Document ID: FERC-2019-0618-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Proposed Rule
Title: Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities
Posted Date: 2019-05-24T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 101 (Friday, May 24, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 24050-24059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-10695]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Part 38

[Docket No. RM05-5-027]

Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for 
Public Utilities

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes 
to amend its regulations to incorporate by reference, with certain 
enumerated exceptions, the latest version (Version 003.2) of certain 
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 Commission proposes to use 
this latest version instead of WEQ Version 003.1, which was the subject 
of an earlier notice of proposed rulemaking. The revisions made by 
NAESB in this version of the 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.

DATES: Comments are due July 23, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Comments, identified by Docket No. RM05-5-027, may be filed 
electronically at http://www.ferc.gov 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 mail or hand-
delivery to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the 
Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426. The Comment 
Procedures Section of this document contains more detailed filing 
procedures.

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
Michael A. Chase (legal issues), Office of the General Counsel, Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 
20426, (202) 502-6205

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents

 
                                                         Paragraph Nos.
 
I. Overview..........................................                  1
II. Background.......................................                  3
III. Discussion......................................                 11
    A. Revisions and Modifications to Earlier                         12
     Versions of Standards Made in the WEQ Version
     003.2 Standards.................................
    B. Treatment of Requests for Redirects...........                 14
        1. Background................................                 14
        2. WEQ Standards in Versions 003.1 and 003.2.                 16
        3. Request for Comments in WEQ Version 003.1                  17
         NOPR........................................
        4. Comments on Redirect Filed in Response to                  18
         WEQ Version 003.1 NOPR......................
        5. Discussion................................                 27
IV. Notice of Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards...                 28
V. Incorporation by Reference........................                 29
VI. Information Collection Statement.................                 49
VII. Environmental Analysis..........................                 56
VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification.......                 57
IX. Comment Procedures...............................                 61
X. Document Availability.............................                 65
 

[[Page 24051]]

I. Overview

    1. The Commission has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking \1\ 
regarding the Version 003.1 business practice standards (WEQ Version 
003.1 Standards) adopted by the Wholesale Electric Quadrant (WEQ) of 
the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) and has received 
comments on that NOPR in Docket No. RM05-5-025; however, the Commission 
has not taken any final action on those standards. NAESB has now 
adopted its Version 003.2 WEQ Business Practice Standards (WEQ Version 
003.2 Standards).\2\ The WEQ Version 003.2 Standards include, in their 
entirety, the WEQ Version 003.1 Standards, with the addition of certain 
revisions and corrections. The NAESB WEQ Version 003.2 Report concludes 
from this that, as ``WEQ Version 003.2 includes the entirety of 
modifications submitted to the Commission in WEQ Version 003.1, action 
on the previously submitted version is unnecessary should the 
Commission choose.'' \3\ We find this suggestion has merit and, thus, 
in the interest of efficiency we will issue this notice of proposed 
rulemaking inviting comment on the revisions and corrections NAESB made 
in the WEQ Version 003.2 Standards and then take final action on the 
WEQ Version 003.2 WEQ Standards, which include the revisions made by 
NAESB in the WEQ Version 003.1 Standards and carried forward as part of 
the WEQ Version 003.2 Standards. Comments already filed on the 
revisions made by NAESB in the WEQ Version 003.1 Standards will be 
given full consideration and need not be replicated in response to this 
NOPR.
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    \1\ Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols 
for Public Utilities, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 81 FR 49580 
(July 28, 2016), 156 FERC ] 61,055 (2016), (WEQ Version 003.1 NOPR).
    \2\ See 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).
    \3\ NAESB WEQ Version 003.2 Report at 4. We note that, in the 
past, the Commission followed this same procedure in Order No. 676-
E, wherein the Commission incorporated changes made by NAESB in both 
the WEQ Version 002.0 Standards and in the WEQ Version 002.1 
Standards without taking separate action on the WEQ Version 002.0 
Standards. See Standards for Business Practices and Communication 
Protocols for Public Utilities, Order No. 676-E, 129 FERC ] 61,162, 
at P 7 (2009).
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    2. Further, as announced in the WEQ Version 003.1 NOPR, we will 
address separately NAESB's WEQ-023 Modeling Business Practice 
Standards, which concern technical issues affecting the calculation of 
Available Transfer Capability for wholesale electric transmission 
services.\4\ We also have issued a separate notice of proposed 
rulemaking proposing to retire and remove the incorporation by 
reference of the WEQ-006 Time Error Correction Business Practice 
Standards.\5\ Thus, we are not proposing any actions on those topics 
here.
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    \4\ See WEQ Version 003.1 NOPR, 156 FERC ] 61,055 at P 42.
    \5\ Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols 
for Public Utilities, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 83 FR 51654 
(Oct. 12, 2018), 165 FERC ] 61,007 (2018).
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II. Background

    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, and its predecessor 
GISB, 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.\6\
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    \6\ Prior 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.
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    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 quadrant.\7\ All participants in the gas and electric 
industries are eligible to join NAESB and participate in standards 
development.
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    \7\ The 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.
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    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 is 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 made revisions to existing business practice 
standards or has developed and adopted new business practice standards. 
NAESB's standards are voluntary standards, which become mandatory for 
public utilities upon incorporation by reference by the Commission.
    6. On July 21, 2016, the Commission issued a notice of proposed 
rulemaking in Docket No. RM05-5-025 (WEQ Version 003.1 NOPR) that 
proposed to incorporate by reference Version 003.1 of certain Standards 
for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities 
adopted by the Wholesale Electric Quadrant of the North American Energy 
Standards Board. In response to the WEQ Version 003.1 NOPR, comments 
were filed by eight commenters.\8\ A number of comments expressed 
general support for the Commission's proposals in the WEQ Version 003.1 
NOPR and no comments were received opposing the basic direction of the 
NOPR, although comments did make suggestions on several specific 
details of the NOPR proposals. The issue that elicited the most 
comments was on the treatment of requests for redirects.
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    \8\ These commenters are identified infra note 23.
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    7. On December 8, 2017, NAESB filed a reported with the Commission 
informing the Commission that it had adopted and published the WEQ 
Version 003.2 Business Practice Standards for Public Utilities. It 
reports that the WEQ Version 003.2 Standards include newly created 
standards as well as modifications to existing standards developed 
through the NAESB standards development or minor correction processes. 
It further reports that these standards build upon WEQ Version 003.1 
Standards, filed with the Commission on October 26, 2015, but not yet 
the subject of final Commission action. As the WEQ Version 003.2 
Standards include all the modifications submitted to the Commission in 
the WEQ Version 003.1 Standards, NAESB suggests that action on the 
previously submitted version is unnecessary should the Commission 
choose.
    8. NAESB's WEQ Version 003.2 Business Practice Standards include 
modifications, reservations, and/or additions to the following set of 
existing standards:

[[Page 24052]]

------------------------------------------------------------------------
             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
006..........................  Manual Time Error Corrections
008..........................  Transmission Loading Relief (TLR)--
                                Eastern Interconnection Business
                                Practice Standards
013..........................  OASIS Implementation Guide
015..........................  Measurement and Verification of Wholesale
                                Electricity Demand Response Business
                                Practice Standards
018..........................  Specifications for Wholesale Standard
                                Demand Response Signals Business
                                Practice Standards
020..........................  Smart Grid Standards Data Elements Table
                                Business Practice Standards
022..........................  Electric Industry Registry (EIR) Business
                                Practice Standards
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    9. Over the course of years, the OASIS Suite of Standards has been 
revised several times to support directives contained in Order Nos. 888 
\9\ and 890.\10\ The WEQ Version 003.2 Standards include modifications 
and reservations to existing standards and newly developed standards 
made to support the short-term preemption process (WEQ-001-25) and the 
merger of like transmission reservations (WEQ-001-24) prescribed in the 
OASIS Suite of Standards.\11\
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    \9\ Promoting Wholesale Competition Through Open Access Non-
Discriminatory Transmission Services by Public Utilities; Recovery 
of Stranded Costs by Public Utilities and Transmitting Utilities, 
Order No. 888, 61 FR 21540 (May 10, 1996), FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 
31,036 (1996) (cross-referenced at 77 FERC ] 61,080), order on 
reh'g, Order No. 888-A, 62 FR 12274 (Mar. 14, 1997), FERC Stats. & 
Regs. ] 31,048 (cross-referenced at 78 FERC ] 61,220), order on 
reh'g, Order No. 888-B, 81 FERC ] 61,248 (1997), order on reh'g, 
Order No. 888-C, 82 FERC ] 61,046 (1998), aff'd in relevant part sub 
nom. Transmission Access Policy Study Group v. FERC, 225 F.3d 667 
(D.C. Cir. 2000), aff'd sub nom. New York v. FERC, 535 U.S. 1 
(2002).
    \10\ Preventing Undue Discrimination and Preference in 
Transmission Service, Order No. 890, 118 FERC ] 61,119, order on 
reh'g, Order No. 890-A, 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, 126 FERC ] 61,228, order on clarification, Order No. 890-D, 
129 FERC ] 61,126 (2009).
    \11\ WEQ-001-25 addresses the preemption of previously queued 
short-term requests or reservations by a valid competing request. 
WEQ-001-24 addresses the combination of multiple firm PTP Parent 
Reservations for which they are the owner into a single reservation.
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    10. The WEQ Version 003.2 Standards also included other changes 
that were made to support consistency with the North American Electric 
Reliability Corporation (NERC) Reliability Standards. NAESB made these 
changes as a result of direct coordination with NERC on issues 
regarding dynamic tagging and pseudo-ties, and the finalization of the 
transition of the industry registry tool from NERC to NAESB. NAESB also 
made additional changes to seven suites of the WEQ Business Practices 
to ensure the standards accurately reflect revisions to the NERC 
Reliability Standards. In addition, NAESB made changes to support 
market operator functionalities to support the full use of the market 
operator as a separate role within the EIR, a NAESB managed industry 
tool, and on electronic tags (e-Tags). NAESB also made changes to 
support consistency by revising certain Abbreviations, Acronyms, and 
Definitions of Terms in WEQ-000. Finally, the standards were revised to 
make minor corrections to six standards.

III. Discussion

    11. As discussed below, with certain enumerated exceptions, we 
propose to incorporate by reference (into the Commission's regulations 
at 18 CFR 38.1(b) (2018)) the NAESB WEQ Version 003.2 Business Practice 
Standards.\12\ The WEQ Version 003.2 Business Practice Standards will 
replace the WEQ Version 003 Business Practice Standards currently 
incorporated by reference into the Commission's regulations. As 
explained above, comments have already been filed on the NAESB WEQ 
Version 003.1 Business Practice Standards and we will fully take those 
comments into account when we consider our determination on the WEQ 
Version 003.2 Standards. Thus, parties have no need to replicate the 
comments on the WEQ Version 003.1 Standards in response to this NOPR. 
The standards addressed in this NOPR are consistent with the 
Commission's findings in Order No. 676-H \13\ and do not appear to be 
inconsistent with any Commission directives or findings in other 
orders.
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    \12\ Consistent with our past practice, we do not propose to 
incorporate by reference into the Commission's regulations the 
following standards: Standards of Conduct for Electric Transmission 
Providers (WEQ-009); Contracts Related Standards (WEQ-010); and WEQ/
WGQ eTariff Related Standards (WEQ-014). We also do not propose to 
incorporate by reference at this time the WEQ-023 Modeling Business 
Practice Standards. We do not propose to incorporate by reference 
standard WEQ-009 because it contains no substantive standards and 
merely serves as a placeholder for future standards. We do not 
propose to incorporate by reference standard WEQ-010 because this 
standard contains an optional NAESB contract regarding funds 
transfers and the Commission does not require utilities to use such 
contracts.
    \13\ Standards for Business Practices and Communication 
Protocols for Public Utilities, Order No. 676-H, 79 FR 56,939 (Sept. 
24, 2014), 148 FERC ] 61,205, as modified, errata notice, 149 FERC ] 
61,014 (2014), order on reh'g, 151 FERC ] 61,046 (2015).
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A. Revisions and Modifications to Earlier Versions of Standards Made in 
the WEQ Version 003.2 Standards

    12. As explained above, the WEQ Version 003.2 Business Practice 
Standards include:
     Modifications and reservations to existing standards and 
newly developed standards to support the short-term preemption process 
and the merger of like transmission reservations;
     Changes to support consistency with NERC Reliability 
Standards;
     Changes to support market operator functionalities;
     Changes to support consistency in the use of 
abbreviations, acronyms, and definitions in WEQ-000; and
     Minor corrections to six standards.
    13. The Commission specifically invites interested persons to 
submit comments on all these revisions and changes from prior versions 
of the WEQ Business Practice Standards and on whether the Commission 
should incorporate by reference into its regulations, as enforceable 
mandatory requirements, the latest version of these standards (i.e., 
the WEQ Version 003.2 Business Practice Standards).

B. Treatment of Requests for Redirects

1. Background
    14. In Dynegy Power Marketing, Inc., \14\ the Commission 
established its policy on a customer's right to keep its contractual 
rights to firm transmission service it had reserved while the 
customer's request for a redirect was ``pending'' as required in 
section 22.2 of

[[Page 24053]]

the Pro Forma OATT.\15\ In Dynegy, the Commission held that 
``unconditional acceptance'' would not terminate a transmission 
customer's right to its original path while the redirect request still 
can be preempted by a competing reservation up to the following 
conditional reservation deadline in section 13.2 of the Pro Forma OATT. 
The Commission clarified that a transmission customer submitting a 
redirect request does not lose its rights to its original path until 
the redirect request satisfies all of the following criteria: (1) It is 
accepted by the transmission provider; (2) it is confirmed by the 
transmission customer; and (3) it passes the conditional reservation 
deadline under section 13.2 of the transmission provider's OATT.\16\ 
The Commission's concern was that a redirecting customer whose redirect 
request had been confirmed under step 2 nonetheless could lose its 
rights to the original parent path if the transmission provider later 
preempted the requested redirect in favor of a competing request prior 
to step 3.\17\
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    \14\ 99 FERC ] 61,054 (2002) (Dynegy). This policy was retained 
and clarified in Entergy Services, Inc., 143 FERC ] 61,143, at P 25 
& n.68 (2013) (Entergy).
    \15\ Section 22.2 states: ``[a]ny request by a Transmission 
Customer to modify Receipt and Delivery Points on a firm basis shall 
be treated as a new request for service in accordance with Section 
17 hereof, except that such Transmission Customer shall not be 
obligated to pay any additional deposit if the capacity reservation 
does not exceed the priority for service at the existing firm 
Receipt and Delivery Points specified.''
    \16\ Dynegy, 99 FERC ] 61,054 at P 9.
    \17\ This result could occur if the transmission customer does 
not wish to match the price or term of a competing request of equal 
or longer duration on the redirect path.
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    15. In its filing of version 3.0, NAESB proposed WEQ Standards 001-
9.5 and 001-10.5. Under these standards, a customer would lose its 
parent transmission rights when the transmission operator confirmed the 
redirect request even though the customer would still be at risk for 
preemption by a competing transmission request. In Order No. 676-H, in 
consideration of the comments, the Commission declined to incorporate 
WEQ Version 003.1 Standards 001-9.5 and 001-10.5, stating that the 
standards are inconsistent with the Commission's redirect policy in 
Dynegy.\18\ Additionally, the Commission requested that NAESB revisit 
WEQ Version 003.1 Standards 001-9.5 and 001-10.5 and any other affected 
standards. NAESB's revisions contained in the Version 003.1 standards 
purport to reflect this effort.
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    \18\ Order No. 676-H, 148 FERC ] 61,205 at PP 47, 48.
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2. WEQ Standards in Versions 003.1 and 003.2
    16. Version 003.1 of the WEQ-001-9 business practice standards 
(repeated again in version 003.2) attempts to implement a standard that 
is consistent with the Commission's policy on redirects as outlined in 
Dynegy. Proposed Version 3.1 WEQ-001-9.5.4 states

    The Transmission Provider shall ensure the Transmission 
Customer's rights to take firm PTP on the original unconditional 
Parent Reservation's reserved POR and POD are preserved until such 
time that the confirmed Redirect on a firm basis has reached its 
conditional reservation deadline as defined in Section 13.2 of the 
pro forma tariff.

    The preamble to WEQ Version 003.1 Standard 001-9, however, contains 
a clause that might be interpreted to permit a transmission operator to 
establish a different policy if it posts that information as a 
``Transmission Provider specific business practice.'' \19\ WEQ Version 
003.1 Standard 001-10.5 completes NAESB's proposed implementation of 
the Commission's Dynegy redirect policy by requiring revisions to 
Uncommitted Capacity of the Parent Reservation. WEQ Version 003.1 
Standard 001-10.5 requires the Transmission Provider to reduce the 
amount of the redirected capacity granted for the time period of that 
Redirect upon confirmation by the Transmission Customer of the request 
to Redirect on a non-firm basis.
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    \19\ The preamble to WEQ Version 003.1 Standard 001-9 reads: 
``[t]he Business Practice Standard WEQ-001-9 is defined in order to 
enhance consistency of the reservation process that applies to 
Redirects on a firm basis from Parent Reservations that are 
unconditional, as defined in Section 13.2(iii) of the pro forma 
tariff. The Transmission Provider shall specify any reservation 
process that applies to Redirects on a firm basis from Parent 
Reservations that are conditional, as defined in Section 13.2(iii) 
of the pro forma tariff in its Business Practices that are posted in 
accordance with Business Practice Standard WEQ-001-13.1.4.'' 
(Emphasis added).
    Proposed cross-referenced Standard 001-13.1.4 reads: ``[t]he 
Transmission Provider shall post information related to (1) any 
Transmission Provider specific Business Practices, (2) any waivers 
or exemptions granted from any of the OASIS requirements or Business 
Practice Standards, and (3) any other pertinent information related 
to the conduct of business with the Transmission Provider.'' 
(Emphasis added).
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3. Request for Comments in WEQ Version 003.1 NOPR
    17. In the NOPR pertaining to WEQ 003.1, we invited comment on 
whether the Commission should extend the Dynegy policy to both 
conditional parent reservations for firm transmission service and non-
firm transmission service.\20\ The Commission explained that the 
negative effects associated with the potential loss of a customer's 
parent path when the parent reservation is conditional and subject to 
competition is arguably less compelling than when the parent 
reservation is unconditional.\21\ To aid the Commission's consideration 
of this issue, the Commission referenced four redirect issues in the 
NOPR on which NAESB stakeholders were unable to reach consensus, and 
invited comments on whether the Commission should adopt regulations 
governing the business practices to be followed for requests for 
redirects from conditional parent reservations for short-term firm 
transmission service and for non-firm transmission service proposed--
and invited comments on this proposal. These issues are: (1) The 
treatment of a firm redirect for transmission service following the 
preemption of the conditional parent reservation; (2) the circumstances 
under which a firm redirect for transmission service may return to the 
conditional parent reservation; (3) the number of subsequent firm 
redirects for transmission service that can stem from the original firm 
redirect for transmission service; and (4) the proper treatment of 
requests to redirect requests for non-firm transmission service.\22\
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    \20\ WEQ Version 003.1 NOPR, 156 FERC ] 61,055 at P 25.
    \21\ Id. P 24.
    \22\ Id. P 25.
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4. Comments on Redirect Filed in Response to WEQ Version 003.1 NOPR
    18. Virtually all the comments received on this subject oppose the 
option of extending the Dynegy redirect policy to either conditional 
parent reservations for short-term firm transmission service or non-
firm transmission service.\23\ As a result, most commenters express 
support for NAESB's proposed redirect standards for unconditional 
parent reservations.\24\ Most commenters did not explicitly support the 
proposed language provided

[[Page 24054]]

within the WEQ-001-9 preamble that would also allow transmission 
providers the option of implementing alternative practices for 
redirects from conditional reservations.\25\ However, some commenters 
state that they recommend or could support a future NAESB proposal for 
a separate policy to provide transmission customers with the ability to 
redirect from conditional parent reservations.\26\
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    \23\ Bonneville Power Administration (Bonneville) at 5; Edison 
Electric Institute (Edison Institute) at 5; Idaho Power Company 
(Idaho Power) at 2; Southwest Power Pool, Inc. and Midwest 
Independent System Operator, Inc. (collectively, Joint Commenters) 
at 6; Open Access Technology International (OATI) at 3; Public 
Utility District No. 1 of Snohomish County, Washington and the City 
of Tacoma, Department of Public Utilities, Light Division 
(collectively, Snohomish/Tacoma) at 1; and Southern Company 
Services, Inc. (Southern) at 4. California Independent System 
Operator Corporation was the sole commenter who did not address this 
issue.
    \24\ NAESB's redirect standards require a reservation for 
service to be unconditional before it may be redirected.
    \25\ Bonneville at 4, 7; Idaho Power at 2; Joint Commenters at 
6; OATI at 3; and Southern at 4.
    \26\ Bonneville at 6; OATI at 4.
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    19. Various commenters note that, under the Dynegy redirect policy, 
the transmission provider must hold Available Transfer Capability (ATC) 
for the original firm reservation on the original path and 
simultaneously hold ATC on the redirect reservation's path until the 
redirect reaches the conditional deadline, and, at such time, capacity 
on the original (parent) path may then be released.\27\ Several 
commenters contend that this allows the transmission customer to hold 
priority of service options on two or more transmission paths at the 
same time.\28\ Joint Commenters ask the Commission if there may be 
benefits to revisiting specifics of the Dynegy/Entergy orders since the 
requirement that a redirect's parent passes the conditional reservation 
deadline sacrifices system efficiency.\29\
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    \27\ OATI at 2-3.
    \28\ See, e.g., Edison Institute at 7; OATI at 3.
    \29\ Joint Commenters at 8-9.
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    20. Several commenters oppose the proposal to extend the Dynegy 
policy beyond an application to unconditional parent reservations. 
These commenters point out that prior to the conditional reservation 
deadline, when the parent reservation is still conditional and subject 
to competition, there is no guarantee that firm service will be 
provided to the transmission customer on either the original 
transmission path or the requested redirect path since the reservation 
remains subject to competition until the conditional period 
expires.\30\ Commenters observe that the transmission customer's 
expectation as to the certainty of service is different in the 
conditional and unconditional cases.\31\ Edison Institute references 
sections of the Commission's pro forma OATT to support its conclusion 
that a firm capacity reservation under which the transmission customer 
is already taking service must already exist, and a reservation for 
service must be unconditional before it may be redirected.\32\ 
Bonneville notes that a customer with a conditional parental service 
has no reasonable expectation of service, since a later-queued, higher-
priority request may preempt or compete with that customer's 
conditional parent reservation, and since this expectation of service 
is different from a customer's expectation of service with an 
unconditional firm reservation, Bonneville argues it is inappropriate 
to extend the protections afforded by Dynegy to unconditional parent 
reservations.\33\
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    \30\ See, e.g., Edison Institute at 6; OATI at 3; and Southern 
at 5.
    \31\ See, e.g., Bonneville at 5; Edison Institute at 6.
    \32\ Edison Institute at 5-6.
    \33\ Bonneville at 4-5.
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    21. Commenters also contend that there may be many difficulties in 
administering scenarios with multiple conditional, confirmed 
reservations consuming more transmission capacity than available, since 
capacity would be retained on both the parent path and all the 
redirected paths.\34\ Some commenters advise that, if transmission 
customers are able to redirect from conditional parent reservations, it 
could result in potentially troublesome administrative, billing, and 
liability issues.\35\
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    \34\ Southern at 5.
    \35\ Idaho Power at 2; Southern at 5-6.
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    22. Specifically, Joint Commenters and Southern argue that a 
transmission customer should only be permitted to redirect transmission 
service from unconditional parent reservations.\36\ However, Edison 
Institute would also allow individual transmission providers the option 
to also permit redirects from conditional parent reservations by moving 
firm capacity to the redirect path upon confirmation.\37\ Snohomish/
Tacoma suggests that the Commission should either: (1) Allow individual 
transmission providers to craft specific tariff provisions for how 
redirects from conditional parent reservations will be addressed; or 
(2) explicitly not apply the Dynegy redirect policy, nor any other 
restriction on redirects from conditional parent reservations.\38\ OATI 
comments that it is generally not in favor of adopting standards that 
allow for options to implement transmission provider alternative 
practices to the NAESB standards.\39\
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    \36\ Joint Commenters at 5; Southern at 4.
    \37\ Edison Institute at 4.
    \38\ Snohomish/Tacoma at 1.
    \39\ OATI at 4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    23. OATI notes that, while it supports the application of Dynegy to 
redirects on a firm basis where the parent reservation is confirmed but 
still within the conditional reservation period (prior to the 
conditional reservation deadline),\40\ it could also support a NAESB 
standard where the capacity held on the conditional firm parent 
reservation is released immediately and lost on the parent path upon 
confirmation of the redirect on a firm basis.\41\ Other commenters 
agree and prefer such a NAESB standard for conditional parent 
reservations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \40\ Id. at 3.
    \41\ Id. at 4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    24. With respect to the Commission implementing a policy where a 
transmission customer redirects from a conditional parent reservation 
and the transmission customer loses the rights to the parent 
reservation once the redirect is confirmed, Bonneville advises that 
transmission providers will have a straightforward solution that is 
implementable and that can leverage technical capabilities that 
currently exist in most of the industry, and will not be burdened with 
accounting for capacity on multiple conditional paths.\42\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \42\ Bonneville at 6.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    25. As to requests for redirects of requests for non-firm 
transmission service, all the commenters who addressed this issue 
oppose extending the Dynegy redirect policy to non-firm transmission 
service. Commenters note that the Commission's pro forma OATT only 
permits transmission customers taking firm point-to-point service to 
make modifications to points of receipt (POR) and points of delivery 
(POD), and the OATT does not state transmission customers may modify 
PORs and PODs on a non-firm basis.\43\ OATI states that non-firm 
(secondary) redirect is the lowest priority service under the OATT and 
would be subject to preemption or interruption at any time to process 
either a request to reserve or schedule an existing reservation for 
either firm or non-firm transmission service.\44\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \43\ Edison Institute at 10; Joint Commenters at 7; Southern at 
7.
    \44\ OATI at 6.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    26. Commenters also believe that a request to redirect firm 
transmission service on a non-firm basis should not be allowed or 
should be limited to be from an unconditional, firm parent 
reservation.\45\ Edison Institute advises that the potential for 
gaming, the impact on queue positions and processing, and the problem 
of undertaking ATC/AFC (Available Flowgate Capability) calculations, 
outweigh any potential benefits given that a customer can just as 
easily submit a new request for non-firm transmission service with a 
modified POR and/or POD.\46\ Commenters also state that it is 
unnecessary to adopt changes to these

[[Page 24055]]

standards, since a customer can relinquish a capacity reservation 
associated with a non-firm redirect back to the parent reservation.\47\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \45\ Edison Institute at 11; Idaho Power at 4; OATI at 6.
    \46\ Edison Institute at 11.
    \47\ Bonneville at 7; Idaho Power at 4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Discussion
    27. The changes to NAESB WEQ Version 003.1 Standards 001-9.5.4 and 
001-10.5 appear consistent with the policy established in Dynegy, and 
we propose to incorporate these standards by reference. We agree with 
the majority of commenters that the Dynegy policy providing for 
retention of parent rights when the transmission owner confirms a 
redirect request (but while the request remains conditional) applies 
only when the parent reservation is firm and unconditional and, hence, 
should not apply to conditional parent reservations or non-firm 
transmission service. However, we propose to reject the preamble to WEQ 
001-9 because it leaves the implication that a transmission operator 
could adopt a ``Transmission Provider specific Business Practice'' that 
is at odds with the reason for establishing common business practices 
standards under the NAESB standards development process. We therefore 
disagree with Edison Institute and Snohomish/Tacoma who argue that the 
Commission should allow redirects from a conditional parent reservation 
on a case-by-case basis as antithetical to the NAESB standards 
development process. The NAESB standards development process is 
designed to provide for uniform methods of doing business with 
different transmission providers. Business transactions can involve a 
number of different transmission providers and establishing a uniform 
set of procedures and communication protocols help make such 
transactions more efficient and facilitates the ability to participate 
in multiple markets.

IV. Notice of Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards

    28. Office of Management and Budget Circular A 119 (section 11) 
(February 10, 1998) provides that Federal Agencies should publish a 
request for comment in a NOPR when the agency is seeking to issue or 
revise a regulation proposing to adopt a voluntary consensus standard 
or a government-unique standard. In this NOPR, the Commission is 
proposing to incorporate by reference into its regulations voluntary 
consensus business practice standards developed by the WEQ of NAESB.

V. Incorporation by Reference

    29. The Office of the Federal Register requires agencies 
incorporating material by reference to discuss, in the preamble of the 
proposed rule, the ways that the materials it incorporates by reference 
are reasonably available to interested parties and how interested 
parties can obtain the materials.\48\ The regulations also require 
agencies to summarize in the preamble of the proposed rule the material 
it incorporates by reference. The standards we are proposing to 
incorporate by reference in this NOPR consist of fourteen suites of 
business practice standards applicable to public utilities that own, 
operate, or control 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. These can be summarized as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \48\ 1 CFR 51.5 (2018). See Incorporation by Reference, 79 FR 
66267 (Nov. 7, 2014).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    30. 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.
    31. The OASIS suite of business practice standards (WEQ-001 Open 
Access Same-Time Information Systems (OASIS), WEQ-002 OASIS Standards 
and Communication Protocols, WEQ-003 OASIS Data Dictionary, and WEQ-013 
OASIS Implementation Guide) support the FERC posting and reporting 
requirements that provide information about each transmission 
provider's performance of its pro forma OATT. The OASIS system is used 
for scheduling transmission on the bulk electric power grid, comprises 
the computer systems and associated communications facilities that 
public utilities are required to provide for the purpose of making 
available to all transmission users comparable interactions, and 
provides transmission service information and any back-end supporting 
systems or user procedures that collectively perform the transaction 
processing functions for handling requests on OASIS. These standards 
establish business practices and communication protocols that provide 
for consistent implementation across OASIS sites as well as consistent 
methods for posting to OASIS.
    32. 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 Network Integration Transmission Service (NITS) 
requests.
    33. 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.
    34. The WEQ-003 OASIS Data Dictionary Business Practice Standards 
define the data element specifications for OASIS.
    35. The WEQ-004 Coordinate Interchange Business Practice Standards 
define the commercial processes necessary to facilitate interchange 
transactions via Request for Interchange (RFI) 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).
    36. 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.
    37. The WEQ-006 Manual Time Error Correction Business Practice 
Standards

[[Page 24056]]

define the commercial based procedures to be used for reducing time 
error to within acceptable limits of true time. These standards have 
subsequently been marked reserved by NAESB.\49\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \49\ As explained above, in a separate proceeding (in Docket No. 
RM05-5-026) the Commission has proposed to retire the standards on 
manual time error correction. Final action on that proposal remains 
pending.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    38. 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 in-kind payback, or other methods as agreed to.
    39. 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.
    40. 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 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.
    41. 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 secure 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.
    42. 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 right-of-first-refusal processing, NITS application and 
modification of service processing, and secondary network transmission 
service.
    43. 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.
    44. 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.
    45. 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.
    46. In addition, NAESB has adopted an additional eight suites of 
standards that, consistent with our past decisions, we are not 
proposing to incorporate by reference.\50\ Additionally, as mentioned 
above, we are addressing NAESB's WEQ-023 ATC Modeling Standards as well 
NAESB's WEQ-006 Manual Time Error Correction Standards in separate 
rulemakings.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \50\ The suites of NAESB business practice standards we are not 
proposing to incorporate by reference in this NOPR are: (1) The WEQ-
009 Standards of Conduct for Electric Transmission Providers, which 
NASESB has now 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, and 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; (4) the WEQ-023 Modeling Business Practice 
Standards, which the Commission is addressing in a separate 
rulemaking; and (5) 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 non-
mandatory guidance in 18 CFR 2.27 (2018). See Order No. 676-H, 148 
FERC ] 61,205.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    47. Our regulations provide that copies of the standards 
incorporated by reference may be obtained from the North American 
Energy Standards Board, 801 Travis Street, Suite 1675, Houston, TX 
77002, Phone: (713) 356-0060. NAESB's website is located at http://www.naesb.org/. 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, http://www.ferc.gov.\51\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \51\ 18 CFR 284.12 (2018).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    48. NAESB is a private consensus standards developer that develops 
voluntary wholesale and retail standards related to the energy 
industry. The procedures used by NAESB make its standards reasonably 
available to those affected by the Commission regulations, which 
generally is comprised of entities that have the means to acquire the 
information they need to effectively participate in Commission 
proceedings.\52\ NAESB 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.\53\ 
Participants can join NAESB, for an

[[Page 24057]]

annual membership cost of $7,500, which entitles them to full 
participation in NAESB and enables them to obtain these standards at no 
additional cost.\54\ Non-members may obtain a complete set of Standards 
Manuals, Booklets, and Contracts on CD for $2,000 and the Individual 
Standards Manual or Booklets for each standard by email for $250 per 
manual or booklet.\55\ In addition, NAESB considers requests for 
waivers of the charges on a case by case basis based on need.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \52\ As a private, consensus standards developer, NAESB needs 
the funds obtained from its membership fees and sales of its 
standards 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.
    \53\ Procedures for non-members to evaluate work products before 
purchasing are available at https://www.naesb.org/misc/NAESB_Nonmember_Evaluation.pdf. See Incorporation by Reference, 79 
FR at 66271, n.51 & 53 (Nov. 7, 2014) (citing to NAESB's procedure 
of providing ``no-cost, no-print electronic access,'' NAESB Comment 
at 1, http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=OFR-2013-0001-
0023).
    \54\ North American Energy Standards Board Membership 
Application, https://www.naesb.org/pdf4/naesbapp.pdf.
    \55\ NAESB Materials Order Form, https://www.naesb.org//pdf/ordrform.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

VI. Information Collection Statement

    49. The collection of information contained in this proposed 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).\56\ OMB's regulations require approval of certain information 
collection requirements imposed by agency rules.\57\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \56\ 44 U.S.C. 3507(d).
    \57\ 5 CFR 1320.11 (2018).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    50. 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.
    51. The following estimates for burden and cost \58\ are based on 
the projected costs for the industry to implement the new and revised 
business practice standards adopted by NAESB and proposed to be 
incorporated by reference in this NOPR.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \58\ The Commission staff estimates that industry is similarly 
situated in terms of hourly cost (for wages plus benefits). Based on 
the Commission's FY (Fiscal Year) 2018 average cost (for wages plus 
benefits), $79.00/hour is used.

                                         Revisions in NOPR in RM05-5-027
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                   Total annual
                                  Number of     Annual number   Total number    Average burden     burden hours
                                 respondents    of responses    of responses   (hours) and cost     and total
                                               per respondent                  ($) per response  annual cost ($)
                                          (1)             (2)     (1) * (2) =  (4).............  (3) * (4) = (5)
                                                                          (3)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FERC-516E 59 60 (tariff                   165               1             165  6 hrs.; $474....  990 hrs.;
 filing).                                                                                         $78,210
FERC-717 (compliance with                 165               1             165  30 hrs.;\62\      4,950 hrs.;
 standards) \61\.                                                               $2,370.           $391,050
                              ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total....................  ..............  ..............             330  ................  5,940 hrs.;
                                                                                                  $469,260
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The one-time burden for the FERC-516E information collection will 
be averaged over three years:

    \59\ This burden category is intended for FERC-516, the 
Commission's identifier that corresponds to OMB Control No. 1902-
0096 (Electric Rate Schedules and Tariff Filings). However, another 
unrelated item is pending OMB review using this OMB Control No. and 
only one item per OMB Control No. may be pending at a time. 
Therefore, to ensure timely submission, Commission staff is using 
FERC-516E (OMB Control No. 1902-0290), a temporary collection 
number.
    \60\ These information collection requirements are one-time 
burden estimates. After implementation in Year 1, the revision 
proposed in this NOPR would be complete.
    \61\ FERC-717 is the Commission's identifier that corresponds to 
OMB control no. 1902-0173 that identifies the information collection 
associated with Standards for Business Practices and Communication 
Protocols for Public Utilities.
    \62\ The 30-hour estimate was developed in Docket No. RM05-5-
013, when the Commission prepared its estimate of the scope of work 
involved in transitioning to the NAESB Version 002.1 Business 
Practice Standards. See Order No. 676-E, 129 FERC ] 61,162 at P 134. 
We have retained the same estimate here, because the scope of the 
tasks involved in the transition to Version 003.2 of the Business 
Practice Standards is very similar to that for the transition to the 
Version 003 Standards.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 990 hours / 3 = 330 hours/year over three years
 The number of one-time responses for the FERC-725B information 
collection is also averaged over three years: 165 responses / 3 = 55 
responses/year

    Costs to Comply with Paperwork Requirements: The estimated annual 
costs are as follows:
     FERC-516E: 55 entities * 1 response/entity * (6 hours/
response * $79/hour) = $26,070.
     FERC-717: 165 entities * 1 response/entity * (30 hours/
response * $79/hour) = $391,050.
    Titles: Electric Rate Schedule Filing (FERC-516E); Open Access Same 
Time Information System and Standards for Business Practices and 
Communication Protocols for Public Utilities (FERC-717).
    Action: Proposed collection.
    OMB Control Nos.: 1902-0290 (FERC-516E); 1902-0173 (FERC-717).
    Respondents: Business or other for profit (Public Utilities--
Generally not applicable to small businesses).
    Frequency of Responses: FERC-516E--One-time implementation 
(business procedures, capital/start-up); FERC-717--ongoing compliance 
filings.
    52. Necessity of the Information: This proposed rule, if 
implemented would upgrade the Commission's current business practice 
and communication standards and protocols modifications to support 
compliance with requirements established by the Commission in Order 
Nos. 890, 890-A, 890-B, and 890-C, as well as modifications to the 
OASIS-related standards to support Order Nos. 676, 676-A, 676-E, and 
717 and would make additional revisions for clarity and consistency.
    53. Internal Review: The Commission has reviewed the revised 
business practice standards and has made a preliminary determination 
that the proposed revisions that we propose here to incorporate by 
reference 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 estimate associated with the 
information requirements.
    54. Interested persons may obtain information on the reporting 
requirements by contacting the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 
Office of the Executive Director, 888 First

[[Page 24058]]

Street NE, Washington, DC 20426 [Attn: Ellen Brown, email: 
DataClearance@ferc.gov, phone: (202) 502-8663, fax: (202) 273-0873].
    55. Comments concerning the information collections proposed in 
this NOPR and the associated burden estimates should be sent to the 
Commission at this docket and by email to the Office of Management and 
Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs [Attention: Desk 
Officer for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission]. For security 
reasons, comments should be sent by email to OMB at the following email 
address: oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. Please refer to the docket number 
of this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Docket No. RM05-5-27) and OMB 
Control Nos. 1902-0290 (FERC-516E) and 1902-0173 (FERC-717) in your 
submission to OMB.

VII. Environmental Analysis

    56. 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.\63\ The 
Commission has categorically excluded certain actions from these 
requirements as not having a significant effect on the human 
environment.\64\ The actions proposed 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 electric power that requires no construction of 
facilities.\65\ Therefore, an environmental assessment is unnecessary 
and has not been prepared in this NOPR.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \63\ Regulations Implementing the National Environmental Policy 
Act, Order No. 486, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 30,783 (1987) (cross-
referenced at 41 FERC ] 61,284).
    \64\ 18 CFR 380.4 (2018).
    \65\ See 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii); 380.4(a)(5); 380.4(a)(27).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    57. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) \66\ generally 
requires a description and analysis of proposed 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \66\ 5 U.S.C. 601-612.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    58. The Small Business Administration (SBA) size standards for 
electric utilities is 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.\67\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \67\ 13 CFR 121.201 (2018), Sector 22 (Utilities), NAICS code 
221121 (Electric Bulk Power Transmission and Control).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    59. The Commission's estimate for small and large entities is not 
yet complete. The Commission preliminarily estimates that 72 of the 165 
respondents (or ~44 percent) are small. The Commission estimates that 
the impact on each entity (large and small) is:
     Year One: $474 (one-time cost for tariff filing) + 2,370 
(ongoing compliance cost) = $2,844
     Year Two and Ongoing: $2,370 (ongoing compliance cost)

    These annual estimates are consistent with the paperwork burden of 
$2,844/entity used above.\68\ The Commission does not consider $2,844 
to be a significant economic impact.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \68\ 36 hours/entity (6 hours/entity for tariff filing + 30 
hours/entity for compliance with standards) at $79/hour = $2,844.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    60. 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.

IX. Comment Procedures

    61. The Commission invites interested persons to submit comments on 
the matters and issues proposed in this notice to be adopted, including 
any related matters or alternative proposals that commenters may wish 
to discuss. Comments are due July 23, 2019. Comments must refer to 
Docket No. RM05-5-027, and must include the commenter's name, the 
organization they represent, if applicable, and their address in their 
comments.
    62. The Commission encourages comments to be filed electronically 
via the eFiling link on the Commission's website at http://www.ferc.gov. The Commission accepts most standard word processing 
formats. Documents created electronically using word processing 
software should be filed in native applications or print-to-PDF format 
and not in a scanned format. Commenters filing electronically do not 
need to make a paper filing.
    63. Commenters that are not able to file comments electronically 
must send an original of their comments to: Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE, 
Washington, DC 20426.
    64. All comments will be placed in the Commission's public files 
and may be viewed, printed, or downloaded remotely as described in the 
Document Availability section below. Commenters on this proposal are 
not required to serve copies of their comments on other commenters.

X. Document Availability

    65. 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 the Commission's Home Page (http://www.ferc.gov) and 
in the Commission's Public Reference Room during normal business hours 
(8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time) at 888 First Street NE, Room 2A, 
Washington, DC 20426.
    66. From the Commission'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.
    67. User assistance is available for eLibrary and the Commission's 
website during normal business hours from the Commission's 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.

List of Subjects in 18 CFR Part 38

    Electric power plants, Electric utilities, Incorporation by 
reference, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    By direction of the Commission.

    Issued: May 16, 2019.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.

    In consideration of the foregoing, the Commission proposes to amend 
part 38, chapter I, title 18, Code of Federal Regulations, as follows.

PART 38--STANDARDS FOR PUBLIC UTILITY BUSINESS OPERATIONS AND 
COMMUNICATIONS

0
1. The authority citation for part 38 continues to read as follows:

[[Page 24059]]

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 791-825r, 2601-2645; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 42 
U.S.C. 7101-7352.

0
2. Amend Sec.  38.1 by revising paragraph (b) to read as follows:

Sec.  38.1   Incorporation by reference of North American Energy 
Standards Board Wholesale Electric Quadrant standards.

* * * * *
    (b) The business practice and electronic communication standards 
the Commission incorporates by reference are as follows:
    (1) WEQ-000, Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Definition of Terms 
(Version 003.2, Dec. 8, 2017);
    (2) WEQ-001, Open Access Same-Time Information System (OASIS), 
OASIS Version 2.2 (Version 003.2, Dec. 8, 2017) with the exception of 
Standards 001-9 (preamble), 001-14.1.3, 001-15.1.2 and 001-106.2.5);
    (3) WEQ-002, Open Access Same-Time Information System (OASIS) 
Business Practice Standards and Communication Protocols (S&CP), OASIS 
Version 2.2 (Version 003.2, Dec. 8, 2017);
    (4) WEQ-003, Open Access Same-Time Information System (OASIS) Data 
Dictionary Business Practice Standards, OASIS Version 2.2 (Version 
003.2, Dec. 8, 2017);
    (5) WEQ-004, Coordinate Interchange (Version 003.2, Dec. 8, 2017);
    (6) WEQ-005, Area Control Error (ACE) Equation Special Cases 
(Version 003.2, Dec. 8, 2017);
    (7) (Reserved)
    (8) WEQ-007, Inadvertent Interchange Payback (Version 003.2, Dec. 
8, 2017);
    (9) WEQ-008, Transmission Loading Relief (TLR)--Eastern 
Interconnection (Version 003.2, Dec. 8, 2017);
    (10) WEQ-011, Gas/Electric Coordination (Version 003.2, Dec. 8, 
2017);
    (11) WEQ-012, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) (Version 003.2, Dec. 
8, 2017);
    (12) WEQ-013, Open Access Same-Time Information System (OASIS) 
Implementation Guide, OASIS Version 2.2 (Version 003.2, Dec. 8, 2017);
    (13) WEQ-015, Measurement and Verification of Wholesale Electricity 
Demand Response (Version 003.2, Dec. 8, 2017);
    (14) WEQ-021, Measurement and Verification of Energy Efficiency 
Products (Version 003.2, Dec. 8, 2017); and
    (15) WEQ-022, Electric Industry Registry Business Practice 
Standards (Version 003.2, Dec. 8, 2017).

[FR Doc. 2019-10695 Filed 5-23-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P