of any industry implementation 

rather than through standards 

modifications. 

b. Comments 

23. The ISO/RTO Council states that 

it supports an automated mechanism to 

transfer data from the IDC/ECC tools to 

the firm transmission curtailment 

templates.29 The ISO/RTO Council 

states that it currently is unclear 

whether firm curtailment information 

must be posted manually prior to the 

implementation of an automated data 

transfer mechanism.30 The ISO/RTO 

Council contends that manually 

populating firm curtailment data into 

the templates is administratively 

burdensome and introduces the 

potential for human (data entry) error, 

and automated data transfer results in a 

more reliable, accurate and equitable 

posting process.31 The ISO/RTO 

Council requests that the Commission 

clarify that manual postings will not be 

required as an interim means to achieve 

compliance while the automated data 

transfer mechanism is being developed 

per the implementation schedule for the 

WEQ Version 003.3 Standards. 

c. Commission Determination 

24. Because of the importance of 

posting information regarding firm 

curtailments, we will not delay 

implementation while industry 

develops a more automated data transfer 

mechanism. NAESB states that its 


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32WEQ–023 1.4 states, ‘‘[e]ach Transmission 

Service Provider shall not grant a request for Firm 

Transmission Service on an ATC Path that serves 

as an interface with another BAA if the net of the 

Firm Transmission Service transactions into and 

out of the Transmission Service Provider’s BAA 

would exceed the sum of the Facility Ratings of Tie 

Facilities, to which Transmission Service Providers 

mutually agree they have the right to use Tie 

Facilities that comprise the ATC Path, between the 

two BAAs.’’ 

WEQ–023 1.4.1 states, ‘‘[e]ach Transmission 

Service Provider shall limit the Interchange 

Schedule (both Firm and non-Firm) of the 

reservations on an ATC path into and out of 

Transmission Service Provider’s BAA on an 

interface with another BAA such that the Net 

Interchange Schedule does not exceed the sum of 

the Facility Ratings of Tie Facilities, to which 

Transmission Service Providers mutually agree they 

have the right to use the Tie Facilities that comprise 

the ATC Path, between the two BAAs. 

33Bonneville Comments at 4. 

34 Id. at 5. 

35 ISO/RTO Council Comments at 9. 

36 Id. 

37Standards for Business Practices of Interstate 

Natural Gas Pipelines; Order No. 587, 61 FR 39,053, 

39057 (July 26, 1996), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,038, 

at 30.059 (1996) (cross-referenced at 76 FERC 

¶ 61042) (‘‘Since it is the industry that must operate 

under these standards, deferring to the considered 

judgment of the consensus of the industry is both 

reasonable and appropriate.’’). 

38See Standards for Bus. Practices of Interstate 

Nat. Gas Pipelines, Order No. 587–G, 63 FR 20072, 

20076–80 (Apr. 23, 1998), FERC Stats. & Regs. 

¶ 31,062, at 30,668–74 (1998) (cross-referenced at 83 

FERC ¶ 61,029) (Commission resolved issue on 

which NAESB’s predecessor, the Gas Industry 

Standards Board, could not reach consensus). 

39Order No. 676–H, 148 FERC ¶ 61,205 at P 80. 

members determined that the need for a 

mechanism to transfer data from the 

tools to OASIS should be addressed as 

part of any industry implementation 

rather than as part of the standards 

modifications. While we encourage the 

industry to develop automated tools as 

quickly as possible, we agree that this 

effort should be independent from the 

development and implementation of the 

standards. 

2. Incorporation of WEQ–023 Standards 

1.4 and 1.4.1 

a. Background 

25. The WEQ–023 Business Practice 

Standards include two new standards 

related to contract path management not 

previously included in the NERC MOD 

A Reliability Standards. These two 

Business Practice Standards, WEQ–023– 

1.4 and WEQ–023–1.4.1, limit the 

amount of firm transmission service 

granted on an ATC Path and limit the 

interchange schedule (both firm and 

non-firm) between balancing authority 

areas to the contract path limit for that 

given path, respectively.32

b. Comments 

26. Bonneville Power Administration 

(Bonneville) and the ISO/RTO Council 

ask the Commission to decline to 

incorporate by reference these 

Standards. Bonneville asserts that the 

WEQ–023–1.4 and WEQ–023–1.4.1 

Business Practice Standards need 

further refinement by the industry 

before they are ready for incorporation 

by reference, if at all. Bonneville states 

that these Standards appear to be 

inconsistent with how Bonneville and 

other transmission service providers 

and system operators in the Western 

Interconnection operate their systems. 

Bonneville explains that, for itself and 

others, an ATC Path is allowed to be 

overscheduled up to twenty minutes 

prior to flow, at which point 

interruptions of non-firm service, 

curtailments, or economic dispatches, 

are then performed to ensure that path 

limits are not exceeded. Bonneville 

further states that this practice allows it 

to maximize transmission utilization 

including the integration of variable 

resources scheduled within the hour, 

and that these requirements, if 

incorporated by reference as drafted, 

would restrict energy supply and 

transmission availability.33

27. Bonneville contends that its 

concerns with Business Practice 

Standards WEQ–023–1.4 and 1.4.1 are 

particularly relevant in light of the 

recent heat wave events of August and 

September 2020 in California. 

Bonneville asserts that eliminating the 

practice of over-scheduling until the 

final twenty minutes prior to flow on 

transmission facilities such as the 

California-Oregon Intertie could 

artificially restrict energy supply and 

transmission availability.34

28. The ISO/RTO Council joins 

Bonneville in opposing WEQ–023–1.4 

and 1.4.1 Business Practice Standards, 

stating that requiring transmission 

service providers to assume all firm 

transmission service reservations will be 

used in full, without accounting for the 

transmission customer’s scheduling 

activity, ‘‘will undoubtedly result in less 

efficient use of the transmission 

system.’’ The ISO/RTO Council also 

expresses concern that under system 

conditions which include the sudden, 

unexpected outage or de-rate of a 

transmission facility associated with an 

ATC path, there may not be sufficient 

time to adjust posted ATC or modify the 

current interchange, which could lead 

to a violation of the requirement.35

29. The ISO/RTO Council notes that 

WEQ–023–1.4 and 1.4.1 Business 

Practice Standards were initially 

rejected by the NAESB Business 

Practices Subcommittee, and that the 

ISO/RTO Council and other entities, 

including PJM Interconnection LLC, 

Midcontinent Independent System 

Operator, Inc., Southwest Power Pool, 

Electric Reliability Council Of Texas, 

Inc., and the Independent Electricity 

System Operator of Ontario, raised 

concerns that remain unresolved.36

c. Commission Determination 

30. We incorporate by reference all of 

the WEQ–023 Modeling Business 

Practice Standards. The WEQ–023 

Business Practice Standards were filed 

in October 2015 and were the product 

of an extensive development process by 

a NAESB subcommittee with the 

necessary expertise to address the 

relevant technical issues. Although 

WEQ–023–1.4 and 1.4.1 Business 

Practice Standards were not in NERC’s 

MOD A Reliability Standards, they were 

proposed to help address differences in 

how contract paths are treated that 

would have existed among the three 

methods for calculating ATC: Rated 

System Path Methodology, Area 

Interchange Methodology, and Flowgate 

Methodology. Declining to adopt these 

standards at this point could potentially 

loosen the requirements for nondiscriminatory calculation of ATC and 

may require changes to specific 

standards regarding particular contract 

paths. Given the deliberately broad 

nature of these standards, the record 

does not show that current business 

practices, such as a response to a 

sudden de-rate or outage referenced by 

the ISO/RTO Council, would 

necessarily be considered a violation of 

the standards. 

31. Moreover, a consensus of the 

industry approved these standards with 

Bonneville, MISO and ISO–NE voting in 

favor at the WEQ stakeholders meeting, 

while no ISO/RTO and only one utility 

voted in opposition. In reviewing these 

standards, the Commission relies 

heavily on the consensus expertise of 

the NAESB membership.37 Concerns 

with the NAESB Business Practice 

Standards therefore should be raised 

within the NAESB process, and the 

industry should seek to resolve any 

issues therein and, if they cannot, the 

parties need to provide a factual record 

for the Commission to consider the 

issue.38

32. Bonneville and the ISO/RTO 

Council have raised concerns with 

whether implementation of these 

standards in all cases will result in a 

loss of scheduling flexibility without the 

risk of overscheduling. We therefore 

remind these parties that, as further 

discussed in P 41, we remain open to 

examining requests for waivers of these 

standards when utilities make 

compliance filings.39 Such requests 


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40Electric Transmission Incentives Policy Under 

Section 219 of the Federal Power Act, Notice of 

Workshop, RM20–10–000 & AD19–19–000 (Apr. 15, 

2021). The workshop is scheduled for September 

10, 2021. 

41Additions to the regulatory text are indicated 

by italics. Deletions from the regulatory text are 

indicated by [brackets.] 

42WEQ Version 003.3 NOPR, 172 FERC ¶ 61,047 

at P 49 (citing Mandatory Reliability Standards for 

the Calculation of Available Transfer Capability, 

Capacity Benefit Margins, Transmission Reliability 

Margins, Total Transfer Capability, & Existing 

Transmission Commitments & Mandatory 

Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power Sys., Order 

No. 729, 74 FR 64884 (Dec. 8, 2009), 129 FERC 

¶ 61,155, at P 2 (2009)). 

43 Id. 

44Bonneville Comments at 3. 

45EEI Comments at 3. 

46 ISO/RTO Council Comments at 7. 

47 Id. at 7–8. 

48OATI Comments at 5. 

should explain why the filing parties 

believe their current practices violate 

the standards and why their practices 

should be considered equal or superior 

to the standards in preventing 

overscheduling while providing for 

more flexibility or other benefits in 

scheduling. We urge NAESB to consider 

the issues raised by Bonneville and the 

ISO/RTO Council and whether revisions 

to these standards are warranted. The 

Commission also is mindful of the 

consideration of the potential benefits of 

maximizing the use of transmission 

when appropriate, without 

compromising reliability, and 

maintaining flexibility to maximize 

transmission utilization as conditions 

change, and has scheduled a workshop 

that may consider these issues.40

3. Changes to the Regulatory Text 

a. Background 

33. The Commission sought comment 

on proposed additional regulatory text 

in 18 CFR 37.6 (information to be posted 

on the OASIS) stating that transmission 

provider ATC calculations must be 

transparent, consistent, and not unduly 

discriminatory or preferential. 

Specifically, the Commission proposed 

to make the revisions indicated below to 

the regulatory text in 18 CFR 

37.6(b)(2)(i): 

Information used to calculate any 

posting of ATC and TTC must be dated 

and time-stamped and all calculations 

shall be performed according to 

consistently applied methodologies 

referenced in the Transmission 

Provider’s transmission tariff and shall 

be based on Commission-approved 

[Reliability Standards,] business 

practice and electronic communication 

standards, and related implementation 

documents, as well as current industry 

practices, standards and criteria. 

Transmission Providers shall calculate 

ATC and TTC in coordination with and 

consistent with capability and usage on 

neighboring systems, calculate system 

capability using factors derived from 

operations and planning data for the 

time frame for which data are being 

posted (including anticipated outages), 

and update ATC and TTC calculations 

as inputs change. Such calculations 

shall be conducted in a manner that is 

transparent, consistent, and not unduly 

discriminatory or preferential.41

34. The NOPR explained that ‘‘this 

proposed regulation, in conjunction 

with the WEQ–023 Modeling Business 

Practice Standards, will help ensure that 

all transmission customers will be 

treated fairly when seeking alternative 

power supplies, and will provide for 

comparable and not unduly 

discriminatory or preferential treatment 

of native load customers and 

transmission service customers.’’ 42 The 

Commission also sought comment on 

whether it should develop new 

regulations outside of the NAESB 

standards development process ‘‘to 

maintain the current level of detail 

related to ATC calculations; if so, what 

level of detail those regulations should 

have.’’ 43

b. Comments 

35. Four commenters oppose the 

Commission’s proposed changes to the 

regulatory text. No commenters filed in 

support of the proposal. Bonneville and 

the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) assert 

that the Commission’s proposed 

language is unnecessary. Bonneville 

further asserts that the regulatory 

changes circumvent the NAESB process 

sanctioned by the Commission for the 

development of standards, and that the 

Commission’s regulations are not the 

appropriate place to address technical 

details involving the calculation of ATC 

and TTC. In particular, Bonneville 

maintains that the Commission’s 

proposed language includes ambiguous 

references to technical concepts such as 

‘‘factors derived from operations and 

planning data’’ in the calculation of 

ATC and TTC.44 EEI contends that 

revisions should occur through 

NAESB’s standard development 

process, and that the directives in Order 

No. 890 and related provisions in the 

pro forma OATT are sufficient to ensure 

that ATC calculation is consistent and 

non-discriminatory. EEI also notes that 

in Order No. 890, the Commission 

acknowledged its reliance on NAESB for 

the development of business practice 

standards.45

36. The ISO/RTO Council disagrees 

with the concerns expressed in the 

NOPR about the opportunity for 

discriminatory practices and 

transmission provider discretion in the 

calculation of ATC and AFC, stating that 

the WEQ–023 Modeling Business 

Practice Standards ‘‘were extensively 

vetted through NAESB’s industry-wide 

standards development process where 

any comments received regarding the 

lesser degree of detail in the standards 

were successfully addressed prior to 

NAESB ratification.’’ 46 The ISO/RTO 

Council contends that the WEQ–023 

Modeling Business Practice Standards 

ensure non-discriminatory practices and 

limit transmission provider discretion 

by requiring each transmission service 

provider to publish its ATC calculation 

methodology, and to describe its 

methodology in its ATC implementation 

document such that, given the same 

information used by the transmission 

service provider, the ATC calculations 

are reproducible and can be validated.47

37. Similarly, Open Access 

Technology International, Inc. (OATI) 

maintains that the NAESB standards 

development process is the best way to 

draft standards through an open, 

transparent, and industry participant 

driven process. It states that standards 

developed through this process would 

help the Commission avoid the 

imposition of unintentional and 

unnecessary regulatory changes.48 All 

four commenters agree that, if the 

Commission determines that the WEQ– 

023 Modeling Business Practice 

Standards are insufficient, it should 

encourage NAESB to provide additional 

details and specific standards to address 

those shortcomings. 

c. Commission Determination 

38. We adopt the NOPR proposal, 

with certain revisions. We recognize 

that commenters oppose adding these 

criteria to the Commission’s regulations, 

but after consideration of their 

arguments we continue to believe that 

revisions to the Commission’s 

regulations are necessary to ensure that 

transmission provider ATC calculations 

are transparent, consistent with 

anticipated system conditions and 

outages for the relevant timeframe, and 

not unduly discriminatory or 

preferential. However, in response to 

concerns raised in comments, we will 

not include detailed technical criteria in 

the regulations, but we will instead 

include the fundamentals of Order No. 

890 requirements for calculating ATC, 

which is consistent with what the 

Commission proposed in the NOPR. The 


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49Additions to the current regulatory text at 18 

CFR 37.6(b)(2)(i) are indicated by italics. Deletions 

to the regulatory text are indicated by [brackets.] 

50See, e.g., Order No. 890, 118 FERC ¶ 61,119 at 

P 2. 

51 ISO/RTO Council Comments at 13–14. 

52See Standards for Business Practices and 

Communication Protocols for Public Utilities, Order 

No. 676–E, 74 FERC 63288 (Dec. 3, 2009), 129 FERC 

¶ 61,162, at P 107 (2009). 

53This would include all WEQ Version 003.3 

Standards except for the WEQ cybersecurity 

standards which have an earlier implementation 

timeline, as discussed in the NOPR, as well as the 

implementation of the NAESB ATC-related 

standards contained in WEQ–023, which will be 

coordinated with the retirement of the NERC MOD 

A Reliability Standards. 

54Bonneville Comments at 5; EEI Comments at 2– 

3, 6; OATI Comments at 2. 

55Bonneville Comments at 5. 

56EEI Comments at 6. 

57OATI Comments at 3. 

58 Id. at 4. 

59Bonneville Comments at 5. 

60 ISO/RTO Council Comments at 3. 

61 Id. at 11–12. 

regulatory text will read as shown 

below.49

Information used to calculate any posting 

of ATC and TTC must be dated and timestamped and all calculations shall be 

performed according to consistently applied 

methodologies referenced in the 

Transmission Provider’s transmission tariff 

and shall be based on Commission-approved 

[Reliability Standards,] business practice and 

electronic communication standards, and 

related implementation documents, as well 

as current industry practices, standards and 

criteria. Such calculations shall be conducted 

in a manner that is transparent, consistent 

with anticipated system conditions and 

outages for the relevant timeframe, and not 

unduly discriminatory or preferential. 

39. The revised regulatory text 

properly references the WEQ Business 

Practice Standards in place of the NERC 

Mod A Reliability Standards that have 

been proposed for retirement. It also 

includes in the regulation Order No. 

890’s fundamental requirement that 

transmission provider ATC calculations 

must be transparent, consistent with 

anticipated system conditions and 

outages for the relevant timeframe, and 

not unduly discriminatory or 

preferential, but without introducing 

specific technical concepts that may be 

subject to differing interpretations.50 We 

adopt this regulatory text because it has 

the advantage of removing the most 

objectionable language opposed by 

commenters while including the 

fundamental requirements in Order No. 

890, including that the determination of 

ATC must not be unduly discriminatory 

or preferential. 

40. Commenters do not indicate a 

need at this time for additional ATC 

standards or for the Commission to 

develop further regulations outside of 

the NAESB standards development 

process. The industry, through the 

NAESB process, should continue to 

consider further refinements to these 

standards to improve the accuracy of 

these calculations. 

III. Waiver Requests and 

Implementation Issues 

A. Waiver Requests 

1. Comments 

41. The ISO/RTO Council asks the 

Commission to continue to acknowledge 

in its final rule that, consistent with 

Commission precedent and currentlyeffective policy, each public utility may 

seek as part of its compliance filing 

waiver of new or revised standards in 

the WEQ Version 003.3 Standards, and 

renewal of existing waivers previously 

granted by the Commission. The ISO/ 

RTO Council requests a similar 

clarification be included in the final 

rule for this proceeding.51

2. Commission Determination 

42. Public utilities may seek waiver of 

the standards for newly developed or 

newly revised standards and for the 

renewal of existing waivers. Our policy 

on when these waivers will be granted 

or denied is not being changed in this 

final rule. The Commission has 

previously stated that if a public utility 

asserts that its circumstances warrant a 

continued waiver of the regulations, the 

public utility may file a request for a 

waiver wherein the public utility can 

detail the circumstances that it believes 

warrant a waiver.52 In its request for 

continued waiver, the public utility 

must include the date, docket number, 

and explanation for why the waiver was 

initially granted by the Commission. 

The Commission will decide on any 

such waiver request on a case-by-case 

basis, and absent a Commissionapproved waiver, compliance with the 

standards is required by all public 

utilities. 

B. Implementation 

1. NOPR Proposal 

43. In the WEQ Version 003.3 NOPR, 

the Commission proposed to implement 

the WEQ Version 003.3 Standards, other 

than those related to cybersecurity, 

under an 18-month implementation 

timeline. The Commission requested 

comments on how best to proceed with 

the implementation of the remaining 

WEQ 003.3 Standards, including the 

standards related to PFV and those 

related to OASIS. Specifically, the 

Commission requested comments on 

whether the Commission should require 

the industry to implement WEQ Version 

003.2 prior to WEQ Version 003.3, or, 

alternatively, cancel the implementation 

obligation of WEQ Version 003.2 and 

instead require implementation of all 

accepted WEQ Version 003.3 Standards, 

including the WEQ Version 003.2 

Standards, within 18 months.53

2. Comments 

44. Bonneville, EEI and OATI states 

the WEQ Version 003.2 Standards and 

the WEQ Version 003.3 Standards 

should have distinct, sequential 

implementation timelines that are 

separate and do not overlap.54

Bonneville states work is underway 

within the industry to implement the 

WEQ Version 003.2 Standards which 

should not be interrupted due to the 

Commission’s adoption of the WEQ 

Version 003.3 Standards.55 EEI states 

the implementation of the different 

versions simultaneously are not 

necessarily simple upgrades, and OASIS 

updates, training and testing are 

required for successful 

implementation.56 OATI states separate 

implementation schedules will prevent 

wasted industry effort and cost.57

45. OATI states that the Commission’s 

proposed 18 month implementation 

period for the WEQ Version 003.3 

Standards should begin after the 

implementation period for WEQ Version 

003.2 Standards ends.58 Bonneville, 

however, recommends a shorter 

implementation period of at least 12 

months, also starting no sooner than the 

final compliance deadline for the WEQ 

Version 003.2 Standards.59 The ISO/ 

RTO Council also supports an 

implementation date in October 2022 

for the WEQ Version 3.3 Standards and 

recommends that the Commission 

provide public utilities with the option 

of implementing the WEQ Version 003.2 

Standards either: (a) In October 2021 

under the current implementation 

timeline for the WEQ Version 003.2 

Standards and prior to WEQ Version 

003.3 Standards; or (b) in October 2022 

simultaneously with the WEQ Version 

003.3 Standards.60 The ISO/RTO 

Council states that the Commission 

should also permit parties to submit a 

single compliance filing and intended 

implementation schedule for both WEQ 

Version 003.2 Standards and WEQ 

Version 003.3 Standards.61

46. The ISO/RTO Council also 

requests that the PFV Standards be 

implemented on an expedited timeline 

similar to the timeframe for the WEQ 

cybersecurity standards that is separate 

from the rest of the proposed 

modifications in the WEQ Version 003.3 


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62 Id. at 2, 5, 11. 

63 Id. at 12. 

64Specifically, the WEQ–001–28 business 

practice standard defines new requirements for 

posting TLR curtailment information on a public 

utility’s OASIS website, and IDC changes required 

before a public utility may implement and comply 

with the PFV Standards. 

65Bonneville Comments at 5–6; ISO/RTO Council 

Comments at 12. 

66Bonneville Comments at 5–6. 

67On April 3, 2020, the Commission granted an 

extension of time for public utilities to make the 

compliance filings required by Order No. 676–I. By 

this extension, the deadline for public utilities 

required to make a compliance filing through eTariff is extended from May 25, 2020, up to and 

including July 27, 2021. In its order(s) on 

compliance filings, the Commission will determine 

an implementation date for all utilities, including 

utilities whose tariffs incorporate each version of 

the NAESB standards, without modification, when 

the version is accepted by the Commission, no 

sooner than three months following the submission 

of compliance filings (i.e., October 27, 2021). See 

Notice of Extension of Time at 2, Docket No. RM05– 

5–028 (issued Apr. 3, 2020). 

68With two exceptions for the WEQ cybersecurity 

standards and PFV Standards, as described in P 49. 

69By providing a fifteen-month implementation 

period, we account for any external dependencies 

and system changes beyond the control of a public 

utility but necessary for a public utility’s 

implementation and compliance with the WEQ 

Version 003.3 Standards. However, if a public 

utility is unable to comply with the fifteen-month 

implementation timeline, it may file a request for 

extension of time. The Commission will consider 

such requests on a case-by-case basis. 

70For the specific WEQ cybersecurity standards 

to be implemented under this separate timeline, 

please see Appendix I. 

Standards.62 The ISO/RTO Council 

states that the PFV Standards’ enhanced 

congestion process will more accurately 

account for internal flows (i.e., network 

and native load calculations) by 

incorporating the use of real-time data 

into relief obligations calculated by the 

IDC. 

47. Moreover, the ISO/RTO Council 

requests that the Commission ensure 

that the implementation timeline 

account for any external dependencies 

and system changes beyond a public 

utility’s control but necessary for a 

public utility’s implementation and 

compliance with the WEQ Version 

003.3 Standards.63 For example, 

Bonneville and the ISO/RTO Council 

reference new requirements for posting 

TLR curtailment on a public utilities’ 

OASIS. This new TLR requirement 

necessitates certain changes to and/or 

information sourced from the 

Interchange Distribution Calculator/ 

Enhanced Curtailment Calculator (IDC/ 

ECC) tools 64 in order to coordinate with 

the OASIS system enhancements.65

With respect to the modification of 

WEQ–001 addressing the OASIS 

curtailment postings, which requires 

data from the ECC tool to meet the 

posting requirements, Bonneville states 

the implementation timeline should be 

at least six months from the time that a 

mechanism is made available to access 

data from the ECC.66

3. Commission Determination 

48. The Commission recognized in the 

WEQ Version 003.3 NOPR the potential 

for confusion through implementation 

of Version 003.3 either immediately 

after or simultaneously with Version 

003.2 implementation. In light of 

commenters’ explanations as to the time 

needed and complexities involved to 

plan and complete the tasks associated 

in implementing the WEQ Version 003.2 

Standards, we will not require the two 

implementation timelines for the WEQ 

Version 003.2 Standards and the WEQ 

Version 003.3 Standards to run 

concurrently. Accordingly, public 

utilities will continue to implement the 

changes incorporated by reference in 

Order No. 676–I, for the WEQ Version 

003.2 Standards, under the current 

implementation timeline ending 

October 2021.67 For the WEQ Version 

003.3 Standards incorporated by 

reference in this final rule,68 we 

conclude that a 15-month 

implementation period, beginning after 

the completion of the implementation 

timeline for the WEQ Version 003.2 

Standards, is sufficient for 

implementation of the WEQ Version 

003.3 Standards..69 As a result, public 

utilities will submit two compliance 

filings: the compliance filing for the 

WEQ Version 003.2 Standards will 

remain due July 27, 2021, with 

implementation no earlier than October 

27, 2021, and the compliance filing for 

the WEQ Version 003.3 Standards, 

which we incorporate by reference in 

this final rule, will be due 12 months 

after implementation of the WEQ 

Version 003.2 Standards, or no earlier 

than October 27, 2022. Again, the 

Commission will determine an 

implementation date for the WEQ 

Version 003.3 Standards following the 

acceptance of the compliance filings, no 

earlier than three months following 

their submission (i.e., not before January 

27, 2023), resulting in a 15-month 

implementation period. We decline to 

adopt the ISO/RTO Council’s proposal 

to require both the WEQ Version 003.2 

Standards and the WEQ Version 003.3 

Standards to be incorporated using the 

same timeline, with both due to be 

implemented by October 2022. Delaying 

the current implementation timeline for 

the WEQ Version 003.2 Standards could 

result in additional industry effort and 

complicate implementation of the WEQ 

Version 003.3 Standards. 

49. As noted above, for the revisions 

related to the surety assessment on 

cybersecurity performed by Sandia, 

which were included in the WEQ 

Version 003.3 Standards,70 we will 

require industry filers to submit 

compliance filings for these revised 

WEQ cybersecurity standards nine 

months after the publication of a final 

rule in this proceeding, with 

implementation required no sooner than 

three months after compliance filings 

are submitted to the Commission, for a 

total implementation period of at least 

12 months from the issuance of this 

final rule. Moreover, we agree with the 

ISO/RTO Council request that the PFV 

Standards be implemented on the same 

expedited timeline provided for the 

WEQ cybersecurity standards, that is, 

separate and apart from the 

implementation of the rest of the 

proposed modifications in the WEQ 

Version 003.3 Standards. As a result, we 

will require industry filers to also 

submit compliance filings for the PFV 

Standards, nine months after the 

publication of this final rule, with 

implementation required no sooner than 

three months after compliance filings 

are submitted to the Commission, for a 

total implementation period of at least 

twelve months. 

50. SUMMARY OF COMPLIANCE FILINGS AND IMPLEMENTATION DEADLINES

Business practice standards Compliance filings due Implementation date 

WEQ Version 003.3 71 ......... 12 months after implementation of the WEQ Version 

003.2 Standards, or no earlier than October 27, 2022.

No earlier than 3 months following compliance filings 

submission (no earlier than January 27, 2023). 

Cybersecurity ....................... 9 months after publication of this final rule in the Federal Register.No sooner than 12 months after publication of this final 

rule in Federal Register. 

PFV ...................................... 9 months after publication of this final rule in the Federal Register.No sooner than 12 months after publication of this final 

rule in Federal Register. 


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71These include all of the WEQ Version 003.3 

Standards except for the Business Practice 

Standards that address the cybersecurity and 

parallel flow visualization, as discussed in the body 

of this final rule. 

72As we explained in Order No. 676–H, 148 

FERC ¶ 61,205 at n.26, to the extent a public 

utility’s OASIS obligations are administered by an 

independent system operator (ISO) or regional 

transmission operator (RTO) and are not covered in 

the public utility’s OATT, the public utility will not 

need to modify its OATT to include the OASIS 

standards. Such a public utility will, however, be 

required to comply with these standards unless 

granted a waiver by the Commission. The business 

practice standards that we incorporate by reference 

into our regulations in this final rule govern the 

terms and conditions that public utilities must 

include in their OATTs and the transactions that 

entities enter with public utilities under these 

OATTs must be in accordance with the 

incorporated standards. 

73Order No. 676–E, 129 FERC ¶ 61,162 at P 107. 

74 1 CFR 51.5. See Incorporation by Reference, 79 

FR 66267 (Nov. 7, 2014). 

75WEQ–000 Version 003.1 and WEQ–006 Version 

003.1 were previously approved for incorporation 

by reference and continue to be referenced without 

change. 

51.In keeping with the prior practice 

that the Commission adopted in Order 

No. 676–H, we are requiring public 

utilities and those entities with 

reciprocity tariffs to modify their open 

access transmission tariffs (OATT) to 

include the WEQ standards that we are 

incorporating by reference. In order to 

comply with this final rule, public 

utilities and entities with reciprocity 

tariffs must make a compliance filing 

through eTariff no later than 90 days 

from the date the final rule is published 

in the Federal Register, using an 

indeterminant effective date (12/31/ 

9998) for the tariff records. The 

Commission will establish an effective 

date for the tariff changes in the order(s) 

on the compliance filings no earlier than 

five months from the date the final rule 

is published in the Federal Register.72

Should any public utility that has 

previously been granted a waiver of the 

regulations believe that its 

circumstances warrant a continued 

waiver, the public utility may file a 

request for a waiver wherein the public 

utility can detail the circumstances that 

it believes warrant a waiver.73 In its 

request for continued waiver, the public 

utility must include the date, docket 

number of the order(s) previously 

granting the waiver(s), and an 

explanation for why the waiver(s) was 

initially granted by the Commission. 

Any waiver requests must be filed at the 

same time with the public utility’s 

compliance filing or in a separate FPA 

section 205 filing. 

IV. Notice of Use of Voluntary 

Consensus Standards 

52. Office of Management and Budget 

Circular A–119 (section 11) (Feb. 10, 

1998) provides that when a federal 

agency issues or revises a regulation 

containing a standard, the agency 

should publish a statement in the final 

rule stating whether the adopted 

standard is a voluntary consensus 

standard or a government-unique 

standard. In this final rule, the 

Commission is incorporating by 

reference voluntary consensus standards 

adopted by NAESB’s WEQ. 

V. Incorporation by Reference 

53. 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.74 The 

regulations also require agencies to 

summarize, in the preamble of the final 

rule, the material it incorporates by 

reference. The standards we are 

incorporating by reference in this final 

rule 75 can be summarized as follows: 

54. The WEQ–000 Abbreviations, 

Acronyms, and Definition of Terms 

Business Practice Standards provide a 

single location for all abbreviations, 

acronyms, and defined terms referenced 

in the WEQ Business Practice 

Standards. These standards provide 

common nomenclature for terms within 

the wholesale electric industry, thereby 

reducing confusion and opportunities 

for misinterpretation or 

misunderstandings among industry 

participants. 

55. The WEQ–001 OASIS Business 

Practice Standards define the general 

and specific transaction processing 

requirements and related business 

processes required for OASIS. The 

standards detail requirements related to 

standard terminology for transmission 

and ancillary services, attribute values 

defining transmission service class and 

type, ancillary and other services 

definitions, OASIS registration 

procedures, procurement of ancillary 

and other services, path naming, next 

hour market service, identical 

transmission service requests, redirects, 

resales, transfers, OASIS postings, 

procedures for addressing ATC or AFC 

methodology questions, rollover rights, 

conditional curtailment option 

reservations, auditing usage of Capacity 

Benefit Margin, coordination of requests 

for service across multiple transmission 

systems, consolidation, preemption and 

right-of-first refusal process, and NITS 

requests. 

56. The WEQ–002 OASIS Standards 

and Communication Protocols Business 

Practice Standards define the technical 

standards for OASIS. These standards 

detail network architecture 

requirements, information access 

requirements, OASIS and point-to-point 

interface requirements, implementation, 

and NITS interface requirements. 

57. The WEQ–003 OASIS Data 

Dictionary Business Practice Standards 

define the data element specifications 

for OASIS. 

58. The WEQ–004 Coordinate 

Interchange Business Practice Standards 

define the commercial processes 

necessary to facilitate interchange 

transactions via Request for Interchange 

and specify the arrangements and data 

to be communicated by the entity 

responsible for authorizing the 

implementation of such transactions 

(the entities responsible for balancing 

load and generation). 

59. The WEQ–005 Area Control Error 

(ACE) Equation Special Cases Business 

Practice Standards define commercial 

based requirements regarding the 

obligations of a balancing authority to 

manage the difference between 

scheduled and actual electrical 

generation within its control area. Each 

balancing authority manages its ACE in 

accordance with the NERC Reliability 

Standards. These standards detail 

requirements for jointly owned utilities, 

supplemental regulation service, and 

load or generation transfer by telemetry. 

60. The WEQ–007 Inadvertent 

Interchange Payback Business Practice 

Standards define the methods in which 

inadvertent energy is paid back, 

mitigating the potential for financial 

gain through the misuse of paybacks for 

inadvertent interchange. Inadvertent 

interchange is interchange that occurs 

when a balancing authority cannot fully 

balance generation and load within its 

area. The standards allow for the 

repayment of any imbalances through 

bilateral in-kind payback, unilateral inkind payback, or other methods as 

agreed to. 

61. The WEQ–008 Transmission 

Loading Relief—Eastern Interconnection 

Business Practice Standards define the 

business practices for cutting 

transmission service during a TLR 

event. These standards detail 

requirements for the use of 

interconnection-wide TLR procedures, 

interchange transaction priorities for use 

with interconnection-wide TLR 

procedures, and the Eastern 

Interconnection procedure for physical 

curtailment of interchange transactions. 

62. The WEQ–011 Gas/Electric 

Coordination Business Practice 

Standards define communication 

protocols intended to improve 

coordination between the gas and 

electric industries in daily operational 


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76The suites of NAESB business practice 

standards we are not incorporating by reference in 

this final rule are: (1) The WEQ–009 Standards of 

Conduct for Electric Transmission Providers, which 

NAESB has eliminated as they duplicate the 

Commission’s regulations; (2) the WEQ–010 

Contracts Related Business Practice Standards that 

establish model contracts for the wholesale electric 

industry, which the Commission has not 

incorporated as they are not mandatory; (3) the 

WEQ–014 WEQ/WGQ eTariff Related Business 

Practice Standards, which provide an 

implementation guide describing the various 

mechanisms, data tables, code values/reference 

tables, and technical specifications used in the 

submission of electronic tariff filings to the 

Commission, which the Commission has not 

incorporated as these submittals are governed by 

the Commission’s eTariff regulations; and (4) the 

WEQ–016, WEQ–017, WEQ–018, WEQ–019, and 

WEQ–020 Business Practice Standards that were 

developed as part of the Smart Grid implementation 

and which the Commission adopted as nonmandatory guidance in 18 CFR 2.27 (2019). See 

Order No. 676–H, 148 FERC ¶ 61,205; Order No. 

676–I, 170 FERC ¶ 61,062, at n.102. 

77As a private, consensus standards developer, 

NAESB needs the funds obtained from its 

membership fees and sales of its Individual 

Standards Manual or Booklet 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. 

78NAESB, NAESB Membership Application, 

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

79NAESB, NAESB Materials Order Form, https:// 

www.naesb.org/pdf/ordrform.pdf. 

80Procedures for non-members to evaluate work 

products before purchasing are available at https:// 

www.naesb.org/misc/NAESB_Nonmember_

Evaluation.pdf. 

81 44 U.S.C. 3507(d). 

82 5 CFR 1320.11. 

communications between transportation 

service providers and gas-fired power 

plants. The standards include 

requirements for communicating 

anticipated power generation fuel for 

the upcoming day as well as any 

operating problems that might hinder 

gas-fired power plants from receiving 

contractual gas quantities. 

63. The WEQ–012 Public Key 

Infrastructure (PKI) Business Practice 

Standards establish the cybersecurity 

framework for parties partaking in 

transactions via a transmission 

provider’s OASIS or e-Tagging system. 

The NAESB PKI framework secures 

wholesale electric market electronic 

commercial communications via 

encryption of data and the electronic 

authentication of parties to a transaction 

through the use of a digital certificate 

issued by a NAESB certified certificate 

authority. The standards define the 

requirements for parties utilizing the 

digital certificates issued by the NAESB 

certificate authorities. 

64. The WEQ–013 OASIS 

Implementation Guide Business Practice 

Standards detail the implementation of 

the OASIS Business Practice Standards. 

The standards detail requirements 

related to point-to-point OASIS 

transaction processing, OASIS template 

implementation, preemption and rightof-first-refusal processing, NITS 

application and modification of service 

processing, and secondary network 

transmission service. 

65. The WEQ–015 Measurement and 

Verification of Wholesale Electricity 

Demand Response Business Practice 

Standards define a common framework 

for transparency, consistency, and 

accountability applicable to the 

measurement and verification of 

wholesale electric market demand 

response practices. The standards 

describe performance evaluation 

methodology and criteria for the use of 

equipment, technology, and procedures 

to quantify the demand reduction 

value—the measurement of reduced 

electrical usage by a demand resource. 

66. The WEQ–021 Measurement and 

Verification of Energy Efficiency 

Products Business Practice Standards 

define a common framework for 

transparency, consistency, and 

accountability applicable to the 

measurement and verification of 

wholesale electric market energy 

efficiency practices. The standards 

establish energy efficiency measurement 

and verification criteria and define 

requirements for energy efficiency 

resource providers for the measurement 

and verification of energy efficiency 

products and services offered in the 

wholesale electric markets. 

67. The WEQ–022 EIR Business 

Practice Standards define the business 

requirements for entities utilizing the 

NAESB managed EIR, a wholesale 

electric industry tool that serves as the 

central repository for information 

needed in the scheduling of 

transmission through electronic 

transactions. The standards describe the 

roles within EIR, registration 

requirements, and cybersecurity. 

68. The WEQ–023 Modeling Business 

Practice Standards specify the 

requirements for calculation of ATCs 

and AFCs using the methodology 

selected. In the event of a conflict 

between these Business Practice 

Standards and the Transmission Service 

Provider’s tariff or FERC approved 

seams agreement(s), the tariff or FERC 

approved seams agreement(s) shall have 

precedence.76

69. Copies of the standards 

incorporated by reference may be 

obtained from NAESB, whose offices are 

located at 801 Travis Street, Suite 1675, 

Houston, TX 77002, Phone: (713) 356– 

0060. NAESB’s website can be accessed 

at https://www.naesb.org. Once COVID 

restrictions are lifted, 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, https://www.ferc.gov. 

70. NAESB is a private, consensus 

standards developer that develops 

voluntary wholesale and retail 

standards related to the energy industry. 

The procedures utilized by NAESB 

make its standards reasonably available 

to those affected by the Commission’s 

regulations.77 Participants can join 

NAESB, for an annual membership cost 

of $8,000, which entitles them to full 

participation in NAESB and enables 

them to obtain these standards at no 

additional cost.78 Non-members may 

obtain the Individual Standards Manual 

or Booklet for $250 per manual or 

booklet.79 Non-members also may 

obtain the complete set of Business 

Practice Standards on USB flash drive 

for $2,000. NAESB also 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.80 In addition, NAESB 

considers requests for waivers of the 

charges on a case-by-case basis based on 

need. 

VI. Information Collection Statement 

71. The following collection of 

information contained in this final 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).81 OMB’s regulations require 

approval of certain information 

collection requirements imposed by 

agency rules.82 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. 

72. 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. 

73. The following burden estimate is 

based on the projected costs for the 

industry to implement the new and 

revised business practice standards 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 104 / Wednesday, June 2, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 29501 

83Commission 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 2020, $83.00/hour is 

used. 

84Regulations Implementing the Nat’l Envt’l Pol’y 

Act, Order No. 486, 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), 

FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 30,783 (1987) (crossreferenced at 41 FERC ¶ 61,284). 

85 18 CFR 380.4. 

86 5 U.S.C. 601–612. 

87 13 CFR 121.201, Sector 22 (Utilities), NAICS 

code 221121 (Electric Bulk Power Transmission and 

Control). 

88 36 hours at $83.00/hour = $2,988. 

adopted by NAESB and proposed to be 

incorporated by reference in this final 

rule.83 The NERC Compliance Registry, 

as of March 5, 2021, identifies 

approximately 162 entities in the United 

States that are subject to this final rule. 

DOCKET NOS. RM05–5–029 AND RM05–05–030 

Number of 

respondents 

Annual number 

of responses 

per respondent 

Total number 

of responses 

Average burden (hrs.) 

& cost ($) 

per response 

Total annual burden 

hrs. & total 

annual cost ($) 

(1) (2) (1) * (2) = (3) (4) (3) * (4) = (5) 

FERC–516E ............................................... 162 1 162 6 hrs.; $498 ............... 972 hrs.; $80,676. 

FERC–717 ................................................. 162 1 162 30 hrs.; $2,490 .......... 4,860 hrs.; $403,380. 

Total .................................................... ........................ .......................... 324 $2,988 ....................... 5,832 hrs.; $484,056. 

Costs to Comply with Paperwork 

Requirements: 

The estimated annual costs are as 

follows: 

FERC–516E: 162 entities × 1 response/ 

entity (6 hours/response × $83.00/hour) 

= $80,676. 

FERC–717: 162 entities × 1 response/ 

entity (30 hours/response × $83.00/ 

hour) = $403,380. 

Titles: FERC–516E, Electric Rate 

Schedule and Tariff Filings and FERC– 

717, Standards for Business Practices 

and Communication Protocols for 

Public Utilities. 

Action: Final rule. 

OMB Control Nos: 1902–0290 (FERC– 

516E) and 1902–0173 (FERC–717). 

Respondents: Business or other for 

profit, and not for profit institutions. 

Frequency of Responses: One-time. 

Necessity of the Information: This 

rule will amend its regulations to 

incorporate by reference the latest 

version (Version 003.3) of the 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). WEQ Version 003.3 includes 

standards developed in accordance with 

recommendations of the Department of 

Energy sponsored cybersecurity surety 

assessment of the NAESB Business 

Practice Standards that was conducted 

in 2019. Additional standards were 

developed in response to the directives 

from FERC Order No. 890, such as the 

standards developed to support Parallel 

Flow Visualization, intended to improve 

congestion management procedures for 

the Eastern Interconnection. The WEQ 

Version 003.3 Standards also include, in 

their entirety, the WEQ–023 Modeling 

Business Practice Standards contained 

in the WEQ Version 003.1 Standards, 

which address the technical issues 

affecting ATC and AFC calculation for 

wholesale electric transmission services, 

with the addition of certain revisions 

and corrections. The revisions made by 

NAESB in the WEQ Version 003.3 

Standards are designed to aid public 

utilities with the consistent and uniform 

implementation of requirements 

promulgated by the Commission as part 

of the pro forma Open Access 

Transmission Tariff. 

Internal review: The Commission has 

reviewed NAESB’s proposal and has 

made a preliminary determination that 

the proposed revisions 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 estimates associated with the 

information requirements. 

74. 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 

[Attention: Ellen Brown, email: 

DataClearance@ferc.gov, phone: (202) 

502–8663]. 

VII. Environmental Analysis 

75. The Commission is required to 

prepare an Environmental Assessment 

or an Environmental Impact Statement 

for any action that may have a 

significant adverse effect on the human 

environment.84 The Commission has 

categorically excluded certain actions 

from these requirements as not having a 

significant effect on the human 

environment.85 The actions adopted 

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 

natural gas and electric power that 

requires no construction of facilities. 

Therefore, an environmental assessment 

is unnecessary and has not been 

prepared in this final rule. 

VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

76. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 

1980 (RFA) 86 generally requires a 

description and analysis of final 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. 

77. 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 

standards, some transmission owners 

will fall under the following category 

and associated size threshold: electric 

bulk power transmission and control, at 

500 employees.87 The Commission 

estimates that 24 of the 162 respondents 

are small or 14.8 percent of the 

respondents affected by this final rule. 

78. The Commission estimates that 

the impact on these entities is consistent 

with the paperwork burden of $2,988 

per entity used above.88 The 

Commission does not consider $2,988 to 

be a significant economic impact. 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. 


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29502 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 104 / Wednesday, June 2, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 

IX. Document Availability 

79. 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 

FERC’s Home Page (https://

www.ferc.gov). At this time, the 

Commission has suspended access to 

the Commission’s Public Reference 

Room due to the President’s March 13, 

2020 proclamation declaring a National 

Emergency concerning the Novel 

Coronavirus Disease (COVID–19). 

80. From FERC’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 document in eLibrary, type the 

docket number excluding the last three 

digits of this document in the docket 

number field. 

81. User assistance is available for 

eLibrary and the FERC’s website during 

normal business hours from FERC 

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. Email the 

Public Reference Room at 

public.referenceroom@ferc.gov. 

X. Effective Date and Congressional 

Notification 

82. These regulations are effective 

August 2, 2021. The Commission has 

determined, with the concurrence of the 

Administrator of the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs of 

OMB, that this rule is not a ‘‘major rule’’ 

as defined in section 351 of the Small 

Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act of 1996. The Final Rule 

will be submitted to the Senate, House, 

and Government Accountability Office. 

List of Subjects 

18 CFR Part 37 

Electric power, Electric utilities. 

18 CFR Part 38 

Business practice standards, Electric 

utilities, Incorporation by reference, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

By the Commission. 

Issued: May 20, 2021. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

In consideration of the foregoing, the 

Commission amends parts 37 and 38, 

chapter I, title 18, Code of Federal 

Regulations, as follows: 

PART 37—OPEN ACCESS SAME–TIME 

INFORMATION SYSTEMS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 37 

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. 

■ 2. Amend § 37.6 by revising paragraph 

(b)(2)(i) to read as follows: 

§ 37.6 Information to be posted on the 

OASIS. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(i) Information used to calculate any 

posting of ATC and TTC must be dated 

and time-stamped and all calculations 

shall be performed according to 

consistently applied methodologies 

referenced in the Transmission 

Provider’s transmission tariff and shall 

be based on Commission-approved 

Reliability Standards, business practice 

and electronic communication 

standards, and related implementation 

documents, as well as current industry 

practices, standards and criteria. Such 

calculations shall be conducted in a 

manner that is transparent, consistent 

with anticipated system conditions and 

outages for the relevant timeframe, and 

not unduly discriminatory or 

preferential. 

* * * * * 

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. Revise § 38.1 to read as follows: 

§ 38.1 Incorporation by reference of North 

American Energy Standards Board 

Wholesale Electric Quadrant standards. 

(a) Any public utility that owns, 

operates, or controls facilities used for 

the transmission of electric energy in 

interstate commerce or for the sale of 

electric energy at wholesale in interstate 

commerce and any non-public utility 

that seeks voluntary compliance with 

jurisdictional transmission tariff 

reciprocity conditions must comply 

with the business practice and 

electronic communication standards 

promulgated by the North American 

Energy Standards Board (NAESB) 

Wholesale Electric Quadrant (WEQ) that 

are incorporated by reference in 

paragraph (b) of this section. 

(b)(1) The material incorporated by 

reference in this section was approved 

by the Director of the Federal Register 

in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 

1 CFR part 51. All approved material 

may be inspected at the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, Public 

Reference and Files Maintenance 

Branch, 888 First Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20426, Tel: (202) 502– 

8371, www.ferc.gov, and is available 

from the sources listed in paragraph 

(b)(2) of this section. It is also available 

for inspection at the National Archives 

and Records Administration (NARA). 

For information on the availability of 

this material at NARA, email 

fedreg.legal@nara.gov, or go to: https:// 

www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ 

ibr-locations.html . 

(2) North American Energy Standards 

Board (NAESB), 801 Travis Street, Suite 

1675, Houston, TX 77002, Tel: (713) 

356–0060. NAESB’s website is at 

https://www.naesb.org/. The NAESB 

WEQ Business Practice Standards; 

Standards and Models the Commission 

incorporates by reference are as follows: 

(i) WEQ–000, Abbreviations, 

Acronyms, and Definition of Terms 

(WEQ Version 003.1, September 30, 

2015) (including only the definitions of 

Interconnection Time Monitor, Time 

Error, and Time Error Correction); 

(ii) WEQ–000, Abbreviations, 

Acronyms, and Definition of Terms 

(WEQ Version 003.3, March 30, 2020); 

(iii) WEQ–001, Open Access SameTime Information Systems (OASIS), 

(WEQ Version 003.3, March 30, 2020); 

(iv) WEQ–002, Open Access SameTime Information Systems (OASIS) 

Business Practice Standards and 

Communication Protocols (S&CP), 

(WEQ Version 003.3, March 30, 2020); 

(v) WEQ–003, Open Access SameTime Information Systems (OASIS) Data 

Dictionary, (WEQ Version 003.3, March 

30, 2020); 

(vi) WEQ–004, Coordinate 

Interchange (WEQ Version 003.3, March 

30, 2020); 

(vii) WEQ–005, Area Control Error 

(ACE) Equation Special Cases (WEQ 

Version 003.3, March 30, 2020); 

(viii) WEQ–006, Manual Time Error 

Correction (WEQ Version 003.1, Sept. 

30, 2015); 

(ix) WEQ–007, Inadvertent 

Interchange Payback (WEQ Version 

003.3, March 30, 2020); 

(x) WEQ–008, Transmission Loading 

Relief (TLR)—Eastern Interconnection 

(WEQ Version 003.3, March 30, 2020); 

(xi) WEQ–011, Gas/Electric 

Coordination (WEQ Version 003.3, 

March 30, 2020); 

(xii) WEQ–012, Public Key 

Infrastructure (PKI) (WEQ Version 

003.3, March 30, 2020); 

(xiii) WEQ–013, Open Access SameTime Information Systems (OASIS) 


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1 Interstate & Intrastate Nat. Gas Pipelines; Rate 

Changes Relating to Fed. Income Tax Rate, Order 

No. 849, 83 FR 36672 (July 30, 2018), 164 FERC 

¶ 61,031 (2018). 

2An Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to 

titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the 

budget for fiscal year 2018, Public Law 115–97, 131 

Stat. 2054 (2017) (Tax Cuts and Jobs Act). 

Implementation Guide, (WEQ Version 

003.3, March 30, 2020); 

(xiv) WEQ–015, Measurement and 

Verification of Wholesale Electricity 

Demand Response (WEQ Version 003.3, 

March 30, 2020); 

(xv) WEQ–021, Measurement and 

Verification of Energy Efficiency 

Products (WEQ Version 003.3, March 

30, 2020); 

(xvi) WEQ–022, Electric Industry 

Registry (WEQ Version 003.3, March 30, 

2020); and 

(xvii) WEQ–023, Modeling. (WEQ 

Version 003.3, March 30, 2020). 

Note: The following appendix will not be 

published in the Code of Federal Regulations 

Appendix I 

STANDARDS AFFECTED BY THE REVISIONS TO IMPLEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS FOLLOWING SANDIA’S SURETY

ASSESSMENT ON CYBERSECURITY

Standard Revisions 

WEQ–000–1 

Deleted seven abbreviations/acronyms ................................................... DNS—Domain Name Service. 

IPCP—Internet Protocol Control Protocol. 

NTP—Network Time Protocol. 

PPP—Point to Point Protocol. 

SLIP—Serial Line Internet Protocol. 

SNMP—Simple Network Management Protocol. 

SSL—Secure Sockets Layer. 

Added one abbreviation/acronym ............................................................. OWASP—Open Web Application Security Project. 

WEQ–001 

Revised one standard .............................................................................. WEQ–001–13.1.3.3. 

WEQ–002 

Revised 14 standards ............................................................................... WEQ–002–2.3. 

WEQ–002–2.4. 

WEQ–002–4.2.1.1. 

WEQ–002–4.2.1.2. 

WEQ–002–4.2.1.3. 

WEQ–002–4.2.2. 

WEQ–002–5. 

WEQ–002–5.1.1. 

WEQ–002–5.1.2. 

WEQ–002–5.1.3. 

WEQ–002–5.6. 

WEQ–002–101.2.3.1. 

WEQ–002–101.3.3.2. 

WEQ–002–101.3.3.3. 

[FR Doc. 2021–11352 Filed 6–1–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

18 CFR Parts 154, 260, and 284 

[Docket Nos. RM18–11–002 and RP18–415– 

002; Order No. 849–B] 

Interstate and Intrastate Natural Gas 

Pipelines; Rate Changes Relating to 

Federal Income Tax Rate American 

Forest & Paper Association 

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: Order No. 849 adopted 

procedures for determining which 

jurisdictional natural gas pipelines may 

be collecting unjust and unreasonable 

rates in light of the income tax 

reductions provided by the Tax Cuts 

and Jobs Act and the Commission’s 

revised policy and precedent 

concerning tax allowances to address 

the double recovery issue identified by 

United Airlines, Inc. v. FERC. These 

procedures also allowed interstate 

natural gas pipelines to voluntarily 

reduce their rates. In this final rule, the 

Commission finds that there are no 

more expected filings that will make use 

of these special procedures, which are 

uniquely tied to the Tax Cuts and Jobs 

Act, and that all existing proceedings 

under these procedures have closed. 

Therefore, the Commission removes the 

procedures from the Code of Federal 

Regulations as obsolete. 

DATES: This rule is effective August 2, 

2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Vince Mareino (Legal Information), 

Office of the General Counsel, 888 First 

Street NE, Washington, DC 20426, (202) 

502–6167, Vince.Mareino@ferc.gov. 

Laura Kane (Technical Information), 

Office of Energy Market Regulation, 888 

First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426, 

(202) 502–8653, Laura.Kane@ferc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

1. On July 18, 2018, the Commission 

issued a final rule 1 (Order No. 849) 

adopting procedures for determining 

which jurisdictional natural gas 

pipelines may be collecting unjust and 

unreasonable rates in light of the 

income tax reductions provided by the 

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 2 and the 

Commission’s Revised Policy 


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