31498 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 112 / Monday, June 14, 2021 / Notices 

12The estimates reflect a program decrease of 63 

de-registered LSEs (and corresponding program 

decrease of 504 hrs.) related to Docket No. RD20– 

4–000, and an adjustment/clarification (decrease) of 

498 DPs, TPs, and BAs (and corresponding decrease 

of 3,984 hrs.), not related to Docket No. RD20–4– 

000. The updated number of 381 DPs, TPs and BAs 

is listed in a new row clarifying their applicability 

with Requirements R2 and R4. Requirement R2 

requires applicable entities to develop and provide 

data pursuant with Requirement R1. 

13The 113 PCs and BAs were originally estimated 

in FERC–725A due to Order No. 693. However, the 

estimates and descriptions were not clearly spelled 

out, so we are clarifying them. [Some of this burden 

may still be in FERC–725A (and double counted 

temporarily).] 

14The estimate is changing to 174 (from 188) due 

to normal industry fluctuation. 

15The estimate is changing to 188 (from 194) due 

to normal industry fluctuation. 

16The number of respondents for MOD–025–2/ 

MOD–026–1/MOD–027–1/MOD–31–3/MOD–032-/ 

MOD–033–2 are from the NERC compliance registry 

February 5, 2021. 

17This wage figure uses the average hourly wage 

(plus benefits) for electrical engineers (Occupation 

Code: 17–2071, $70.19/hour) and managers 

(Occupation Code: 11–0000, $97.15/hour) obtained 

from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (from 

https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm). 

The average used the following calculation: 

[$70.19/hour + $97.15/hour] ÷ 2 = $83.67/hour. 

18The estimate uses the hourly average wage 

(plus benefits) for file clerks obtained from the 

Bureau of Labor Statistics: $34.79/hour (BLS 

Occupation Code: 43–4071). 

19 It is estimated that the applicable numbers of 

generator owner respondents used to calculate the 

public reporting burden for these standards MOD– 

026–1, MOD–027- 1, MOD–032–1 and MOD–033– 

1 is half of total numbers of GO (501=1003/2) due 

to the higher applicability threshold for those 

Reliability Standards. 

20The estimate uses the average hourly wage 

(plus benefits) of $70.19/hour for electrical 

engineers (Occupation Code: 17–2071) from the 

Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

MOD–032–1—Continued 

[Verification of models and data for turbine/governor and load control or active power/frequency control functions] 

Number of 

respondents 

Annual 

number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Total number 

of responses 

Average burden 

& cost per 

response 

Total annual 

burden hours & 

total annual cost 

Cost per 

respondent 

($) 

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

Evidence Retention ................. 1,418 (BA, 

GO, PA/PC, 

RP, TO, TP, 

and TSP).

1 1,418 1 hr.; $34.79 18 ....... 1,418 hrs.; 

$49,332.22.

34.79 

Total ................................. ........................ ........................ ........................ ................................ 12,762 hrs.; 

$998,484.70.

........................

MOD–033–2 (FORMERLY MOD–033–1) 

[Steady-state and dynamics system model validation] 

Number of 

respondents 

Annual 

number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Total number 

of responses 

Avg. burden 

& cost per 

response 

Total annual 

burden hours & 

total annual cost 

Cost per 

respondent 

($) 

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

Data Submittal ........................ 178 (RC and 

TOP).

1 178 8 hrs.; $669.36 20 ... 1,424 hrs.; 

$119,146.08.

$669.36 

Evidence Retention ................. 243 (PA/PC, 

RC, and 

TOP).

1 243 1 hr.; $34.79 18 ....... 243 hrs.; $8,453.97 34.79 

MOD–033–2 Net Changes in 

RD20–4 (in the first table 

above).

........................ ........................ ¥28 ................................ ¥126 ..................... ........................

New Total for MOD–033– 

2 Renewal.

........................ ........................ 393 ................................ 1,541 hrs.; 

$128,935.47.

........................

The total annual estimated burden 

and cost for the FERC–725L information 

collection is 38,724 hours and 

$2,960,375.60 respectively. 

Comments: Comments are invited on: 

(1) Whether the collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

Commission, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(2) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate 

of the burden and cost of the collection 

of information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions used; 

(3) ways to enhance the quality, utility 

and clarity of the information collection; 

and (4) ways to minimize the burden of 

the collection of information on those 

who are to respond, including the use 

of automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Dated: June 8, 2021. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2021–12376 Filed 6–11–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. IC21–12–000] 

Commission Information Collection 

Activities (Ferc-725x); Comment 

Request; Extension 

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of information collection 

and request for comments. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

requirements of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission 

(Commission or FERC) is soliciting 

public comment on a renewal of 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 112 / Monday, June 14, 2021 / Notices 31499 

1 16 U.S.C. 824o (2012). 

2 The Commission approved Reliability Standard 

VAR–001–4 (Voltage and Reactive Control) on 

August 1, 2014. See North American Electric 

Reliability Corp., Docket No. RD14–11–000 (Aug. 1, 

2014) (delegated letter order). The Commission 

approved errata version VAR–001–4.1 on November 

13, 2015. See North American Electric Reliability 

Corp., Docket No. RD15–6–000 (Nov. 13, 2015) 

(delegated letter order). 

3 The Commission approved Reliability Standard 

VAR–002–4, which clarified the applicability of the 

VAR–002 standard to dispersed generation 

resources, on May 29, 2015. See North American 

Electric Reliability Corp, 151 FERC ¶ 61,186 (May 

29, 2015). 

currently approved information 

collection FERC 725X (Mandatory 

Reliability Standards: Voltage and 

Reactive (VAR) Standards), which will 

be submitted to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review. 

DATES: Comments on the collection of 

information are due July 14, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments on 

FERC–725X to OMB through 

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 

Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission Desk Officer. Please 

identify the OMB Control Number 

(1902–0278) in the subject line of your 

comments. Comments should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ 

PRAMain. 

Please submit copies of your 

comments to the Commission. You may 

submit copies of your comments 

(identified by Docket No. IC21–12–000) 

by one of the following methods: 

Electronic filing through http://

www.ferc.gov, is preferred. 

• Electronic Filing: Documents must 

be filed in acceptable native 

applications and print-to-PDF, but not 

in scanned or picture format. 

• For those unable to file 

electronically, comments may be filed 

by USPS mail or by hand (including 

courier) delivery. 

Æ Mail via U.S. Postal Service Only: 

Addressed to: Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the 

Commission, 888 First Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20426. 

Æ Hand (including courier) delivery: 

Deliver to: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, 

Rockville, MD 20852. 

Instructions: OMB submissions must 

be formatted and filed in accordance 

with submission guidelines at 

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 

Using the search function under the 

‘‘Currently Under Review’’ field, select 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; 

click ‘‘submit,’’ and select ‘‘comment’’ 

to the right of the subject collection. 

FERC submissions must be formatted 

and filed in accordance with submission 

guidelines at: http://www.ferc.gov. For 

user assistance, contact FERC Online 

Support by email at ferconlinesupport@

ferc.gov, or by phone at: (866) 208–3676 

(toll-free). 

Docket: Users interested in receiving 

automatic notification of activity in this 

docket or in viewing/downloading 

comments and issuances in this docket 

may do so at https://www.ferc.gov/ferconline/overview. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ellen Brown may be reached by email 

at DataClearance@FERC.gov, telephone 

at (202) 502–8663. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: FERC 725X (Mandatory 

Reliability Standards: Voltage and 

Reactive (VAR) Standards). 

OMB Control No.: 1902–0278. 

Type of Request: Three-year extension 

of the FERC–725X information 

collection requirements with no changes 

to the current reporting requirements. 

Abstract: Pursuant to Section 215 of 

the Federal Power Act (FPA),1 North 

American Electric Reliability 

Corporation (NERC) established the 

Voltage and Reactive (‘‘VAR’’) group of 

Reliability Standards, which consists of 

two continent-wide Reliability 

Standards, VAR–001–5 and VAR–002– 

4.1. NERC conducts periodic reviews of 

Reliability Standards in accordance 

with Section 317 of the NERC Rules of 

Procedure and Section 13 of the NERC 

Standard Processes Manual. In 

accordance with these authorities and 

the NERC Reliability Standards 

Development Plan: 2017–2019, NERC 

recently completed Project 2016–EPR– 

02 Enhanced Periodic Review of Voltage 

and Reactive Reliability Standards. This 

project conducted a periodic review of 

mandatory and enforceable Reliability 

Standards VAR–001–4.1 (Voltage and 

Reactive Control) 2 and VAR–002–4 

(Generator Operation for Maintaining 

Network Schedules).3 These two 

standards were designed to maintain 

voltage stability on the Bulk-Power 

System, protect transmission, 

generation, distribution, and customer 

equipment, and support the reliable 

operation of the Bulk-Power System. 

Voltage stability is the ability of a power 

system to maintain acceptable voltage 

levels throughout the system under 

normal operating conditions and 

following a disturbance. Failure to 

maintain acceptable voltage levels (i.e., 

voltage levels become too high or too 

low) may cause violations of System 

Operating Limits (‘‘SOLs’’) and 

Interconnection Reliability Operating 

Limits (‘‘IROLs’’), result in damage to 

Bulk-Power System equipment, and 

thereby threaten the reliable operation 

of the Bulk-Power System. 

Reliability Standard VAR–001–5 

This Reliability Standard requires 

Transmission Operators to: 

• Specify a system-wide voltage 

schedule (which is either a range or a 

target value with an associated tolerance 

band) as part of its plan to operate 

within SOLs and IROLs, and to provide 

the voltage schedule to its Reliability 

Coordinator and adjacent Transmission 

Operators upon request (Requirement 

R1); 

• Schedule sufficient reactive 

resources to regulate voltage levels 

(Requirement R2); 

• Operate or direct the operation of 

devices to regulate transmission voltage 

and reactive flows (Requirement R3); 

• Develop a set of criteria to exempt 

generators from certain requirements 

under Reliability Standard VAR–002– 

4.1 related to voltage or Reactive Power 

schedules, automatic voltage 

regulations, and notification 

(Requirement R4); 

• Specify a voltage or Reactive Power 

schedule (which is either a range or a 

target value with an associated tolerance 

band) for generators at either the high or 

low voltage side of the generator stepup transformer, provide the schedule to 

the associated Generator Operator, 

direct the Generator Operator to comply 

with that schedule in automatic voltage 

control mode, provide the Generator 

Operator the notification requirements 

for deviating from the schedule, and, if 

requested, provide the Generator 

Operator the criteria used to develop the 

schedule (Requirement R5); and 

• Communicate step-up transformer 

tap changes, the time frame for 

completion, and the justification for 

these changes to Generator Owners 

(Requirement R6). 

Reliability Standard VAR–002–4.1 

This Reliability Standard includes an 

information collection activity for 

‘‘Requirement R1’’ and a separate 

information collection activity for 

‘‘Requirements R2 through R6.’’ 

This Reliability Standard requires 

Generator Operators to: 

• Operate each of its generators 

connected to the interconnected 

transmission system in automatic 

voltage control mode or in a different 

control mode as instructed by the 

Transmission Operator, unless the 

Generator Operator (1) is exempted 

pursuant to the criteria developed under 

VAR–001–5, Requirement R4, or (2) 

makes certain notifications to the 

Transmission Operator specifying the 


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31500 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 112 / Monday, June 14, 2021 / Notices 

4The Commission defines burden as the total 

time, effort, or financial resources expended by 

persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or 

provide information to or for a Federal agency. For 

further explanation of what is included in the 

information collection burden, reference 5 Code of 

Federal Regulations 1320.3. 

5TOP = transmission operator; GOP = generator 

operators. Respondent counts based of the NERC 

Compliance Registry numbers February 5, 2021. 

6The estimate for hourly cost is $70.19/hour. 

This figure is the average salary plus benefits for an 

electrical engineer (Occupation Code: 17–2071) 

from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2020) at 

https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm. 

reasons it cannot so operate 

(Requirement R1); 

• Maintain the Transmission 

Operator’s generator voltage or Reactive 

Power schedule, unless the Generator 

Operator (1) is exempted pursuant to the 

criteria developed under VAR–001–5, 

Requirement R4, or (2) complies with 

the notification requirements for 

deviations as established by the 

Transmission Owner pursuant to VAR– 

001–5, Requirement R5 (Requirement 

R2); 

• Notify the Transmission Operator of 

a change in status of its voltage 

controlling device within 30 minutes, 

unless the status is restored within that 

time period (Requirement R3); and 

• Notify the Transmission Operator of 

a change in reactive capability due to 

factors other than those described in 

VAR–002–4.1, Requirement R3 within 

30 minutes unless the capability has 

been restored during that time period 

(Requirement R4). 

• Provide information on its step-up 

transformers and auxiliary transformers 

within 30 days of a request from the 

Transmission Operator or Transmission 

Planner (Requirement R5); and 

• Comply with the Transmission 

Operator’s step-up transformer tap 

change directives unless compliance 

would violate safety, an equipment 

rating, or applicable laws, rules or 

regulations (Requirement R6). 

The 60-day notice was published to 

the Federal Register on March 31, 2021 

and received no comments. 

Type of Respondents: Generator 

operators and Transmission Operators. 

Estimate of Annual Burden: 4

The Commission estimates the annual 

public reporting burden for the 

information collection as: 

FERC–725X—MANDATORY RELIABILITY STANDARDS: VOLTAGE AND REACTIVE (VAR) STANDARDS

Number of 

respondents 5

Annual 

number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Total number of 

responses 

Average burden & 

cost per 

response 6

Total annual burden 

hours & total annual 

cost 

Cost per 

respondent 

($) 

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

VAR–001–5 (Requirements R1–R6).167 (TOP) ......... 1 167 160 hrs.; $11,230.40 26,720 hrs.; 

$1,875,476.80.

$11,230.40 

VAR–002–4.1 (Requirement R1).937 (GOP) ........ 1 937 80 hrs.; $5,615.20 .... 74,960 hrs.; 

$5,261,442.4.

5,615.20 

VAR–002–4.1 (Requirements R2–R6).937 (GOP) ........ 1 937 120 hrs.; $8,422.80 .. 112,440 hrs.; 

$7,892,163.6.

8,422.80 

Total ................... ........................... ........................ 2,041 ................................... 214,120 hrs.; 

$15,029,082.80.

........................

The burden for the FERC–725X 

information collection includes 

estimates related to both of the 

previously approved Reliability 

Standards (VAR–001–4.2 and VAR– 

002–4.1). The total annual burden and 

cost of the FERC–725X information 

collection is 214,120 hours and 

$15,029,083 (rounded). 

Comments: Comments are invited on: 

(1) Whether the collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

Commission, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(2) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate 

of the burden and cost of the collection 

of information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions used; 

(3) ways to enhance the quality, utility 

and clarity of the information collection; 

and (4) ways to minimize the burden of 

the collection of information on those 

who are to respond, including the use 

of automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Dated: June 8, 2021. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2021–12377 Filed 6–11–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Southwestern Power Administration 

Integrated System, Sam Rayburn Dam, 

and Robert D. Willis Rate Schedules 

AGENCY: Southwestern Power 

Administration, DOE. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rate 

schedules extension and opportunity for 

public review and comment. 

SUMMARY: The Administrator, 

Southwestern Power Administration 

(Southwestern), is proposing a two-year 

extension to the currently approved rate 

schedules for the Integrated System, the 

Sam Rayburn Dam, and the Robert 

Douglas Willis Hydropower Project 

(Robert D. Willis) for the period of 

October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2023. 

Southwestern’s current Integrated 

System rate schedules (P–13A, NFTS– 

13A, and EE–13), the Sam Rayburn Dam 

rate schedule (SRD–15), and the Robert 

D. Willis rate schedule (RDW–15), 

expire September 30, 2021. 

DATES: The consultation and comment 

period will begin on June 14, 2021 and 

will end on July 14, 2021. Written 

comments are due on or before July 14, 

2021. 

ADDRESSES: Comments should be 

submitted to Ms. Fritha Ohlson, Senior 

Vice President and Chief Operating 

Officer, Southwestern Power 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Energy, One West Third Street, Tulsa, 

Oklahoma 74103. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Fritha Ohlson, Senior Vice President, 

Chief Operating Officer, Office of 

Corporate Operations, (918) 595–6684, 

fritha.ohlson@swpa.gov, or facsimile 

transmission (918) 595–6684. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Originally 

established by Order 1865, Secretary of 

the Interior, dated August 31, 1943 and 

effective September 1, 1943 (8 FR 12142 

(Sept. 3, 1943)), Southwestern is 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1