Notice2026-22607
Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725R); 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
November 5, 2026
Issuing agencies
Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission
Abstract
In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the extension of the information collection FERC-725R (OMB# 1902-0268) Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System: BAL Reliability Standards.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 213 (Thursday, November 5, 2026)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 213 (Thursday, November 5, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69839-69841]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-22607]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. IC26-43-000]
Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725R); Comment
Request; Extension
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of information collection and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public
comment on the extension of the information collection FERC-725R (OMB#
1902-0268) Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System:
BAL Reliability Standards.
DATES: Comments on the collection of information are due January 4,
2027.
ADDRESSES: You may submit copies of your comments (identified by Docket
No. IC26-43-000) by one of the following methods:
Please submit comments via email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b5f1d4c1d4f6d9d0d4c7d4dbd6d0f5f3f0e7f69bd2dac3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0b4f6a7f6a48676e6a796a65686e4b4d4e5948256c647d">[email protected]</span></a>. You
must specify the Docket No. (IC26-43-000) and the FERC Information
Collection number (FERC-725R) 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, addressed to: Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First
Street NE, Washington, DC 20426.
<bullet> Hand (including courier) delivery to: Federal Energy
Regulatory 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>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact Kayla Williams at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2e6a4f5a4f6d424b4f5c4f404d4b6e686b7c6d00494158"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5317322732103f363221323d303613151601107d343c25">[email protected]</span></a>, telephone at (202) 502-6468.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: FERC-725R, Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-
Power System: BAL Reliability Standards.
OMB Control No.: 1902-0268.
Type of Request: OMB renewal of the FERC-725R information
collection requirements, with no changes to the requirements.
Abstract: The FERC 725R information collection includes four
reliability standards.
<bullet> BAL-001-2, Real Power Balancing Control Performance;
(effective July 1, 2016)
<bullet> BAL-002-3, Disturbance Control Standard--Contingency
Reserve for Recovery from a Balancing Contingency Event; (effective
April 1, 2019)
<bullet> BAL-003-2, Frequency Response and Frequency Bias Setting;
(effective December 1, 2020)
<bullet> BAL-005-1, Balancing Authority Control. (effective January
1, 2019)
On August 8, 2005, Congress enacted into law the Electricity
Modernization
[[Page 69840]]
Act of 2005, which is Title XII, Subtitle A, of the Energy Policy Act
of 2005 (EPAct 2005).\1\ EPAct 2005 added a new section 215 to the
Federal Power Act (FPA), which required a Commission-certified Electric
Reliability Organization (ERO) to develop mandatory and enforceable
Reliability Standards, which are subject to Commission review and
approval. Once approved, any Reliability Standard may be enforced by
the ERO subject to Commission oversight, or the Commission may
independently enforce Reliability Standards.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Energy Policy Act of 2005, Public Law 109-58, Title XII,
Subtitle A, 119 Stat. 594, 941 (codified at 16 U.S.C. 824o).
\2\ 16 U.S.C. 824o(e)(3).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On February 3, 2006, the Commission issued Order No. 672,
implementing section 215 of the FPA.\3\ Pursuant to Order No. 672, the
Commission certified one organization, North American Electric
Reliability Corporation (NERC), as the ERO.\4\ The Reliability
Standards developed by the ERO and approved by the Commission apply to
users, owners and operators of the Bulk-Power System as set forth in
each Reliability Standard.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Rules Concerning Certification of the Electric Reliability
Organization; and Procedures for the Establishment, Approval, and
Enforcement of Electric Reliability Standards, Order No. 672, FERC
Stats. & Regs. ] 31,204, order on reh'g, Order No. 672-A, FERC
Stats. & Regs. ] 31,212 (2006).
\4\ 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).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Types of Respondents: Balancing authorities and a Frequency
Response Sharing Group (FRSG).
Estimate of Annual Burden: \5\ The estimated burdens of the FERC
725R include the Reliability Standards: BAL-001-2, BAL-002-3, BAL-003-
2, and BAL-005-1.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ Burden is defined as the total time, effort, or financial
resources expended by people to generate, maintain, retain, or
disclose or provide information to or for a federal agency. See 5
CFR 1320 for additional information on the definition of information
collection burden.
\6\ The Reliability Standard BAL-007-1.1 (Near-Term Energy
Reliability Assessments) will become in April 2027 and be included
in the future 725R renewals.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The requirements for each Reliability Standard go as follows:
BAL-001-2: Real Power Balancing Control Performance. Reliability
Standard BAL-001-2 is designed to ensure that applicable entities
balance generation and load by maintaining system frequency within
narrow bounds around a scheduled value, and it improves reliability by
adding a frequency component to the measurement of a Balancing
Authority's Area Control Error (ACE).\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ Area Control Error is the ``instantaneous difference between
a Balancing Authority's net actual and scheduled interchange, taking
into accounts the effects of Frequency Bias, correction for meter
error, and Automatic Time Error Correction (ATEC), if operating in
the ATEC mode. ATEC is only applicable to Balancing Authorities in
the Western Interconnection.'' NERC Glossary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
BAL-002-3: Disturbance Control Standard--Contingency Reserve for
Recovery from a Balancing Contingency Event. This standard ensures that
a responsible entity, either a balancing authority or reserve sharing
group, can recover from system contingencies by deploying adequate
reserves to return their Area Control Error to defined values and
replacing the capacity and energy lost due to generation or
transmission equipment outages.
BAL-003-2: Frequency Response and Frequency Bias Setting. This
standard requires sufficient Frequency Response from the Balancing
Authority (BA) to maintain Interconnection Frequency within predefined
bounds by arresting frequency deviations and supporting frequency until
the frequency is restored.
BAL-005-1: Balancing Authority Control. This standard establishes
requirements for acquiring data necessary to calculate Reporting Area
Control Error (Reporting ACE). The standard also specifies a minimum
periodicity, accuracy, and availability requirement for acquisition of
the data and for providing the information to the System Operator. It
requires balancing authorities to maintain minimum levels of annual
availability of 99.5% for each balancing authority system for
calculating Reporting ACE.
Our estimates are based on the NERC Compliance Registry as of July
21, 2026, which indicates that there are for unique US only 97
registered balancing authorities, 6 registered reserve sharing group
(RSG) and 1 frequency response sharing group (FRSG).
Estimates for the average annual burden and cost \8\ follow.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ The estimated hourly cost (salary plus benefits) is a
combination of the following categories from the BLS website,
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics--source for hourly
wages: 75% of the average of an Electrical Engineer (17-2071)
$92.32/hr., x .75 = $69.24 ($69.24/hour); and 25% of an Information
and Record Clerk (43-4199) $56.60/hr., $56.60 x .25 = $14.15
($14.15/hour), for a total ($69.24/hour + $14.15/hour = $83.39/
hour).
\9\ Allotting 10 hours for balancing authorities and the FRSG to
compile the information on candidate events, (the information is
automatically generated from computer databases. However, time is
allotted to compile, verify, and review the information.) Multiplied
by 28 events per balancing authority (or FRSG) per year yields 280
hours per year per balancing authority as the regulatory burden for
compliance. (Assuming an average of between 20 and 35 events per
year would result in average of 27.5 responses, rounded to 28.) as
approved in Docket No. RD20-9-000. Procedure for ERO Support of
Frequency Response and Frequency Bas Setting Standard Clean Version,
is the source material for reviewing frequency events information.
FERC-725R--BAL-001-2
[Real Power Balancing Control Performance]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of
Number & annual Total No. Average burden Total annual burden
Function type of responses of annual hours & cost hours & total annual Cost per respondent ($)
respondents per responses ($) per cost ($)
respondent response
(1) (2) (1) x (2) = (4) (3) x (4) = (5) (5) / (1)
(3) rounded.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping 97 (BA) 1 97 12 hrs.; 1,164 hrs.; $97,066.. $1,000.68
$1,000.68
TOTAL for FERC-725R BAL-001-2. ........... ........... 97 .............. 1,164 hrs.; $97,066.. ......................................
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 69841]]
FERC-725R--BAL-002-3
[Disturbance Control Standard--Contingency Reserve for Recovery from a Balancing Contingency Event]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of
Number & annual Total No. Average burden Total annual burden
Function type of responses of annual hours & cost hours & total annual Cost per respondent ($)
respondents per responses ($) per cost ($)
respondent response
(1) (2) (1) x (2) = (4) (3) x (4) = (5) (5) / (1)
(3) Rounded.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping 97 (BA) 1 97 12 hrs.; 1,164 hrs.; $97,066.. $1,000.68
$1,000.68
6 (RSG) 1 6 12 hrs.; 72 hrs.; $6,004...... $1,000.68
$1,000.68
TOTAL for FERC-725R BAL-002-3. ........... ........... 103 .............. 1,236 hrs.; $103,070. ......................................
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FERC-725R--BAL-003-2
[Frequency Response and Frequency Bias Setting]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of
annual Average burden
Number & type of responses Total No. hours & cost Total annual burden
Function respondents per of annual ($) per hours & total Cost per respondent ($)
respondent responses response annual cost ($)
\9\
(1)............... (2) (1) x (2) = (4) (3) x (4) = (5) (5) / (1)
(3) rounded.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual Reporting and 97 (BA)........... 28 2,716 10 hrs.; 27,160 hrs.; $23,349.20
Recordkeeping. $833.90 $2,264,873.
1 (FRSG)....................... 28................ 28 10 hrs.; 280 hrs.; $23,349.20.........
$833.90 $23,349
TOTAL for FERC-725R BAL-003- .................. ........... 2744 .............. 27,440 hrs.; ....................................
2. $2,288,222.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FERC-725R--BAL-005-1
[Balancing Authority Control]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of
Number & annual Total No. Average burden
Function type of responses of annual hours & cost Total annual burden hours & Cost per respondent ($)
respondents per responses ($) per total annual cost($)
respondent response
(1) (2) (1) x (2) = (4) (3) x (4) = (5) rounded...... (5) / (1)
(3)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping....... 97 (BA) 1 97 1 hr.; $83.39 97 hrs.; $8,089.............. $83.39
TOTAL for FERC-725R BAL-005-1........ ........... ........... 97 .............. 97 hrs.; $8,089.............. ...............................................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total No. of
Standard annual Total annual burden hours & total annual cost ($)
responses rounded
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total annual reporting and BAL-001-2 97 1,164 hrs.;
recordkeeping for 725R. $97,066
>BAL-002-3 103 1,236 hrs.;
$103,070
BAL-003-2 2744 27,440 hrs.;
$2,288,222
BAL-005-1 97 97 hrs.;
$8,089
Total FERC 3,041 29,937 hrs.; $2,496,446
725R
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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: November 2, 2026.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2026-22607 Filed 11-4-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on November 5, 2026.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.