Notice2026-06204
Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725Z) 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
March 31, 2026
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 currently approved information collection, FERC-725Z (Mandatory Reliability Standards: IRO Reliability Standards). There are no changes to the reporting requirements with this information collection. No comments were received on the 60-day notice that ended on March 16, 2026.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 61 (Tuesday, March 31, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 61 (Tuesday, March 31, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15988-15990]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-06204]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. IC26-1-000]
Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725Z) Comment
Request; Extension
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of information collection and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or
FERC) is soliciting public comments on the currently approved
information collection, FERC-725Z (Mandatory Reliability Standards:
[[Page 15989]]
IRO Reliability Standards). There are no changes to the reporting
requirements with this information collection. No comments were
received on the 60-day notice that ended on March 16, 2026.
DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due April 30,
2026.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments on FERC-725Z to OMB through <a href="https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRA/icrPublicCommentRequest?ref_nbr=202603-1902-008">https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRA/icrPublicCommentRequest?ref_nbr=202603-1902-008</a>. You can also visit <a href="https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>
and use the drop-down under ``Currently under Review'' to select the
``Federal Energy Regulatory Commission'' where you can see the open
opportunities to provide comments. Comments should be sent within 30
days of publication of this notice.
Please submit a copy of your comments to the Commission via email
to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#480c293c290b242d293a29262b2d080e0d1a0b662f273e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b5f1d4c1d4f6d9d0d4c7d4dbd6d0f5f3f0e7f69bd2dac3">[email protected]</span></a>. You must specify the Docket No. (IC26-1-000)
and the FERC Information Collection number (FERC-725Z) in your email.
If you are unable to file electronically, comments may be filed by USPS
mail or by hand (including courier) delivery:
<bullet> Mail via U.S. Postal Service Only: Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street
NE, Washington, DC 20426.
<bullet> All other delivery methods: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue,
Rockville, MD 20852.
Docket: To view comments and issuances in this docket, please visit
<a href="https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/search">https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/search</a>. Once there, you can also
sign up for automatic notification of activity in this docket.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kayla Williams, (202) 502-6468.
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#82c6e3f6e3c1eee7e3f0e3ece1e7c2c4c7d0c1ace5edf4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e6a2879287a58a83879487888583a6a0a3b4a5c8818990">[email protected]</span></a>
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: FERC-725Z (Mandatory Reliability Standards: IRO Reliability
Standards).
OMB Control No.: 1902-0276.
Type of Request: Extension to this currently approved information
collection.
Abstract: On August 8, 2005, The Electricity Modernization Act of
2005, which is Title XII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005),
was enacted into law.\1\ Under section 215 of the Federal Power Act
(FPA) implemented in 18 CFR 40, the Commission requires a Commission-
certified Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) to develop mandatory
and enforceable Reliability Standards,\2\ which are subject to
Commission review and approval. In 2006, the Commission established a
process to select and certify an ERO and, subsequently, certified the
North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) as the ERO.\3\
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\1\ The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct), Public Law 109-58,
Title XII, Subtitle A, 119 Stat. 594, 941 (2005), codified at 16
U.S.C. 824o (2000).
\2\ The Federal Power Act (as modified by the EPAct) states
``[t]he terms ``reliability standard'' means a requirement, approved
by the Commission under this section, to provide for reliable
operation of the bulk-power system. The term includes requirements
for the operation of existing bulk-power system facilities,
including cybersecurity protection, and the design of planned
additions or modifications to such facilities to the extent
necessary to provide for reliable operation of the bulk-power
system, but the term does not include any requirement to enlarge
such facilities or to construct new transmission capacity or
generation capacity.''
\3\ North American Electric Reliability Corp., 116 FERC ]
61,062, order on reh'g and compliance, 117 FERC ] 61,126 (2006),
order on compliance, 118 FERC ] 61,190, order on reh'g, 119 FERC ]
61,046 (2007), aff'd sub nom. Alcoa Inc. v. FERC, 564 F.3d 1342
(D.C. Cir. 2009).
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The ERO develops proposed Reliability Standards \4\ and, if
approved by NERC, submits them to the Commission for review and
approval. When the standards are approved by the Commission, the
Reliability Standards become mandatory and must be enforced by the ERO,
subject to Commission oversight.
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\4\ The NERC Standard Processes Manual, Appendix 3A of the NERC
Rules Of Procedure, (posted at <a href="https://www.nerc.com/FilingsOrders/us/RuleOfProcedureDL/SPM_Clean_Mar2019.pdf">https://www.nerc.com/FilingsOrders/us/RuleOfProcedureDL/SPM_Clean_Mar2019.pdf</a>) describes the process
for developing, modifying, withdrawing, or retiring a Reliability
Standard.
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NERC established the following IRO standards within FERC-725Z:
IRO-001-4 (Reliability Coordination--Responsibilities) purpose is
to establish the responsibility of Reliability Coordinators to act or
direct other entities to act. Applicable transmission operator,
balancing authority, generator operator and distribution provider shall
follow the operating instructions from their reliability coordinator or
inform the reliability coordinator why they cannot comply.
IRO-002-7 (Reliability Coordination, Monitoring and Analysis)
purpose is to provide system operators with the capabilities necessary
to monitor and analyze data needed to perform their reliability
functions. The requirements of IRO-002-7 define data exchange
capabilities, testing functionality, notifications when those
capabilities are not available, monitor status at facilities, and some
personnel functions. IRO-002-7 does have a WECC Variance to develop a
methodology that creates models for performing operational planning
analyses and real-time assessments.
Currently effective IRO-009-2 applicable to reliability
coordinators and the purpose of the standard is to prevent instability,
uncontrolled separation, or cascading outages that adversely impact the
reliability of the interconnection by ensuring prompt action to prevent
or mitigate instances of exceeding Interconnection Reliability
Operating Limits (IROLs). The standard mandates that a Reliability
Coordinator must have operating processes to prevent IROL exceedance
and, if an exceedance is predicted, initiate those processes. It also
requires them to mitigate exceedances when they occur and coordinate
their actions with neighboring Reliability Coordinators in situations
where there is a difference in IROLs.
Additionally, regarding data exchange, NERC cites Reliability
Standard IRO-010-5 (Reliability Coordinator Data Specification and
Collection) and its stated purpose of preventing instability,
uncontrolled separation, or cascading outages ``by ensuring the
Reliability Coordinator has the data it needs to monitor and assess the
operation of its Reliability Coordinator Area.'' In IRO-010-5 required
in the standard that the reliability coordinator must specify the data
necessary for it to perform its operational planning analyses and
provide the specifications to the entities from which it needs data who
then must comply with the data request using a mutually agreeable
format and security protocols.
IRO-014-3 purpose is to ensure that each Reliability Coordinator's
operations are coordinated such that they will not adversely impact
other Reliability Coordinator Areas and to preserve the reliability
benefits of interconnected operations. IRO-014-3 standard requires
Reliability Coordinators (RCs) to coordinate operating procedures and
handle emergencies to ensure interconnected operations remain reliable
and do not negatively impact neighboring RC areas.
IRO-017-1 (Outage Coordination) purpose is to ensure that outages
are properly coordinated in the Operations Planning time horizon and
Near-Term Transmission Planning Horizon. IRO-017-1, known as ``Outage
Coordination,'' establishes requirements for coordinating generation
and transmission outages to maintain bulk electric system reliability.
Reliability coordinators, planning coordinators, balancing authorities,
transmission owners and transmission planners are applicable entities
for IRO-017-1.
[[Page 15990]]
IRO-018-1(i) (Reliability Coordinator Real-time Reliability
Monitoring and Analysis Capabilities), submitted by North American
Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). IRO-018-1(i) mandates that
Reliability Coordinators (RCs) possess real-time monitoring and
analysis tools to ensure bulk electric system reliability. This
standard, which includes requirements for RCs, aims to enhance system
operators' awareness of monitoring tools and data quality. In this
order, the Reliability Standards build on monitoring, real-time
assessments and support effective situational awareness. The
Reliability Standards accomplish this by requiring applicable entities
to: (1) provide notification to operators of real-time monitoring alarm
failures; (2) provide operators with indications of the quality of
information being provided by their monitoring and analysis
capabilities; and (3) address deficiencies in the quality of
information being provided by their monitoring and analysis
capabilities.
NERC observes that the performance of the requirements it cites is
premised on the existence of data exchange capabilities, regardless of
whether a separate requirement expressly requires the reliability
coordinator to have data exchange capabilities in place.
In review this 725Z collection for the IRO Reliability Standards,
the number of entities/respondents was checked and broken down into the
appliable type of entity for each reliability standard. As we continue
to combine various work projects associated with the 725Z collection
there was an increase in the number of responses from 953 to 2,687. The
increase is largely associated with capturing all the reliability
standard applicable entities into this single collection and the single
largest contributor was the addition of generator owners in reliability
standard IRO-001-4. These adjustments in response count will provide a
more accurate representation of all the entities under the 725Z
collection. Staff looked at each reliability standard as its own unique
project and in doing so eliminated the multiple entity count by making
a more accurate representation of the number of responses.
Type of Respondents: Reliability coordinators (RC), Planning
Coordinators (PC), Balancing authorities (BA), Transmission Owners
(TO), Transmission Planners (TP), Transmission Operators (TOP),
Distribution Planners (DP) are included entities for Estimate of Annual
Burden: \5\ The Commission estimates the changes in the annual public
reporting burden and cost \6\ as follows.
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\5\ 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 Code of Federal Regulations 1320.3.
\6\ The estimated hourly cost (salary plus benefits) is a
combination of the following categories from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) website, May 2025 <a href="http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm:">http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm:</a> 75% of the average of an Electrical Engineer (17-
2071) $71.19/hr., x .75 = 53.3925 ($53.39-rounded) ($53.39/hour);
and 25% of an Information and Record Clerk (43-4199) $40.51/hr.,
$40.51 x .25 = 10.1275 ($10.13 rounded) ($10.13/hour), for a total
($53.39 + $10.13 = $63.52/hour).
\7\ The NERC Compliance Registry, as of July 11, 2025,
identifies the following NERC unique U.S. entities that are subject
to mandatory compliance with Reliability Standard IRO-001-4, IRO-
002-7, IRO-008-3, IRO-009-2, IRO-010-5, IRO-04-3, IRO-017-1, IRO-
018-1(i). The number of respondents below is based on an estimate of
the NERC compliance registry US only Unique Entities; for balancing
authority, transmission operator (TOP), transmission Planners (TP),
distribution planners (DP), generator owner (GO) and reliability
coordinator (RC).
FERC-725Z--Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements for Reliability Standards IRO-001, IRO-002, IRO-008, IRO-009, IRO-010, IRO-014, IRO-017, and IRO-018
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Number of Annual number Total annual burden
Information collection requirements respondents & of responses Total number Average burden hours & hours & total annual Total annual
type of entity per respondent of responses cost per response ($) cost ($) burden cost
(1) \7\ (2) (1) * (2) = (4)..................... (3) * (4) = (5)........ (5)/(1)
(3)
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IRO-001-4............................ 12 (RC) 1 12 24 hrs., $1,524.48...... 288 hrs., $18,293.76... $1,524.48
97 (BA) 1 97 4 hrs., $254.08......... 388 hrs., $24,645.76... 254.08
1,314 (GO) 1 1,314 4 hrs., $254.08......... 5,256 hrs., $333,861.12 254.08
298 (DP) 1 298 4 hrs., $254.08......... 1,192 hrs., $75,715.84. 254.08
166 (TOP) 1 166 12 hrs., $762.24........ 1,992 hrs., $126,531.84 762.24
IRO-002-7............................ 12 (RC) 1 12 24 hrs., $1,524.48...... 288 hrs., $18,293.76... 1,524.48
IRO-008-3............................ 12 (RC) 1 12 160 hrs., $10,163.2..... 1,920 hrs., $121,985.4. 10,163.2
IRO-009-2............................ 12 (RC) 1 12 12 hrs., $762.24........ 144 hrs., $9,146.88.... 762.24
IRO-010-5............................ 12 (RC) 1 12 24 hrs., $1,524.48...... 288 hrs., $18,293.76... 1,524.48
IRO-014-3............................ 12 (RC) 1 12 12 hrs., $762.24........ 144 hrs., $9,146.88.... 762.24
IRO-017-1............................ 12 (RC) 1 12 1,200 hrs., $76,224..... 14,400 hrs., $914,688.. 76,224
62 (PC) 1 62 96 hrs., $6,097.92...... 5,704 hrs., $362,318.08 6,097.92
211 (TP) 1 211 96 hrs., $6,097.92...... 20,256 hrs., 6,097.92
$1,286,661.12.
337 (TO) 1 337 8 hrs., $508.12......... 2,696 hrs., $171,249.92 508.12
97 (BA) 1 97 8 hr., $508.16.......... 776 hrs., $49,291.52... 508.16
IRO-018-1(i)......................... 12 (RC) 1 12 34 hrs., $2,159.68...... 408 hrs., $25,916.16... 2,159.68
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Total for FERC-725Z.............. .............. .............. 2,678 ........................ 55,218 hrs., ..............
$3,538,599.16.
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Comments: Comments are invited on: (1) whether the collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the Commission, including whether the information will have practical
utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden and
cost of the collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality,
utility and clarity of the information collection; and (4) ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are
to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
Dated: March 26, 2026.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2026-06204 Filed 3-30-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on March 31, 2026.
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