Document ID: FERC-2020-1111-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals
Posted Date: 2020-08-28T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 168 (Friday, August 28, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53358-53359]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-18915]

[[Page 53358]]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. IC20-23-000]

Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725R); Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of information collection and request for comments.

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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 the information collection FERC-
725R (Mandatory Reliability Standards: BAL Reliability Standards) and 
will be submitting the information collection to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review.

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due October 27, 
2020.

ADDRESSES: A copy of the comments should be submitted to the 
Commission, in Docket No. IC20-23-000, by one of the following methods:
     eFiling at Commission's Website: http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp.
     U.S. Postal Service Mail: Persons unable to file 
electronically may mail similar pleadings to the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426.
     Effective 7/1/2020, delivery of filings other than by 
eFiling or the U.S. Postal Service should be delivered to Health and 
Human Services, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
    Instructions:
    All 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 http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/docs-filing.asp.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Brown may be reached by email at 
DataClearance@FERC.gov, and telephone at (202) 502-8663.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: FERC-725R, Mandatory Reliability Standards: BAL Reliability 
Standards.\1\
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    \1\ In Docket No. RD20-9-000, Reliability Standard BAL-003-2 is 
being considered for approval. (A Notice requesting comments on the 
changes proposed in Docket No. RD20-9-000 is posted in eLibrary at 
https://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/common/OpenNat.asp?fileID=15605347.) 
Those changes are addressed separately in Docket No. RD20-9-000 and 
are not addressed in this notice in Docket No. IC20-23-000.
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    OMB Control No.: 1902-0268
    Type of Request: Three-year renewal request for the FERC-725R 
information collection requirements, with no changes to the reporting 
and recordkeeping requirements.
    Abstract:
    On August 8, 2005, Congress enacted into law the Electricity 
Modernization Act of 2005, which is Title XII, Subtitle A, of the 
Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005).\2\ EPAct 2005 added a new 
section 215 to the FPA, which required a Commission-certified Electric 
Reliability Organization (ERO) to develop mandatory and enforceable 
Reliability Standards, which are subject to Commission review and 
approval. Once approved, the Reliability Standard may be enforced by 
the ERO subject to Commission oversight, or the Commission can 
independently enforce Reliability Standards.\3\
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    \2\ Energy Policy Act of 2005, Public Law 109-58, Title XII, 
Subtitle A, 119 Stat. 594, 941 (codified at 16 U.S.C. 824o).
    \3\ 16 U.S.C. 824o(e)(3).
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    On February 3, 2006, the Commission issued Order No. 672, 
implementing section 215 of the FPA.\4\ Pursuant to Order No. 672, the 
Commission certified one organization, North American Electric 
Reliability Corporation (NERC), as the ERO.\5\ The Reliability 
Standards developed by the ERO and approved by the Commission apply to 
users, owners and operators of the Bulk-Power System as set forth in 
each Reliability Standard.
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    \4\ Rules Concerning Certification of the Electric Reliability 
Organization; and Procedures for the Establishment, Approval, and 
Enforcement of Electric Reliability Standards, Order No. 672, FERC 
Stats. & Regs. 31,204, order on reh'g, Order No. 672-A, FERC Stats. 
& Regs. 31,212 (2006).
    \5\ North American Electric Reliability Corp., 116 FERC 61,062, 
order on reh'g and compliance, 117 FERC 61,126 (2006), order on 
compliance, 118 FERC 61,190, order on reh'g, 119 FERC 61,046 (2007), 
aff'd sub nom. Alcoa Inc. v. FERC, 564 F.3d 1342 (D.C. Cir. 2009).
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    FERC-725R includes the following nation-wide Reliability Standards: 
\6\
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    \6\ There are also regional BAL Reliability Standards. They are 
not included in FERC-725R and are not discussed here. The regional 
BAL Reliability Standards are covered under other OMB Control Nos.
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     BAL-001-2,\7\ Real Power Balancing Control Performance.
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    \7\ It was approved in Docket No. RM14-10.
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    Reliability Standard BAL-001-2 is designed to ensure that 
applicable entities balance generation and load by maintaining system 
frequency within narrow bounds around a scheduled value, and it 
improves reliability by adding a frequency component to the measurement 
of a Balancing Authority's Area Control Error (ACE).\8\
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    \8\ Area Control Error is the instantaneous difference between a 
Balancing Authority's net actual and scheduled interchange, taking 
into accounts the effects of Frequency Bias, correction for meter 
error, and Automatic Time Error Correction (ATEC), if operating in 
the ATEC mode. ATEC is only applicable to Balancing Authorities in 
the Western Interconnection. NERC Glossary.
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     BAL-002-3,\9\ Disturbance Control Standard--Contingency 
Reserve for Recovery from a Balancing Contingency Event.
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    \9\ It was approved in Docket No. RD18-7.
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    This standard ensures that a responsible entity, either a balancing 
authority or reserve sharing group, is able to recover from system 
contingencies by deploying adequate reserves to return their Area 
Control Error to defined values and replacing the capacity and energy 
lost due to generation or transmission equipment outages.
     BAL-003-1,\10\ Frequency Response and Frequency Bias 
Setting.
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    \10\ It was approved in Docket No. RM13-11; the current version 
is Reliability Standard BAL-003-1.1.
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    This standard requires sufficient Frequency Response from the 
Balancing Authority (BA) to maintain Interconnection Frequency within 
predefined bounds by arresting frequency deviations and supporting 
frequency until the frequency is restored to its scheduled value. It 
also ensures that balancing authority's Frequency Bias Setting is 
accurately calculated to match its actual Frequency Response. It 
provides consistent methods for measuring Frequency Response and 
determining the Frequency Bias Setting. Each balancing authority 
reports its previous year Frequency Response Measure and Frequency Bias 
Setting to NERC via FRS (Frequency Response Survey) Form 1. The 
information provided on the FRS Form 1 is based on events which qualify 
for analyses; NERC identifies between 20 to 35 events in each 
Interconnection for calculating the Frequency Response Measure and 
Frequency Bias Setting.
     BAL-005-1,\11\ Balancing Authority Control.
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    \11\ It was approved in Docket No. RM16-13.
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    This standard establishes requirements for acquiring data necessary 
to calculate Reporting Area Control Error (Reporting ACE). The standard 
also specifies a minimum periodicity, accuracy, and availability 
requirement for acquisition of the data

[[Page 53359]]

and for providing the information to the System Operator. It requires 
balancing authorities to maintain minimum levels of annual availability 
of 99.5% for each balancing authority system for calculating Reporting 
ACE.
    Type of Respondent: Balancing Authorities, Response Sharing Group, 
and Frequency Response Sharing Group.
    Estimate of Annual Burden:\12\ Our estimate of the number of 
respondents affected is based on the NERC Compliance Registry as of 
July 17, 2020.\13\ According to the Compliance Registry, NERC has 
registered 97 Balancing Authorities (BA), 11 Response Sharing Groups 
(RSG), and 1 Frequency Response Sharing Group (FRSG) within the United 
States, as noted. The burden estimates reflect the number of affected 
entities for each standard. Estimates for the average annual burden and 
cost \14\ follow.
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    \12\ Burden is defined 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. See 5 
CFR 1320 for additional information on the definition of information 
collection burden.
    \13\ NERC Compliance Registry (July 17, 2020), available at 
https://www.nerc.com/pa/comp/Registration%20and%20Certification%20DL/NERC_Compliance_Registry_Matrix_Excel.xlsx.
    \14\ The hourly cost estimates are based on wage data from the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics for May 2019 (at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm) and benefits data for Dec. 2019 (issued March 
2020, at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm). The hourly 
costs (for wages and benefits) are for: Electrical Engineer 
(Occupation code 17-2071), $70.19; and Information and Record Clerk 
(Occupation code 43-4199), $41.03.

                                                                        FERC-725R
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                                                   Number of
                                       Number &      annual     Total No.
              Function                 type of     responses    of  annual    Average burden  hours & cost    Total annual  burden hours & total  annual
                                     respondents      per       responses          ($)  per response                           cost ($)
                                                   respondent
                                             (1)          (2)  (1) x (2) =  (4)............................  (3) x (4) = (5)
                                                                       (3)
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                                                                        BAL-001-2
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BA Reporting Requirements..........           97            1           97  8 hrs.; $561.52................  776 hrs.; $54,467.44.
BA Recordkeeping Requirements......           97            1           97  4 hrs.; $164.12................  388 hrs.; $15,919.64.
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                                                                        BAL-002-3
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BA & RSG Reporting Requirements....          108            1          108  8 hrs.; $561.52................  864 hrs.; $60,644.16.
BA & RSG Recordkeeping Requirements          108            1          108  4 hrs.; $164.12................  432 hrs.; $17,724.96.
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                                                                       BAL-003-1.1
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BA & FRSG Reporting Requirements...           98           28        2,744  8 hrs.; $561.52................  21,952 hrs.; $1,540,810.88.
BA & FRSG Recordkeeping                       98            1           98  2 hrs.; $82.06.................  196 hrs.; $8,041.88.
 Requirements.
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                                                                        BAL-005-1
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BA Reporting Requirements..........           97            1           97  1 hr.; $70.19..................  97 hrs.; $6,808.43.
BA Recordkeeping Requirements......           97            1           97  1 hr.; $41.03..................  97 hrs.; $3,979.91.
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    SUB-TOTAL FOR REPORTING          ...........  ...........  ...........  ...............................  23,689 hrs.; $1,662,730.91.
     REQUIREMENTS.
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    SUB-TOTAL FOR RECORDKEEPING      ...........  ...........  ...........  ...............................  1,113 hrs.; $45,666.39.
     REQUIREMENTS.
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        TOTAL FOR FERC-725R          ...........  ...........  ...........  ...............................  24,802 hrs.; $1,708,397.
         (rounded).
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    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: August 21, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-18915 Filed 8-27-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P