47942 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 159 / Friday, August 15, 2008 / Notices 

1WAPA–134 was approved by the Deputy 

Secretary of Energy on November 1, 2007 (72 FR ¶

64,061), and confirmed and approved by FERC on 

a final basis on May 16, 2008, in Docket No. EF08–

5181–000 (123 FERC ¶ 62,137). 

Committee, U.S. Department of Energy, 

Office of Science, Office of Biological 

and Environmental Research, SC–23/ 

Germantown Building, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–1290. The most 

current information concerning this 

meeting can be found on the Web site: 

http://www.science.doe.gov/ober/berac/ 

announce.html. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose of the Meeting: To provide 

advice on a continuing basis to the 

Director, Office of Science of the 

Department of Energy, on the many 

complex scientific and technical issues 

in the development and implementation 

of the Biological and Environmental 

Research Program. 

Tentative Agenda 

• Report on the Life and Medical 

Sciences Division Committee of 

Visitors. 

• Report on the Office of Advanced 

Scientific Computing Research/Office of 

Biological and Environmental Research, 

Genomics: GTL Metrics. 

• Report from the Office of Science. 

• Scientific Focus Area (SFA) Rollout 

and Discussion. 

• Report on the Climate Research 

Grand Challenges. 

• Report from the Climate and 

Environmental Sciences Division 

Strategic Planning Retreat. 

• Overview of Climate Synthesis and 

Assessment Reports. 

• Report from the Office of Biological 

and Environmental Research. 

• News from the Biological Systems 

Science and the Climate and 

Environmental Sciences Divisions. 

• New business. 

• Public Comment. 

Public Participation: The one-day 

meeting is open to the public. If you 

would like to file a written statement 

with the Committee, you may do so 

either before or after the meeting. If you 

would like to make oral statements 

regarding any of the items on the 

agenda, you should contact David 

Thomassen at the address or telephone 

number listed above. You must make 

your request for an oral statement at 

least five business days before the 

meeting. Reasonable provision will be 

made to include the scheduled oral 

statements on the agenda. The 

Chairperson of the Committee will 

conduct the meeting to facilitate the 

orderly conduct of business. Public 

comment will follow the 10-minute 

rule. 

Minutes: The minutes of this meeting 

will be available for public review and 

copying within 45 days at the BERAC 

Web site: http://www.science.doe.gov/ 

ober/berac/Minutes.html. 

Issued in Washington, DC on August 12, 

2008. 

Rachel Samuel, 

Deputy Committee Management Officer. 

[FR Doc. E8–18950 Filed 8–14–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Western Area Power Administration 

Loveland Area Projects—Rate Order 

No. WAPA–142 

AGENCY: Western Area Power 

Administration, DOE. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed power rates. 

SUMMARY: The Western Area Power 

Administration (Western) is proposing 

revised rates for Loveland Area Projects 

(LAP) firm electric service. LAP consists 

of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project (FryArk) and the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin 

Program (Pick-Sloan)—Western 

Division, which were integrated for 

marketing and rate-making purposes in 

1989. Current rates, under Rate 

Schedule L-F7, expire on December 31, 

2012, but are not sufficient to meet LAP 

revenue requirements. The proposed 

rates will provide sufficient revenue to 

pay all annual costs, including interest 

expenses, and repay the required 

investment within the allowable period. 

Western will prepare and make 

available a brochure that provides 

detailed information on the proposed 

rates. The proposed rates, under Rate 

Schedule L-F8, are scheduled to go into 

effect on January 1, 2009, and will 

remain in effect through December 31, 

2013, or until superseded. Publication 

of this Federal Register notice begins 

the formal process for the proposed rate 

adjustment. 

DATES: The consultation and comment 

period begins today and will end 

November 13, 2008. Western will 

present a detailed explanation of the 

proposed rates at public information 

forums. Public Information forum dates 

are: 

1. September 9, 2008, 9 a.m. to 10:30 

a.m. MDT, Denver, CO. 

2. September 10, 2008, 8 a.m. to 9:30 

a.m. CDT, Sioux Falls, SD. 

Western will accept oral and written 

comments at public comment forums. 

Public comment forums will be held on 

the following dates: 

1. September 9, 2008, 11:30 a.m. to 

12:30 p.m. MDT, Denver, CO. 

2. September 10, 2008, 10:30 a.m. to 

12 p.m. CDT, Sioux Falls, SD. 

Western will accept written 

comments any time during the 

consultation and comment period. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and/or 

requests to be informed of Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) 

actions concerning the rates submitted 

by Western to FERC for approval should 

be sent to Mr. James D. Keselburg, 

Regional Manager, Rocky Mountain 

Region, Western Area Power 

Administration, 5555 East Crossroads 

Boulevard, Loveland, CO 80538–8986, 

or e-mail at lapfirmadj@wapa.gov. 

Western will post information about the 

rate process on its Web site at http:// 

www.wapa.gov/rm/ratesRM/2009/ 

default.htm. Western will post 

comments received via letter and e-mail 

to its Web site after the close of the 

comment period. Western must receive 

written comments by the end of the 

consultation and comment period to 

ensure they are considered in Western’s 

decision process. 

Public information and comment 

forum locations are: 

1. Denver—Ramada Plaza Hotel, 10 

East 120th Avenue, Northglenn, CO. 

2. Sioux Falls—Holiday Inn, 100 West 

8th Street, Sioux Falls, SD. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Sheila D. Cook, Rates Manager, Rocky 

Mountain Region, Western Area Power 

Administration, 5555 East Crossroads 

Boulevard, Loveland, CO 80538–8986, 

telephone (970) 461–7211, e-mail 

lapfirmadj@wapa.gov or 

scook@wapa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

proposed rates for LAP firm electric 

service are designed to recover an 

annual revenue requirement that 

includes investment repayment, 

interest, purchase power, operation and 

maintenance, and other expenses. The 

projected annual revenue requirement 

for firm electric service is allocated 

equally between capacity and energy. 

Rate Schedule L–F7 for firm electric 

service was approved for a 5-year period 

beginning January 1, 2008, and ending 

December 31, 2012.1 Under the current 

Rate Schedule L–F7 for 2008, the 

composite rate is 32.42 mills per 

kilowatthour (mills/kWh), the firm 

energy rate is 16.21 mills/kWh, and the 

firm capacity rate is $4.25 per 

kilowattmonth (kWmonth). This Rate 

Schedule is formula based, providing 

for an increase in the Drought Adder 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 159 / Friday, August 15, 2008 / Notices 47943 

2Under the current Rate Schedule, Western had 

the option of increasing the Drought Adder rate 

component by up to 2 mills/kWh outside of a 

formal public process, and only initiating the 

formal public process for the Base rate component 

increase and the incremental increase of the 

Drought Adder rate component above 2 mills/kWh. 

Instead, Western has opted to initiate the formal 

public process for this rate increase. 

rate component of up to 2 mills/kWh 

without a formal public process. 

This proposed rate adjustment reflects 

a rate increase based on the Fry-Ark and 

Pick-Sloan—Western Division (PSMBP—WD) revenue requirements 

derived from the Fiscal Year 2007 

Power Repayment Studies (PRSs). The 

PRSs set the LAP revenue requirement 

for 2009 for firm electric service at $75.9 

million, which is a 14.9 percent 

increase. The current firm composite 

rate, including a 2 mills/kWh increase 

provided for under the Drought Adder 

formula rate component, is not 

sufficient to meet the LAP revenue 

requirement. Given the need for a Base 

rate component increase and the size of 

the Drought Adder rate component 

increase, Western is required to initiate 

a formal public process.2 Western has 

prepared the proposed rate schedule for 

firm electric service (LF–8) for 

consideration and comment during this 

public process. A comparison of the 

existing revenue requirement and rates 

and the proposed revenue requirement 

and rates under L-F8 are listed in Table 

1. 

TABLE 1—PROPOSED LAP FIRM ELECTRIC SERVICE REVENUE REQUIREMENT AND RATES

Firm electric service 

Existing rates 

as of 2008 

L–F7 

Proposed 

rates 1

(January 1, 

2009) 

L–F8 

Percent 

change 

Revenue Requirement ............................................................................................................................ $66.1 million $75.9 million 14.9 

Composite Rate ...................................................................................................................................... 32.42 mills/ 

kWh 

37.24 mills/ 

kWh 

14.9 

Firm Energy Rate .................................................................................................................................... 16.21 mills/ 

kWh 

18.62 mills/ 

kWh 

14.9 

Firm Capacity Rate ................................................................................................................................. $4.25/ 

kWmonth 

$4.88/ 

kWmonth 

14.9 

1The proposed rates are subject to adjustment prior to publication in the final Notice of Order Concerning Power Rates. Adjustments, if any, 

would be based on revisions to the Drought Adder rate component due to changes in hydrological conditions. 

Under Rate Schedule L–F8, Western 

is proposing to continue to identify its 

firm electric service revenue 

requirement using Base and Drought 

Adder rate components and provide for 

an annual increase in the Drought 

Adder rate component of up to 2 mills/ 

kWh. The Base rate component is a 

revenue requirement that includes 

annual operation and maintenance 

expenses, investment repayment and 

associated interest, normal timing 

power purchases, and transmission 

costs. Western’s normal timing power 

purchases are purchases due to 

operational constraints (e.g., 

management of endangered species 

habitat, water quality, navigation, etc.) 

and are not associated with the current 

drought. The Drought Adder rate 

component is a formula-based revenue 

requirement that includes costs 

attributable to the present drought 

conditions. The Drought Adder rate 

component includes costs associated 

with future non-timing purchases of 

additional power to meet firm 

obligations not covered with available 

system generation due to the drought, 

previously incurred deficits due to 

purchased power debt that resulted 

from non-timing power purchases made 

during this drought, and the interest 

associated with the previously incurred 

and future drought debt. The Drought 

Adder rate component is designed to 

repay Western’s drought debt within 10 

years from the time the debt was 

incurred, using balloon-payment 

methodology. For example, the drought 

debt incurred by Western in 2007 will 

be repaid by 2017. 

The annual revenue requirement 

calculation will continue to be 

summarized by the following formula: 

Annual Revenue Requirement = Base 

Revenue Requirement + Drought Adder 

Revenue Requirement. Under this 

proposal, effective January 1, 2009, the 

LAP revenue requirement equals $75.9 

million and is comprised of a Base 

revenue requirement of $49.9 million 

plus a Drought Adder revenue 

requirement of $26 million. A 

comparison of the current rate 

components and the proposed rate 

components are listed in Table 2. 

TABLE 2—SUMMARY OF LAP RATE COMPONENTS

Existing rates 

as of 2008 

L–F7 

Proposed rates 1

(January 1, 2009) 

L–F8 

Firm energy Firm capacity Firm energy Firm capacity 

Base ....................................................................................................................... 11.92 mills/ 

kWh 

$3.13/ 

kWmonth 

12.23 mills/ 

kWh 

$3.21/ 

kWmonth 

Drought Adder ........................................................................................................ 4.29 mills/ 

kWh 

$1.12/ 

kWmonth 

6.39 mills/ 

kWh 

$1.67/ 

kWmonth 

Total LAP ............................................................................................................... 16.21 mills/ 

kWh 

$4.25/ 

kWmonth 

18.62 mills/ 

kWh 

$4.88/ 

kWmonth 

1The proposed rates are subject to adjustment prior to publication in the final Notice of Order Concerning Power Rates. Adjustments, if any, 

would be based on revisions to the Drought Adder rate component due to changes in hydrological conditions. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES

47944 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 159 / Friday, August 15, 2008 / Notices 

3Western’s Continuing Fund (Emergency Fund) 

Policy can be found at http://www.wapa.gov/ 

powerm/pdf/repaypolicy.pdf. 

Continuing to identify the firm 

electric service revenue requirement 

using Base and Drought Adder rate 

components will assist Western in the 

presentation of the impacts of the 

drought, demonstrate repayment of the 

drought related costs in the PRSs, and 

allow Western to be more responsive to 

changes in drought related expenses. 

Western will continue to charge and bill 

its customers firm electric service rates 

for energy and capacity, which are the 

sum of the Base and Drought Adder rate 

components. 

Western reviews its firm electric 

service rates annually. Western will 

review the Base rate component after 

the annual PRS is completed, generally 

in the first quarter of the calendar year. 

If an adjustment to the Base rate 

component is necessary, Western will 

initiate a public process pursuant to 10 

CFR part 903 prior to making an 

adjustment. 

In accordance with the original 

implementation of the Drought Adder 

rate component, Western will continue 

to review the Drought Adder rate 

component each September to 

determine if drought costs differ from 

those projected in the PRS, and, if so, 

whether an adjustment, either 

incremental or decremental, to the 

Drought Adder rate component is 

necessary. Western will notify 

customers by letter each October of the 

planned incremental or decremental 

adjustment and implement the 

adjustment in the January billing cycle. 

Although decremental adjustments to 

the Drought Adder rate component will 

occur as drought costs are repaid, the 

adjustments cannot result in a negative 

Drought Adder rate component. To give 

customers advanced notice, Western 

will conduct a preliminary review of the 

Drought Adder rate component in early 

summer and notify customers by letter 

of the estimated change to the Drought 

Adder rate component for the following 

January, with the final Drought Adder 

component adjustment verified with 

notification in the October letter to the 

customers. Implementing the Drought 

Adder rate component adjustment on 

January 1 of each year will help keep 

the drought deficits from escalating as 

quickly, will lower the interest expense 

due to drought deficits, will 

demonstrate responsible deficit 

management, and will provide prompt 

drought deficit repayments. 

As a part of the current and proposed 

rate schedules, Western provides for a 

formula-based adjustment of the 

Drought Adder rate component of up to 

2 mills/kWh. The 2 mills/kWh cap is 

intended to place a limit on the amount 

the Drought Adder formula can be 

adjusted relative to associated drought 

costs without having to go through a 

public process to recover costs 

attributable to the Drought Adder 

formula rate for any one-year cycle. 

During informal discussions with its 

customers prior to the commencement 

of this rate adjustment process, Western 

discussed the possibility of 

implementing a two-step rate 

adjustment for the Base rate component 

to address operational and maintenance 

costs as well as normal inflationary cost 

that would be entered into the PRSs 

from the FY 2010 work plans. Western 

has reevaluated the benefits of the twostep rate adjustment and concluded that 

due to the unpredictability of the 

hydrological conditions, rising fuel 

costs and proposed changes in the 

electric transmission industry, it is more 

prudent to forego a two-step rate 

adjustment and continue the annual 

customer consultations and possible 

annual rate adjustments. Therefore, 

Western is not proposing a two-step rate 

adjustment in this public process. 

Due to continued below normal 

hydropower generation, Western may 

need to use the Continuing Fund 

(Emergency Fund) to pay for 

unanticipated purchased power and 

wheeling expenses necessary to meet its 

contractual obligations for the sale and 

delivery of power to its customers. 

Should Western utilize this funding 

mechanism, Western will replenish the 

Continuing Fund (Emergency Fund) in 

accordance with law and Western’s 

associated repayment policy, dated 

March 15, 2007.3

Legal Authority 

Since the proposed rates constitute a 

major adjustment as defined by 10 CFR 

part 903, Western will hold public 

information forums and public 

comment forums. Western will review 

all timely public comments and make 

amendments or adjustments to the 

proposal as appropriate. Proposed rates 

will be forwarded to the Deputy 

Secretary of Energy for approval on an 

interim basis. 

Western is establishing firm electric 

service rates for LAP under the 

Department of Energy Organization Act 

(42 U.S.C. 7152); the Reclamation Act of 

1902 (ch. 1093, 32 Stat. 388), as 

amended and supplemented by 

subsequent laws; section 9(c) of the 

Reclamation Project Act of 1939 (43 

U.S.C. 485h(c)); section 5 of the Flood 

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

and other acts that specifically apply to 

the projects involved. 

By Delegation Order No. 00–037.00, 

effective December 6, 2001, the 

Secretary of Energy delegated: (1) The 

authority to develop power and 

transmission rates to Western’s 

Administrator; (2) the authority to 

confirm, approve, and place such rates 

into effect on an interim basis to the 

Deputy Secretary of Energy; and (3) the 

authority to confirm, approve, and place 

into effect on a final basis, to remand, 

or to disapprove such rates to the FERC. 

Existing Department of Energy (DOE) 

procedures for public participation in 

power rate adjustments (10 CFR part 

903) were published on September 18, 

1985. 

Availability of Information 

All brochures, studies, comments, 

letters, memorandums, e-mail, or other 

documents that Western initiates to 

develop the proposed rates are available 

for inspection and copying at the Rocky 

Mountain Regional Office, located at 

5555 East Crossroads Boulevard, 

Loveland, Colorado. Many of these 

documents and supporting information 

are also available on Western’s Web site 

under the ‘‘Rates’’ section located at 

http://www.wapa.gov/rm/ratesRM/2009/ 

default.htm. 

Ratemaking Procedure Requirements 

Environmental Compliance 

In compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq. ); the 

Council on Environmental Quality 

Regulations for implementing NEPA (40 

CFR parts 1500–1508); and DOE NEPA 

Implementing Procedures and 

Guidelines (10 CFR part 1021), Western 

is in the process of determining whether 

an environmental assessment or an 

environmental impact statement should 

be prepared or if this action can be 

categorically excluded from those 

requirements. 

Determination Under Executive Order 

12866 

Western has an exemption from 

centralized regulatory review under 

Executive Order 12866; accordingly, no 

clearance of this notice by the Office of 

Management and Budget is required. 

Dated: August 5, 2008. 

Timothy J. Meeks, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. E8–18949 Filed 8–14–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES