Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 196 / Thursday, October 12, 2017 / Notices 47505 

Any person desiring to intervene or 

protest in any of the above proceedings 

must file in accordance with Rules 211 

and 214 of the Commission’s 

Regulations (18 CFR 385.211 and 

385.214) on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern 

time on the specified comment date. 

Protests may be considered, but 

intervention is necessary to become a 

party to the proceeding. 

eFiling is encouraged. More detailed 

information relating to filing 

requirements, interventions, protests, 

service, and qualifying facilities filings 

can be found at: http://www.ferc.gov/ 

docs-filing/efiling/filing-req.pdf. For 

other information, call (866) 208–3676 

(toll free). For TTY, call (202) 502–8659. 

Dated: October 5, 2017. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2017–22007 Filed 10–11–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Western Area Power Administration 

Recommendation for the Western Area 

Power Administration Loveland Area 

Projects and Colorado River Storage 

Project To Pursue Final Negotiations 

Regarding Membership in a Regional 

Transmission Organization 

AGENCY: Western Area Power 

Administration, DOE. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Western Area Power 

Administration (WAPA), a power 

marketing administration (PMA) of the 

Department of Energy (DOE), is 

publishing this recommendation for the 

Loveland Area Projects (LAP) and the 

Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) to 

pursue final negotiations regarding 

membership in the Southwest Power 

Pool (SPP), a Regional Transmission 

Organization (RTO). WAPA is seeking 

public comment from its customers, 

Native American Tribes, stakeholders, 

and the public on the substance of 

WAPA’s recommendation to pursue 

final negotiations regarding LAP and 

CRSP membership in SPP. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, all 

comments should be received by WAPA 

by email or at the address below on or 

before 4 p.m. MST November 27, 2017. 

WAPA will present a detailed 

explanation of the recommendation for 

LAP and listen to customers’ and other 

interested parties’ comments at a forum 

in Loveland, Colorado. WAPA also will 

present a detailed explanation of the 

recommendation for CRSP and listen to 

customers’ and other interested parties’ 

comments at forums held in locations 

throughout the CRSP marketing area. 

The specific times and locations of these 

forums are posted on the Web sites 

identified in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section. Key information 

that formed the basis for this 

recommendation will be presented at 

the forums and is posted at the Web 

sites listed in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section. Any decision to 

pursue the recommendation will be 

informed by comments received. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments by 

email to SPP-Comments@wapa.gov or 

by mail to Mr. Rodney G. Bailey, Power 

Marketing Advisor, Western Area Power 

Administration, 150 East Social Hall 

Avenue, Suite 300, Salt Lake City, UT 

84111–1580. Written comments must be 

received by the deadline identified in 

the DATES section to be considered in 

WAPA’s decision process and should 

include the following information: 

1. Name and general description of 

the entity submitting the comment. 

2. Name, mailing address, telephone 

number, and email address of the 

entity’s primary contact. 

3. Identification of any specific 

recommendation the comment 

references. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Rodney Bailey, Power Marketing 

Advisor, Western Area Power 

Administration, 150 East Social Hall 

Avenue, Suite 300, Salt Lake City, UT 

84111–1580, telephone (801) 524–4007. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 2013, 

representatives for LAP and CRSP, along 

with eight other transmission owners, 

informally referred to as the Mountain 

West Transmission Group (Mountain 

West), began discussing combining their 

transmission systems under a single 

tariff to eliminate pancaked 

transmission rates and enable 

generation optimization across the 

footprint. After reaching conceptual 

agreement on the possibility of a joint 

tariff, the discussions focused on the 

Mountain West participants joining an 

RTO with a fully integrated energy and 

ancillary services market. With this 

perspective, the Mountain West 

participants, individually and 

collectively, completed transmission 

cost studies, adjusted production cost 

modeling, and performed various other 

analyses. The Mountain West 

participants sent a request for 

information to SPP and three other 

RTOs. After having considered the 

responses to its request, in conjunction 

with each Mountain West participant’s 

individual analyses and the collective 

Mountain West analyses, the Mountain 

West participants reached consensus to 

further investigate membership in SPP. 

After extensive discussions among the 

Mountain West participants, 

preliminary negotiations with SPP, and 

further analysis by WAPA subject 

matter experts, and pursuant to its 

authority under Section 1232(a)(1)(A) of 

the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 

16431), WAPA recommends pursuing 

final negotiations regarding LAP and 

CRSP membership in SPP. Any decision 

by WAPA to move forward in final 

negotiations with SPP will be consistent 

with CRSP and LAP statutory 

requirements and as outlined in the 

basis for the recommendation and 

explanatory material posted to WAPA’s 

Rocky Mountain Region (RMR) and 

Colorado River Storage Project 

Management Center (CRSP MC) Web 

sites at https://www.wapa.gov/regions/ 

rm and https://www.wapa.gov/regions/ 

crsp, respectively. At the conclusion of 

those final negotiations, WAPA intends 

to provide notification of its decision for 

LAP and CRSP to either execute a 

membership agreement with SPP or 

terminate formal negotiations. 

Therefore, WAPA is soliciting 

comments from its customers and other 

interested parties regarding this 

recommendation. If the membership 

negotiations are successful, then LAP 

and CRSP would sign an SPP 

membership agreement to become 

members of SPP and participate in the 

SPP Integrated Marketplace, the LAP 

and CRSP transmission systems would 

be placed under the SPP tariff, and the 

Western Area Colorado Missouri 

Balancing Authority responsibilities 

would transfer to SPP. Section 1232(b) 

of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 

authorizes the appropriate Federal 

regulatory authority to enter into a 

contract, agreement, or other 

arrangement transferring control and 

use of all or part of the transmission 

system of a Federal utility to a 

Transmission Organization. (42 U.S.C. 

16431(b)). The Administrator of WAPA 

is designated as the appropriate Federal 

regulatory authority with respect to all 

or part of WAPA’s transmission system 

in accordance with the Energy Policy 

Act of 2005. 

Availability of Information 

The basis for this recommendation 

and explanatory material to be 

presented at the forums are available for 

review and comment on the Web sites 

referenced in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section. Comments 

received in response to this notice will 

be posted on the same Web sites after 

the close of the comment period. 


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47506 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 196 / Thursday, October 12, 2017 / Notices 

Environmental Compliance 

In compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321–4347), Council on 

Environmental Quality Regulations (40 

CFR parts 1500–1508), and DOE NEPA 

Regulations (10 CFR part 1021), WAPA 

is in the process of determining whether 

an environmental assessment or an 

environmental impact statement should 

be prepared or if this action can be 

categorically excluded from those 

requirements. Further environmental 

review actions will be posted to the 

RMR and CRSP MC Web sites 

referenced in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section. 

Dated: September 21, 2017. 

Mark A. Gabriel, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2017–21938 Filed 10–11–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Western Area Power Administration 

Proposed Olmsted Project Rate Order 

No. WAPA–177 

AGENCY: Western Area Power 

Administration, DOE. 

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Power 

Formula Rate. 

SUMMARY: The United States Department 

of Energy, Western Area Power 

Administration (WAPA), Colorado River 

Storage Project Management Center 

(CRSP MC), is proposing a new power 

formula rate for the Olmsted 

Hydroelectric Powerplant Replacement 

Project (Olmsted). There is no existing 

rate for Olmsted; therefore, the CRSP 

MC is proposing a new formula, under 

Rate Schedule Olmsted F–1, that will be 

used to determine the annual energy 

charge. WAPA will provide a brochure 

detailing information about the 

proposed formula rate prior to the 

public information forum and will post 

it to the Olmsted rate action Web site at 

https://www.wapa.gov/regions/CRSP/ 

rates/Pages/rate-order-177.aspx. If 

approved, the proposed formula rate 

under Rate Schedule Olmsted F–1 

would become effective on April 1, 

2018, and remain in effect through 

March 31, 2023, or until superseded. 

Publication of this Federal Register 

notice begins the formal process for the 

proposed formula rate. 

DATES: The consultation and comment 

period will begin October 12, 2017 and 

end January 10, 2018. WAPA will 

present a detailed explanation about the 

proposed rate at a public information 

forum on November 17, 2017, at 10 a.m. 

MDT in Salt Lake City, Utah. WAPA 

will accept oral and written comments 

at a public comment forum on 

November 17, 2017, immediately 

following the conclusion of the public 

information forum. WAPA will accept 

written comments any time during the 

90-day consultation and comment 

period. 

ADDRESSES: The public information 

forum and the public comment forum 

will be held at the new Colorado River 

Storage Project Management Center, 

Western Area Power Administration, 

299 South Main Street, Suite 200, Salt 

Lake City, UT 84111. Written comments 

and requests to be informed about the 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission’s (FERC) actions 

concerning the rates submitted by 

WAPA to FERC for approval should be 

sent to: Ms. Lynn C. Jeka, CRSP 

Manager, Colorado River Storage Project 

Management Center, Western Area 

Power Administration, 150 East Social 

Hall Avenue, Suite 300, Salt Lake City, 

UT 84111, email jeka@wapa.gov. The 

Colorado River Storage Project 

Management Center is scheduled to 

relocate to the new address in October 

2017. WAPA will post the new mailing 

address and the date of the move, as 

well as information about the rate 

process, on WAPA’s Web site at https:// 

www.wapa.gov/regions/CRSP/rates/ 

Pages/rate-order-177.aspx. 

WAPA will post official comments 

received via letter and email to this Web 

site after the close of the comment 

period. Written comments must be 

received by the end of the consultation 

and comment period to be considered in 

WAPA’s decision process. Access to 

WAPA’s facility is controlled; therefore, 

any U.S. citizen wanting to attend these 

forums must present an official form of 

picture identification such as a U.S. 

driver’s license, U.S. passport, U.S. 

Government ID, or U.S. Military ID at 

the time of the forums. Foreign 

nationals planning to attend should 

contact WAPA 30 days in advance of 

the forums to allow sufficient time to 

arrange admittance. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Thomas Hackett, CRSP Rates Manager, 

Colorado River Storage Project 

Management Center, Western Area 

Power Administration, 150 East Social 

Hall Avenue, Suite 300, Salt Lake City, 

UT 84111, (801) 524–5503 or email 

hackett@wapa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

existing Olmsted Powerplant, located in 

northern Utah, is over 100 years old and 

was acquired from PacifiCorp in 

condemnation proceedings by the 

United States in 1990. As part of the 

condemnation proceedings, PacifiCorp 

continued Olmsted operations until 

2015 after which time the operation of 

the facility became the responsibility of 

the Department of the Interior. As 

agreed upon in an implementation 

agreement executed February 4, 2015, 

among the Central Utah Water 

Conservancy District (District); 

Department of the Interior (Interior), 

Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation); 

and WAPA, the District is currently 

constructing a replacement facility for 

power generation and will operate and 

maintain the Olmsted facilities in 

connection with its Central Utah Project 

operations. 

Non-reimbursable funding for 

Olmsted has largely been contributed by 

the District, Interior, and the Upper 

Basin States. Funds available under 

Section 5(c) of the Colorado River 

Storage Project Act were made available 

for Olmsted, and these funds are 

considered a reimbursable Federal 

investment to be repaid by power 

revenues. Interior will continue to own 

the Olmsted Powerplant, and 

commercial operation is anticipated to 

begin July 1, 2018. WAPA will market 

an energy-only product as no capacity 

will be available to market from 

Olmsted. Power production will be nondispatchable and incidental to the 

delivery of water. It is expected that 

annual energy production will average 

approximately 27,000,000 kWh per year. 

It is proposed that each customer 

which receives an allocation from 

Olmsted will pay its proportional share 

of the amortized portion of the 

reimbursable investment in Olmsted, 

with interest, and the associated 

operation, maintenance, and 

replacement (OM&R) costs in return for 

its proportional share of total 

marketable energy production. This 

repayment schedule does not depend 

upon the energy made available for sale 

or the amount of generation each year. 

Customers are to pay reimbursable 

investment as well as the OM&R costs 

of Olmsted and, in return, will receive 

all of the energy produced. Each fiscal 

year (FY) WAPA will estimate the 

Olmsted expenses by preparing a power 

repayment study, which will include 

estimates of the reimbursable 

investment costs, including interest, and 

OM&R. 

To date, all investments are accounted 

for as Construction in Progress (CIP) 

costs and have not been transferred to 

plant accounts for capitalization. Once 

transferred, an amortization schedule 

will be calculated for repayment. 

Historical financial data are only 

available through FY 2016, and 


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