Transparency Provisions of Section 23 of the Natural Gas Act; Notice of Form No. 552 Technical Conference, 9202-9203 [2010-4089]

Download as PDF 9202 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 39 / Monday, March 1, 2010 / Notices in lieu of an environmental assessment (EA). The EIS will be prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Scoping The FERC staff prepared a scoping document and held public scoping meetings on October 19, 2009 in Palo Cedro, CA and October 22, 2009 in Redding, CA. FERC staff held public environmental site reviews of the project on October 20 and 21, 2009. The public meetings and environmental site reviews assisted staff in identifying the scope of the environmental issues that should be analyzed. The results of the scoping were extensive and indicate than an EIS should be prepared for this project rather than an EA, as staff had initially anticipated. The upcoming EIS will reflect input received at the scoping meetings and justify why staff has determined that an EIS should be prepared. Process The FERC staff will first issue and circulate a draft EIS to all of the interested parties for comment. All comments filed on the draft EIS will be analyzed by the FERC staff and considered in the final EIS pursuant to NEPA. The FERC staff will also hold a public meeting in California before issuing the final EIS. The staff’s conclusions and recommendations will then be presented for the consideration of the Commission in the order reaching its final decision. For further information please contact the project coordinator, CarLisa Linton at (202) 502–8416 or carlisa.lintonpeters@ferc.gov. Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary. and final approval to be effective April 1, 2010, and ending March 31, 2015. Any person desiring to intervene or to protest this filing must file in accordance with Rules 211 and 214 of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.211, 385.214). Protests will be considered by the Commission in determining the appropriate action to be taken, but will not serve to make protestants parties to the proceeding. Any person wishing to become a party must file a notice of intervention or motion to intervene, as appropriate. Such notices, motions, or protests must be filed on or before the comment date. On or before the comment date, it is not necessary to serve motions to intervene or protests on persons other than the Applicant. The Commission encourages electronic submission of protests and interventions in lieu of paper using the ‘‘eFiling’’ link at https://www.ferc.gov. Persons unable to file electronically should submit an original and 14 copies of the protest or intervention to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426. This filing is accessible on-line at https://www.ferc.gov, using the ‘‘eLibrary’’ link and is available for review in the Commission’s Public Reference Room in Washington, DC. There is an ‘‘eSubscription’’ link on the Web site that enables subscribers to receive e-mail notification when a document is added to a subscribed docket(s). For assistance with any FERC Online service, please e-mail FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, or call (866) 208–3676 (toll free). For TTY, call (202) 502–8659. Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time on March 4, 2010. BILLING CODE 6717–01–P Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary. [FR Doc. 2010–4092 Filed 2–26–10; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6717–01–P DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary. [FR Doc. 2010–4093 Filed 2–26–10; 8:45 am] Commission staff has prepared a Final Environmental Assessment (FEA) regarding Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s (PG&E) proposal to perform seismic remediation work at Crane Valley Dam, part of the Crane Valley Hydroelectric Project. The project occupies approximately 738 acres of federal lands within Sierra National Forest, approximately 40 miles northeast of the city of Fresno in Modesto County, California. Crane Valley Dam is located on North Fork Willow Creek, in the San Joaquin River Basin. The FEA analyzes the environmental effects of the seismic remediation proposal, PG&E’s resource protection and mitigation plans, and recommends further measures to minimize any environmental effects. The FEA concludes that the proposed seismic remediation and resource plans, with the recommended measures, would not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. A copy of the FEA is available for review at the Commission’s Public Reference Room, or it may be viewed on the Commission’s Web site at https:// www.ferc.gov using the ‘‘eLibrary’’ link. Enter the docket number (P–1354) in the docket number field to access the document. For assistance, call (202) 502–8222, or (202) 502–8659 (for TTY). For further information on this notice, please contact B. Peter Yarrington at (202) 502–6129. [FR Doc. 2010–4091 Filed 2–26–10; 8:45 am] DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY [Docket No. RM07–10–002] BILLING CODE 6717–01–P Transparency Provisions of Section 23 of the Natural Gas Act; Notice of Form No. 552 Technical Conference DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY [Docket No. EF10–5–000] Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Western Area Power Administration; Notice of Filing [Project No. 1354–081] February 19, 2010. mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Pacific Gas & Electric Company; Notice of Availability of Final Environmental Assessment Take notice that on February 2, 2010, the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Energy, under the authority vested in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by Delegation Order No. 00–037.00, submitted Rate Order No. WAPA–149, the power rate formula for the Provo River Project, for confirmation VerDate Nov<24>2008 16:46 Feb 26, 2010 Jkt 220001 February 22, 2010. February 19, 2010. In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (Commission) regulations (18 CFR Part 380), PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Take notice that on March 25, 2010, a technical conference will be convened to consider certain issues concerning Form No. 552, related to Order Nos. 704, 704–A and 704–B.1 The technical conference will be held in the 1 Transparency Provisions of Section 23 of the Natural Gas Act, Order No. 704, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,260 (2007) (Final Rule); Transparency Provisions of Section 23 of the Natural Gas Act, Order No. 704–A, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,275 (2008); and Transparency Provisions of Section 23 of the Natural Gas Act, Order No. 704–B, 125 FERC ¶ 61,302 (2008). E:\FR\FM\01MRN1.SGM 01MRN1 mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 39 / Monday, March 1, 2010 / Notices Commission Meeting Room at the headquarters of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (EDT). The conference will be open to the public; there is no registration to attend.2 On December 26, 2007, the Commission issued Order No. 704, Transparency Provisions of Section 23 of the Natural Gas Act. The Final Rule, among other things, requires natural gas market participants to report sales and purchase volumes of physical natural gas that use, contribute to, or may contribute to the formation of a price index during a calendar year. On September 18, 2008, the Commission issued Order 704–A Order on Rehearing and Clarification and on December 18, 2008 the Commission issued Order 704– B, Order Dismissing Rehearing Request as Deficient, Denying Reconsideration, and Granting and Denying Clarification. On October 9, 2009 and November 3, 2009, the American Gas Association and Pacific Gas & Electric Company, respectively, submitted supplemental comments requesting clarification of certain reporting requirements in Form No. 552. Staff has also identified other areas in the form that require clarification and inconsistencies in reporting physical natural gas transactions that arose during data collection and outreach. The inconsistencies and issues identified and discussed below will be the subject of the technical conference for Form No. 552. The Commission may elect to modify Form No. 552 following reviews of the supplemental comments requesting clarification and its own clarifications after the technical conference. The technical conference will address only the issues identified by staff. The topics for discussion at the conference are: (1) Inconsistencies in reporting upstream transactions in the natural gas supply chain on Form No. 552, and whether these transactions contribute to wholesale price formation; (2) whether transactions involving balancing, cashout, operational, and in-kind transactions should be reported on Form No. 552; and (3) whether the units of measurement (TBtu) currently used for reporting volumes in the form are appropriate. Order No. 704–A held that transactions involving unprocessed natural gas were not reportable on Form No. 552. The Commission also held that 2 A Notice of Extension of Time is being issued concurrently with this notice granting all natural gas participants an extension of time until July 1, 2010 to file their Form No. 552 for calendar year 2009. VerDate Nov<24>2008 16:46 Feb 26, 2010 Jkt 220001 transactions regarding unprocessed natural gas should not be counted when determining whether an entity falls below the de minimis threshold. Through various outreach efforts and data collected in Form No. 552 for calendar year 2008, Commission staff has learned that substantial volumes of upstream natural gas transactions may not be reflected in Form No. 552, because of inconsistent reporting practices. The sales and purchase volumes of upstream natural gas transactions are currently reportable on Form No. 552 if they use, contribute to, or may contribute to the formation of a price index. Staff believes that Form No. 552 filers have interpreted this requirement in various ways based on their unique situations. Therefore, staff would like to gain a better understanding of industry reporting practices for upstream transactions in the natural gas supply chain and to determine whether upstream natural gas contributes to wholesale price formation. In Orders 704–A and 704–B, the Commission found that balancing, cashout, operational, in-kind, and similar transactions must be reported in Form No. 552 if they use, contribute to, or could contribute to the formation of a price index. Staff has preliminary indications that the volumes of natural gas identified as cash-outs are relatively low in relation to the total reportable physical natural gas reported on Form No. 552. Therefore, staff is seeking to better understand the burden and benefits of reporting these volumes. Finally, filers have expressed confusion about the requirement in Form No. 552 to report transactions in trillion Btus (TBtu). Converting data to TBtus led to a number of filing errors, and subsequent resubmissions to correct the data were required. Staff is seeking feedback on whether changing the reporting units to an industry standard unit of measure like decatherms would facilitate reporting. An agenda for the conference will be issued in a later notice. This technical conference will not be webcast. It will be transcribed. Transcripts of the conference will be available immediately for a fee from Ace Reporting Company (202–347–3700 or 1–800–336–6646). Any person interested in filing comments after the conference should do so in this docket by April 2, 2010. A person is not required to have attended the conference in order to file comments on the specific topics herein. Commission conferences and meetings are accessible under section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. PO 00000 Frm 00055 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 9203 For accessibility accommodations please send an e-mail to accessibility@ferc.gov or call toll free (866) 208–3372 (voice) or 202–502–8659 (TTY), or send a fax to 202–208–2106 with the required accommodations. For additional information, please contact Christopher Peterson at 202– 502–8933 or Christopher.Peterson@ferc.gov and Thomas Russo at 202–502–8792 or Thomas.Russo@ferc.gov of FERC’s Office of Enforcement. Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary. [FR Doc. 2010–4089 Filed 2–26–10; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6717–01–P DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. AD10–4–000] Guidance on Preparation of MarketBased Rate Filings and Electric Quarterly Reports by Public Utilities; Supplemental Notice of Technical Conference February 22, 2010. As announced in the ‘‘Notice of Technical Conference’’ issued on January 28, 2010, a technical conference will be held on March 3, 2010, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (EST) in the Commission Meeting Room at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426. The conference will be open for the public to attend and advance registration is not required. The technical conference will focus on the mechanics of how to prepare an initial electric public utility marketbased rate application and subsequent filings (including triennial market power reviews and change in status filings), as well as the requirement to submit Electric Quarterly Reports to the Commission once a seller has received market-based rate authorization. At the technical conference staff will also address the most frequently-asked questions that arise on electric marketbased rate filings, the most common errors that are made in such filings, and highlight what tools are currently available to sellers in order to simplify the market-based rate application process as well as the preparation of subsequent required filings. The agenda for this conference is attached. Any person planning to attend the technical conference is strongly encouraged to register, preferably by close of business on Friday, February E:\FR\FM\01MRN1.SGM 01MRN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 39 (Monday, March 1, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9202-9203]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-4089]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. RM07-10-002]


Transparency Provisions of Section 23 of the Natural Gas Act; 
Notice of Form No. 552 Technical Conference

February 22, 2010.
    Take notice that on March 25, 2010, a technical conference will be 
convened to consider certain issues concerning Form No. 552, related to 
Order Nos. 704, 704-A and 704-B.\1\ The technical conference will be 
held in the

[[Page 9203]]

Commission Meeting Room at the headquarters of the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC, from 9 
a.m. to 2 p.m. (EDT). The conference will be open to the public; there 
is no registration to attend.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Transparency Provisions of Section 23 of the Natural Gas 
Act, Order No. 704, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,260 (2007) (Final 
Rule); Transparency Provisions of Section 23 of the Natural Gas Act, 
Order No. 704-A, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,275 (2008); and 
Transparency Provisions of Section 23 of the Natural Gas Act, Order 
No. 704-B, 125 FERC ] 61,302 (2008).
    \2\ A Notice of Extension of Time is being issued concurrently 
with this notice granting all natural gas participants an extension 
of time until July 1, 2010 to file their Form No. 552 for calendar 
year 2009.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On December 26, 2007, the Commission issued Order No. 704, 
Transparency Provisions of Section 23 of the Natural Gas Act. The Final 
Rule, among other things, requires natural gas market participants to 
report sales and purchase volumes of physical natural gas that use, 
contribute to, or may contribute to the formation of a price index 
during a calendar year. On September 18, 2008, the Commission issued 
Order 704-A Order on Rehearing and Clarification and on December 18, 
2008 the Commission issued Order 704-B, Order Dismissing Rehearing 
Request as Deficient, Denying Reconsideration, and Granting and Denying 
Clarification.
    On October 9, 2009 and November 3, 2009, the American Gas 
Association and Pacific Gas & Electric Company, respectively, submitted 
supplemental comments requesting clarification of certain reporting 
requirements in Form No. 552. Staff has also identified other areas in 
the form that require clarification and inconsistencies in reporting 
physical natural gas transactions that arose during data collection and 
outreach. The inconsistencies and issues identified and discussed below 
will be the subject of the technical conference for Form No. 552. The 
Commission may elect to modify Form No. 552 following reviews of the 
supplemental comments requesting clarification and its own 
clarifications after the technical conference.
    The technical conference will address only the issues identified by 
staff. The topics for discussion at the conference are: (1) 
Inconsistencies in reporting upstream transactions in the natural gas 
supply chain on Form No. 552, and whether these transactions contribute 
to wholesale price formation; (2) whether transactions involving 
balancing, cash-out, operational, and in-kind transactions should be 
reported on Form No. 552; and (3) whether the units of measurement 
(TBtu) currently used for reporting volumes in the form are 
appropriate.
    Order No. 704-A held that transactions involving unprocessed 
natural gas were not reportable on Form No. 552. The Commission also 
held that transactions regarding unprocessed natural gas should not be 
counted when determining whether an entity falls below the de minimis 
threshold.
    Through various outreach efforts and data collected in Form No. 552 
for calendar year 2008, Commission staff has learned that substantial 
volumes of upstream natural gas transactions may not be reflected in 
Form No. 552, because of inconsistent reporting practices. The sales 
and purchase volumes of upstream natural gas transactions are currently 
reportable on Form No. 552 if they use, contribute to, or may 
contribute to the formation of a price index. Staff believes that Form 
No. 552 filers have interpreted this requirement in various ways based 
on their unique situations. Therefore, staff would like to gain a 
better understanding of industry reporting practices for upstream 
transactions in the natural gas supply chain and to determine whether 
upstream natural gas contributes to wholesale price formation.
    In Orders 704-A and 704-B, the Commission found that balancing, 
cash-out, operational, in-kind, and similar transactions must be 
reported in Form No. 552 if they use, contribute to, or could 
contribute to the formation of a price index. Staff has preliminary 
indications that the volumes of natural gas identified as cash-outs are 
relatively low in relation to the total reportable physical natural gas 
reported on Form No. 552. Therefore, staff is seeking to better 
understand the burden and benefits of reporting these volumes.
    Finally, filers have expressed confusion about the requirement in 
Form No. 552 to report transactions in trillion Btus (TBtu). Converting 
data to TBtus led to a number of filing errors, and subsequent 
resubmissions to correct the data were required. Staff is seeking 
feedback on whether changing the reporting units to an industry 
standard unit of measure like decatherms would facilitate reporting.
    An agenda for the conference will be issued in a later notice. This 
technical conference will not be webcast. It will be transcribed. 
Transcripts of the conference will be available immediately for a fee 
from Ace Reporting Company (202-347-3700 or 1-800-336-6646).
    Any person interested in filing comments after the conference 
should do so in this docket by April 2, 2010. A person is not required 
to have attended the conference in order to file comments on the 
specific topics herein.
    Commission conferences and meetings are accessible under section 
508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. For accessibility accommodations 
please send an e-mail to accessibility@ferc.gov or call toll free (866) 
208-3372 (voice) or 202-502-8659 (TTY), or send a fax to 202-208-2106 
with the required accommodations.
    For additional information, please contact Christopher Peterson at 
202-502-8933 or Christopher.Peterson@ferc.gov and Thomas Russo at 202-
502-8792 or Thomas.Russo@ferc.gov of FERC's Office of Enforcement.

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-4089 Filed 2-26-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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