Notice2022-13000
Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-920, Electric Quarterly Report); Comment Request; Extension
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 16, 2022
Issuing agencies
Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission
Abstract
In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the currently approved information collection, FERC-920 (Electric Quarterly Report (EQR)), which will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a review of the information collection requirements. The Commission published a 60-day notice on September 24, 2021 (86 FR 53048) and received no comments.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 116 (Thursday, June 16, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 116 (Thursday, June 16, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36313-36314]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-13000]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. IC21-38-000]
Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-920, Electric
Quarterly Report); Comment Request; Extension
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 (PRA), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission
or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the currently approved
information collection, FERC-920 (Electric Quarterly Report (EQR)),
which will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
for a review of the information collection requirements. The Commission
published a 60-day notice on September 24, 2021 (86 FR 53048) and
received no comments.
DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due July 18, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments on FERC-920 to OMB through
<a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>, Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission Desk Officer. Please identify the OMB control number (1902-
0255) in the subject line. Your comments should be sent within 30 days
of publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
Please submit copies of your comments (identified by Docket No.
IC21-38-000) to the Commission as noted below. Electronic filing
through <a href="https://www.ferc.gov">https://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
OMB submissions must be formatted and filed in accordance with
submission guidelines at <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. Using the
search function under the ``Currently Under Review'' field, select
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, click ``submit'' and select
``comment'' to the right of the subject collection.
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#a3c5c6d1c0cccdcfcacdc6d0d6d3d3ccd1d7e3c5c6d1c08dc4ccd5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="99fffcebfaf6f7f5f0f7fceaece9e9f6ebedd9fffcebfab7fef6ef">[email 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="http://www.ferc.gov">http://www.ferc.gov</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Brown may be reached by email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a0e4c1d4c1e3ccc5c1d2c1cec3c5e0e6e5f2e38ec7cfd6"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5014312431133c353122313e333510161502137e373f26">[email protected]</span></a> and telephone at (202) 502-8663.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: FERC-920, Electric Quarterly Reports (EQR).
OMB Control No.: 1902-0255.
Type of Respondent: Public utilities, and non-public utilities with
more than a de minimis market presence.
Type of Request: Three-year extension of the FERC-920 information
collection with no changes to the current reporting requirements.\1\
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\1\ The activities in the instant Docket No. IC21-38-000 are
separate from, and do not address, the activities in Technical
Conference on Reassessment of the Electric Quarterly Report
Requirements, Docket No. AD21-8-000 (technical conferences designed
to provide a forum for Commission staff, filers, and data users to
discuss potential changes to the current EQR data fields).
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Abstract: The Commission originally set forth the EQR filing
requirements in Order No. 2001 (Docket No. RM01-8-000) which required
public utilities to electronically file EQRs summarizing transaction
information for short-term and long-term cost-based sales and market-
based rate sales and the contractual terms and conditions in their
agreements for all jurisdictional services.\2\ The Commission
established
[[Page 36314]]
the EQR reporting requirements to help ensure the collection of
information needed to perform its regulatory functions over
transmission and sales, while making data more useful to the public and
allowing public utilities to better fulfill their responsibility under
Federal Power Act (FPA) section 205(c) \3\ to have rates on file in a
convenient form and place. As noted in Order No. 2001, the EQR data is
designed to ``provide greater price transparency, promote competition,
enhance confidence in the fairness of the markets, and provide a better
means to detect and discourage discriminatory practices.''
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\2\ Revised Public Utility Filing Requirements, Order No. 2001,
67 FR 31043 (May 8, 2002), FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,127, reh'g
denied, Order No. 2001-A, 100 FERC ] 61,074, reh'g denied, Order No.
2001-B, 100 FERC ] 61,342, order directing filing, Order No. 2001-C,
101 FERC ] 61,314 (2002), order directing filing, Order No. 2001-D,
102 FERC ] 61,334, order refining filing requirements, Order No.
2001-E, 105 FERC ] 61,352 (2003), order on clarification, Order No.
2001-F, 106 FERC ] 61,060 (2004), order revising filing
requirements, Order No. 2001-G, 72 FR 56735 (Oct. 4, 2007), 120 FERC
] 61,270, order on reh'g and clarification, Order No. 2001-H, 73 FR
1876 (Jan. 10, 2008), 121 FERC ] 61,289 (2007), order revising
filing requirements, Order No. 2001-I, 73 FR 65526 (Nov. 4, 2008),
125 FERC ] 61,103 (2008).
\3\ 16 U.S.C. 824d(c).
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Since issuing Order No. 2001, the Commission has provided guidance
and refined the reporting requirements, as necessary, to reflect
changes in the Commission's rules and regulations.\4\ The Commission
also adopted an Electric Quarterly Report Data Dictionary, which
provides the definitions of certain terms and values used in filing EQR
data.\5\
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\4\ See, e.g., Revised Public Utility Filing Requirements for
Electric Quarterly Reports, 124 FERC ] 61,244 (2008) (providing
guidance on the filing of information on transmission capacity
reassignments in EQRs).
\5\ Order No. 2001-G, 120 FERC ] 61,270 (2007). See the Data
Dictionary at <a href="https://www.ferc.gov/sites/default/files/2020-11/Data_Dictionary_V3_5_Clean.pdf">https://www.ferc.gov/sites/default/files/2020-11/Data_Dictionary_V3_5_Clean.pdf</a>.
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To increase transparency broadly across all wholesale markets
subject to the Commission's jurisdiction, the Commission issued Order
No. 768 in 2012.\6\ Order No. 768 required market participants that are
excluded from the Commission's jurisdiction under FPA section 205 (non-
public utilities) and have more than a de minimis market presence to
file EQRs with the Commission.\7\ In addition, Order No. 768 revised
the EQR filing requirements to build upon the Commission's prior
improvements to the reporting requirements and further enhance the
goals of providing greater price transparency, promoting competition,
instilling confidence in the fairness of the markets, and providing a
better means to detect and discourage anti-competitive, discriminatory,
and manipulative practices.
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\6\ Order No. 768, 77 FR 61896 (Oct. 11, 2012), FERC Stats. &
Regs. ] 31,336 (2012).
\7\ 18 CFR 35.10b(b) provides that the term ``de minimis market
presence'' means ``any non-public utility that makes 4,000,000
megawatt hours or less of annual wholesale sales, based on the
average annual sales for resale over the preceding three years as
published by the Energy Information Administration's Form 861.''
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EQR information allows the public to assess supply and demand
fundamentals and to price interstate wholesale market transactions.
This, in turn, results in greater market confidence, lower transaction
costs, and ultimately supports competitive markets. In addition, the
data filed in the EQR strengthens the Commission's ability to exercise
its wholesale electric rate and electric power transmission oversight
and enforcement responsibilities in accordance with the Federal Power
Act. Without this information, the Commission would lack some of the
data it needs to support its regulatory function over transmission and
sales.
Estimate of Annual Burden and Cost: \8\ The Commission estimates
the annual public reporting burden \9\ and cost (rounded) for the
information collection \10\ as:
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\8\ The cost is based on FERC's 2021 Commission-wide average
salary cost (wages plus benefits) of $87.00/hour. The Commission
staff believes the FERC FTE (full-time equivalent) average cost for
wages plus benefits is representative of the corresponding cost for
the industry respondents.
\9\ Burden is defined as the total time, effort, or financial
resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or
disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. For
further explanation of what is included in the information
collection burden, refer to 5 CFR 1320.3.
\10\ The current OMB-approved inventory for FERC-920 includes a
separate Information Collection (IC) labelled ``Adding time zone
(Order issued 6/18/2020), implementation & ongoing burden averaged
over Years 1-3.'' It covers 34 responses and 193 burden hours. The
stand-alone IC and the related figures (averaged over three years)
are being consolidated into the the overall estimates for the EQR.
FERC-920--Electric Quartely Report (EQR)
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Average annual Average annual Total average
Number of number of Total number of burden hrs. & annual burden Cost per
Requirements respondents responses per responses cost per hours & total respondent ($)
respondent response annual cost
1 2 (1) * (2) = (3) 4 (3) * (4) = (5) (5) / (1)
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Electric Quarterly Report......................... 2,929 4 11,716 18.1 212,060 $6,300
$1,575 $18,452,700
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Total......................................... .............. .............. ................. .............. 212,060 6,300
$18,452,700
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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 estimates 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: June 10, 2022.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-13000 Filed 6-15-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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