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

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Published

March 4, 2022

Issuing agencies

Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission

Abstract

In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public comments on the requested renewal and revision of FERC-725K (Mandatory Reliability Standard for the SERC Region).

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 43 (Friday, March 4, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 43 (Friday, March 4, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12440-12442]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04554]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket Nos. RD22-1-000 and IC22-7-000]

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

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of revisions to an 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 comments on the requested renewal and
revision of FERC-725K (Mandatory Reliability Standard for the SERC
Region).

DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due May 3, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments on FERC-725K to the Commission. You
may submit copies of your comments by one of the following methods:
Electronic filing through <a href="http://www.ferc.gov">http://www.ferc.gov</a>, is preferred.
<bullet> Electronic Filing: Documents must be filed in acceptable
native applications and print-to-PDF, but not in scanned or picture
format.
<bullet> For those unable to file electronically, comments may be
filed by USPS mail or by hand (including courier) delivery.
[cir] Mail via U.S. Postal Service Only Addressed to: Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First
Street NE, Washington, DC 20426.
[cir] Hand (including courier) delivery to: Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852.
Instructions: FERC submissions must be formatted and filed in
accordance with submission guidelines at: <a href="http://www.ferc.gov">http://www.ferc.gov</a>. For user
assistance, contact FERC Online Support by email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0b6d6e796864656762656e787e7b7b64797f4b6d6e7968256c647d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="375152455458595b5e595244424747584543775152455419505841">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>, 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 <a href="https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview">https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview</a>.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please contact Ellen Brown who may be
reached by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#75311401143619101407141b161035333027365b121a03"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a3e7c2d7c2e0cfc6c2d1c2cdc0c6e3e5e6f1e08dc4ccd5">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>, or telephone at (202) 502-
8663.

[[Page 12441]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: FERC-725K, Mandatory Reliability Standard for the SERC
Region.
OMB Control No.: 1902-0260.
Type of Request: Request for comment on the revised information
collection requirements resulting from Docket No. RD22-1-000 \1\ and
the three-year extension of FERC-725K.
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\1\ Delegated Letter Order approving Joint Petition requesting
to update the regional Reliability Standard PRC-006-SERC-03 under
RD22-1 (dated 12/14/2021) filed by the North American Electric
Reliability Corporation (<a href="https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filelist?accession_num=20220218-3010">https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filelist?accession_num=20220218-3010</a>).
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Abstract: Section 215 of the Federal Power Act (FPA) \2\ requires 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
Standards may be enforced by NERC, subject to Commission oversight, or
by the Commission independently.
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\2\ 16 U.S.C. 824o.
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Reliability Standards that NERC proposes to the Commission may
include Reliability Standards that are proposed by a Regional Entity to
be effective in that region. In Order No. 672, the Commission noted
that:

As a general matter, we will accept the following two types of
regional differences, provided they are otherwise just, reasonable,
not unduly discriminatory or preferential and in the public
interest, as required under the statute: (1) A regional difference
that is more stringent than the continent-wide Reliability Standard,
including a regional difference that addresses matters that the
continent-wide Reliability Standard does not; and (2) a regional
Reliability Standard that is necessitated by a physical difference
in the Bulk-Power System.

When NERC reviews a regional Reliability Standard that would be
applicable on an interconnection-wide basis and that has been proposed
by a Regional Entity organized on an interconnection-wide basis, NERC
must rebuttably presume that the regional Reliability Standard is just,
reasonable, not unduly discriminatory or preferential, and in the
public interest.\3\ In turn, the Commission must give ``due weight'' to
the technical expertise of NERC and of a Regional Entity organized on
an interconnection-wide basis.\4\
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\3\ 16 U.S.C. 824o(d)(3).
\4\ Id. Sec. 824o(d)(2).
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As stated in the NERC Petition, in 2008, SERC commenced work on
Reliability Standard PRC-006-SERC-01. NERC also began work on revising
PRC-006-0 at a continent-wide level. The SERC standard has been
developed to be consistent with the NERC UFLS standard. PRC-006-SERC-02
was developed due to periodic review of the standard and PRC-006-1
clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of parties to whom the
standard applies.
On February 18, 2022 FERC issued the Delegated Letter Order in
Docket No. RD22-1-000 approving the NERC petition's request (Joint
Petition of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation and
SERC Reliability Corporation for Approval of Proposed Regional
Reliability Standard PRC-006-SERC-03), which modifies the information
collection of FERC-725K. The collection follows the NERC Petition
request in Docket No. RD22-1-000 which proposes to update the
reliability standard for the SERC region from PRC-006-SERC-02 to PRC-
006-SERC-03. As stated in the NERC Petition submitted on December 14,
2021, the updated reliability standard provides additional flexibility
for planning coordinators to adjust island boundaries to perform more
accurate studies; address the transition of the Florida Reliability
Coordinating Council (FRCC) registered entities to SERC following the
dissolution of the FRCC on July 1, 2019; and to clarify technical
requirements within the UFLS settings that are unique to the Florida
peninsula. When FRCC was dissolved and the registered entities located
in the Florida peninsula would eventually became subject to SERC's
regional Reliability Standard PRC-006-SERC-02.
The PRC-006-1 standard identifies the Planning Coordinator (PC) as
the entity responsible for developing underfrequency load shedding
(UFLS) schemes within their PC area. The regional standard (PRC-006-
SERC-03) adds specificity not contained in the NERC standard for a UFLS
scheme in the SERC Region. The added specificity that PRC-006-SERC-03
provides effectively mitigates the consequences of an underfrequency
event.
The purpose of regional Reliability Standard PRC-006-SERC-03 is to
establish consistent and coordinated requirements for the design,
implementation, and analysis of automatic UFLS programs among all SERC
applicable entities. The regional Reliability Standard PRC-006-SERC-03
incorporates revisions to: (i) Provide more flexibility for Planning
Coordinators to adjust island boundaries in order to perform more
accurate and complete studies; (ii) address the transition of Florida
Reliability Coordinating Council (``FRCC'') registered entities to SERC
following the dissolution of FRCC as a regional entity on July 1, 2019;
\5\ (iii) clarify a technical term used in the regional Reliability
Standard; and (iv) align requirement language with the current
continent-wide NERC Reliability Standard, PRC-006-5.
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\5\ Letter Order Approving the Joint Petition Requesting Certain
Approvals in connection with the Dissolution of FRCC, 167 FERC ]
61,095, (2019).
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Currently effective regional Reliability Standard PRC-006-SERC-02
was approved by the Commission on October 16, 2017 \6\ and became
effective for registered entities in the SERC region on January 1,
2018. Following the addition of FRCC's registered entities to SERC in
2019, SERC initiated a project to review PRC-006-SERC-02. SERC's
Dynamics Working Group identified the need to revise the regional
Reliability Standard to account for UFLS settings that are unique to
the Florida peninsula. As part of this project, SERC also identified
other opportunities to enhance the regional standard.
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\6\ North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC),
Docket No. RD17-9-000 (Oct. 16, 2017) (delegated letter order).
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SERC proposed to modify its UFLS Standard, PRC-006-SERC-02.
Requirements R1 and R7 of the currently effective standard are removed
in the updated regional Reliability PRC-006-SERC-03, but the numbering
for the remaining Requirements is unchanged in the interest of
administrative convenience.\7\
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\7\ NERC petition identified on page 8.
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SERC proposed to remove Requirement R1, which says:

Each Planning Coordinator shall include its SERC subregion as an
identified island in the criteria (required by the NERC PRC standard
on UFLS) for selecting portions of the BPS that may form islands.\8\
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\8\ NERC petition identified on page 9.

SERC proposed the retirement of Requirement R7, which sets specific
data requirements for Planning Coordinators (PCs) to provide SERC. SERC
no longer plans to maintain a database of this information; therefore,
it proposed to retire R7, that removes the requirement for SERC to
maintain a UFLS database. SERC notes that this requirement is no longer
needed because the continent-wide UFLS standard requires PCs to
maintain a UFLS database.
Type of Respondents: Entities registered with the North American
Electric Reliability Corporation within the SERC region.
Estimate of Annual Burden: \9\ Our estimate below regarding the
number of

[[Page 12442]]

respondents is based on the NERC compliance registry as of January 7,
2022. According to the NERC compliance registry, there are 28 planning
coordinators (PC) and 175 generator owners (GO) within the SERC Region.
The individual burden estimates are based on the time needed for
planning coordinators and generator operators to meet the requirements
of both the regional SERC requirement and the national reliability
requirements. The estimates include the costs to document and store
data, run studies, assess UFLS design, and analyze results from design,
development, and updating of the UFLS programs to be compliant with the
SERC and NERC standards. Additionally, generator owners must provide a
detailed set of data and documentation to SERC within 30 days of a
request to facilitate post event analysis of frequency disturbances.
These burden estimates are consistent with estimates for similar tasks
in other Commission-approved Reliability Standards.
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\9\ ``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. For further explanation of what is included in the
information collection burden, reference 5 Code of Federal
Regulations 1320.3.
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There are two burden tables below, the first showing the reduction
in burden following RD22-1-000, and the second showing the estimated
burden of the collection. The Commission estimates the annual reporting
burden and cost for the Reliability Standard PRC-006-SERC-3 as:

FERC-725K, Modifications Due to DLO in Docket No. RD22-1
[Reduction in burden]
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Annual number
Reliability standard and associated Number of of responses Total number of Average burden & cost per response Total annual burden & total annual cost Cost per
requirement respondents per respondent responses respondent ($)
(1) (2) (1) * (2) = (3) (4).................................. (3) * (4) = (5)............................ (5) / (1)
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PRC-006-SERC-3
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PCs: Provide Documentation and Data to 28 1 ................. 16 hrs.; $1,392...................... 448 hrs.; $38,976.......................... $1,392
SERC.
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Total Reduction due to RD22-1........ .............. .............. ................. ..................................... 448 hrs.; $38,976..........................
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FERC-725K: Mandatory Reliability Standard for the SERC Region
[Renewal]
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Number of Annual number
respondents of responses Total number of Average burden & cost per response Total annual burden hours & total annual Cost per
\10\ per respondent responses \11\ cost respondent ($)
(1) (2) (1) * (2) = (3) (4).................................. (3) * (4) = (5)............................ (5) / (1)
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PCs: Design and Document Automatic UFLS 28 1 28 8 hrs.; $696.00...................... 224 hrs.; $19,488.00....................... $696.00
Program.
GOs: Provide Documentation and Data to 175 1 175 16 hrs.; $1,392.00................... 2,800 hrs.; $243,600.00.................... 1,392.00
SERC.
GOs: Record Retention.................... 175 1 175 4 hrs.; $348.00...................... 700 hrs.; $60,900.......................... 348.00
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Total................................ .............. .............. ................. ..................................... 3,724 hrs.; $323,988.......................
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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.
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\10\ Between previous information collection there is an
increase in the number of PCs and GOs which largely reflect entities
from the former FRCC and SPP regions now applicable PRC-006-SERC-03.
\11\ The estimated hourly cost (salary plus benefits) provided
in this section is based on the salary figures and benefits of the
average 2021 FERC FTE costs ($180,703 per year, or $87.00 per hour),
which we estimate is comparable for salary plus benefits costs of a
utilities staff.

Dated: February 24, 2022.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-04554 Filed 3-3-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P

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