Proposed Agency Information Collection, 39860-39862 [2011-16996]
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39860
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 130 / Thursday, July 7, 2011 / Notices
Management, invites comments on the
proposed information collection
requests as required by the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to
submit comments on or before
September 6, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Comments regarding burden
and/or the collection activity
requirements should be electronically
mailed to ICDocketMgr@ed.gov or
mailed to U.S. Department of Education,
400 Maryland Avenue, SW., LBJ,
Washington, DC 20202–4537. Please
note that written comments received in
response to this notice will be
considered public records.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section
3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires
that Federal agencies provide interested
parties an early opportunity to comment
on information collection requests. The
Director, Information Collection
Clearance Division, Information
Management and Privacy Services,
Office of Management, publishes this
notice containing proposed information
collection requests at the beginning of
the Departmental review of the
information collection. The Department
of Education is especially interested in
public comment addressing the
following issues: (1) Is this collection
necessary to the proper functions of the
Department; (2) will this information be
processed and used in a timely manner;
(3) is the estimate of burden accurate;
(4) how might the Department enhance
the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (5) how
might the Department minimize the
burden of this collection on the
respondents, including through the use
of information technology.
sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Dated: July 1, 2011.
Darrin A. King,
Director, Information Collection Clearance
Division, Privacy, Information and Records
Management Services, Office of Management.
Office of Innovation and Improvement
Type of Review: New.
Title of Collection: Charter School
Facilities National Questionnaire.
OMB Control Number: Pending.
Agency Form Number(s): N/A.
Frequency of Responses: Once.
Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal
Government, State Educational
Agencies or Local Educational Agencies.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Responses: 369.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Burden Hours: 1,107.
Abstract: According to Part B section
5201 of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act, one of the established
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purposes of the Charter School Program
office in the U.S. Department of
Education (ED) is ‘‘encouraging the
States to provide support to charter
schools for facilities financing in an
amount more nearly commensurate to
the amount the States have typically
provided for traditional public schools’’.
Currently, there is no national database,
report, or analysis on the state of charter
school facilities. This collection will
help to understand the state of charter
school facilities nationwide.
In the summer of 2007, the Colorado
League of Charter Schools (the League)
launched its Facilities 2010 Task Force,
which was established to address
charter school facility needs. One of the
initiatives of the Facilities 2010 Task
Force was to develop a questionnaire
that inventoried the facilities landscape
in Colorado. This questionnaire has
since been customized and
administered in several additional
states. ED is looking to use and
administer this questionnaire in
additional states and compile the data
from all states into a national facilities
database. ED has plans to conduct this
survey in approximately three to four
states per year. ED will use the
information from the questionnaire to
include in a national database that will
provide comprehensive information
about the facilities for charter schools
and the issues that charter school face
in trying to obtain adequate facilities.
The data will then be used to develop
a report and an analysis.
Copies of the proposed information
collection request may be accessed from
https://edicsweb.ed.gov, by selecting the
‘‘Browse Pending Collections’’ link and
by clicking on link number 4645. When
you access the information collection,
click on ‘‘Download Attachments’’ to
view. Written requests for information
should be addressed to U.S. Department
of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue,
SW., LBJ, Washington, DC 20202–4537.
Requests may also be electronically
mailed to ICDocketMgr@ed.gov or faxed
to 202–401–0920. Please specify the
complete title of the information
collection and OMB Control Number
when making your request.
Individuals who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD) may call the Federal Information
Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–
8339.
[FR Doc. 2011–17018 Filed 7–6–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Proposed Agency Information
Collection
U.S. Department of Energy.
Notice and Request for
Comments.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The Department of Energy
(DOE) invites public comment on a
proposed collection of information for a
National Evaluation of the State Energy
Program that DOE is developing for
submission to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether
the proposed collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance
of the functions of the agency, including
whether the information shall have
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (c)
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on respondents, including through the
use of automated collection techniques
or other forms of information
technology. Information about the
outcomes of the program, including
energy savings, the number of jobs
created, increases in the production of
renewable energy, and reductions in
carbon emissions, are needed for a
rigorous evaluation of the program.
DATES: Comments regarding this
proposed information collection must
be received on or before September 6,
2011. If you anticipate difficulty in
submitting comments within that
period, contact the person listed in
ADDRESSES as soon as possible.
ADDRESSES: Written comments may be
sent to Martin Schweitzer,
Environmental Sciences Division, Oak
Ridge National Laboratory, One Bethel
Valley Road, P.O. Box 2008, MS–6036,
Oak Ridge, TN 37831–6036;
schweitzerm@ornl.gov.
SUMMARY:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information
should be directed to: Martin
Schweitzer, Environmental Sciences
Division, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, One Bethel Valley Road,
P.O. Box 2008, MS–6036, Oak Ridge, TN
37831–6036; schweitzerm@ornl.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This
information collection request contains:
(1) OMB No. New.
(2) Information Collection Request
Title: National Evaluation of the United
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 130 / Thursday, July 7, 2011 / Notices
sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
States Department of Energy’s State
Energy Program.
(3) Type of Request: New.
(4) Purpose: The Department of
Energy (DOE) is conducting an
evaluation of the State Energy Program
(SEP), a national program providing
grants and technical support to the
States, the District of Columbia and the
U.S. territories to implement energy
efficiency and renewable energy
activities that meet their unique energy
needs, while also addressing DOE’s
national goals, such as energy security.
The SEP was created in 1996 by
Congress, when the State Energy
Conservation Program and the
Institutional Conservation Programs
were consolidated. In February 2009,
the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided a
substantial increase in the funding
available to support SEP activities. The
additional $3.1 billion of ARRA funds
began to be disbursed in mid-2009 and
are required to be expended by mid2012. Due to the large differences in
volume, scope, and relative priority of
policy goals between the pre-ARRA and
ARRA-funded activities, this evaluation
will assess the outcomes of SEP
programmatic activities for one program
year (2008) prior to distribution of the
ARRA funding as well as for the ARRAfunded program years of 2009–2011.
The principal objective of the
evaluation is to estimate four key
program outcomes:
• Energy, cost, and demand savings;
• Increases in renewable energy
capacity and generation;
• Carbon emissions reductions; and
• Direct and indirect job creation
The evaluation will require
information to be collected from SEP
State program managers, SEP program
implementation staff in selected States,
participants in selected SEP programs,
and equipment vendors familiar with
participants’ purchases of qualifying
equipment.
Scale of the Information Collection
The evaluation effort will focus on
programmatic activities implemented in
2008 (prior to the ARRA funding) and
in Program Years 2009–2011 (with
ARRA funding). Programmatic activities
will be organized into ‘‘Broad Program
Area Categories’’ (BPACs) for purposes
of conducting the research. For each
evaluation period, DOE has determined
that those BPACs accounting for
approximately 80 percent of the total
SEP activity will be evaluated.
A sampling frame consisting of all
relevant programmatic activities for
Program Year 2008 and program years
2009–2011 will be compiled, assigning
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each programmatic activity to a single
BPAC. A probability sample of
approximately 90 individual
programmatic activities will be selected,
using BPACs as strata, to represent the
most heavily-funded activities in the
portfolio of SEP’s energy efficiency and
renewable energy efforts. The total level
of effort for the evaluation will be
allocated to BPACs in proportion to
their level of spending.
To use resources efficiently, the
programmatic activities within the
various BPACs will be studied at
different levels of rigor, reflecting their
relative size and expected contribution
towards overall energy savings. Rigor
level corresponds to both the statistical
analysis and the quality of data
necessary to support the analysis. High
Rigor evaluation approaches will yield
the most reliable impact estimates,
using methods recognized by the
California Evaluation Protocols, DOE’s
Impact Evaluation Framework for
Technology Deployment Programs, and
the International Performance
Measurement and Verification Protocol
(IPMVP). The high-rigor evaluation
methods will be applied to BPACs that
(a) account for a large proportion of
funds spent on State-level initiatives; (b)
are believed to achieve substantial
energy savings; (c) are considered
important by the States; and (d) are
expected to play a major role in future
SEP efforts. Medium-high rigor methods
will require verification of savings and
outcomes with individual participants,
but will use less intensive data
collection methods than those
prescribed for high-rigor. For example,
data may be collected by telephone
contact with participants, rather than a
site visit. Sample sizes will also be
smaller in the medium-high rigor
evaluations. Medium-low rigor
evaluation approaches will not include
any data collection from individual
program participants to estimate savings
or outcomes. These evaluations will use
data that can be obtained from program
records and secondary sources, as well
as engineering-based methods to
produce energy savings and outcome
estimates.
A range of qualitative, quantitative
(survey), on-site inspection and
verification, and secondary data will be
used to support the evaluation. Different
types of data will be required for each
of the four types of previously-identified
outcomes.
For estimating energy, cost, and
demand savings, the high and mediumhigh rigor evaluations require data such
as pre- and post-participation energy
use and demand, surveys of measure
implementation or participation, and
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39861
verification of installation of energy
efficient equipment and operating
conditions and schedule by interview
and/or on-site inspection. The
calculation of energy impacts will
follow the IPMVP methods and will
include estimation of gross and net
savings, annualizing and normalizing
results to post-participation levels to
calculate impacts. Medium-high rigor
evaluations will utilize telephone
interview data, combined with
engineering data and secondary data,
such as published reports and program
statistics to calculate energy impacts.
The high and medium-high rigor
evaluation of increases in renewable
energy capacity and generation will
require collection of meter data (where
available from participants), on-site
inspection and review of the system
design and equipment used, interviews
with project owners and operators, and
review of project files. Medium-low
rigor evaluations will utilize secondary
data, such as published reports and
statistics.
The high and medium-high rigor
evaluations of carbon emissions
reductions will require an assessment of
annualized carbon dioxide reductions
achieved as a result of SEP-funded
activities. This assessment will require
calculation of reductions in
consumption of fossil fuel and
replacement of fossil fuel generation
with renewable energy generation. The
data required for these assessments will
include the types of data identified
above for energy savings and for
increases in renewable generation.
The high and medium-high rigor
evaluations of direct and indirect job
impacts will use a 51-region (State)
REMI Policy Insight simulation model.
Data required for the job creation
analysis will include the types of data
identified above for energy, cost, and
demand savings to calculate the dollar
savings to households and businesses
resulting from energy and electric
demand plus surveys of additional
expenditures on new energy-efficient
equipment and systems. State economic
data on patterns of spending and
business sales among key sectors
affecting the flow of dollars into, out of
and within the State will also be
required.
The evaluation will utilize three
distinct data collection methods. First,
the evaluation will employ a total of six
computer-assisted telephone
interviewing (CATI) survey instruments.
With an average of approximately 670
respondents per telephone survey, 4,000
telephone survey respondents will be
targeted for participation in the
evaluation. Second, the study will
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39862
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 130 / Thursday, July 7, 2011 / Notices
utilize 28 individual in-depth interview
guides targeting an average of
approximately 30 respondents each,
with a total target population of
approximately 880 interviewees. Third,
a total of 152 on-site data collections
will be conducted as part of the
evaluation. Together, these three
methods will involve approximately
5,050 respondents and entail a total
burden of approximately 5,090 hours.
(This calculation is based on
assumptions that telephone surveys
require 45 minutes on average, in-depth
interviews—90 minutes, and on-site
data collections—300 minutes.)
The above-described data collection
methods will be supplemented by
additional records research and
database review activities applicable to
all three methods across all participant
categories. These general recordkeeping
activities will require an estimated
1,070 hours. Combining the burden
hours associated with telephone
surveys, in-depth interviews, and onsite data collections (5,090 hours) with
the burden hours associated with
general records review (1,070 hours)
produces a total estimated burden of
6,160 hours.
The evaluation protocols will provide
BPAC-level estimates for each of the
outcome measures. The results of the
evaluations for all the BPACs studied
will be expanded to produce cumulative
estimates. Outcome measures will be
calculated for the 2008 (pre-ARRA) and
the 2009–2011 (ARRA funding)
evaluation periods.
A number of steps are being taken to
avoid duplicating the efforts of any
concurrent evaluations of SEP activities
sponsored by individual States. These
include: (1) Coordinating with the
National Association of State Energy
Officials to share information on the
programmatic activities being examined
by specific States; (2) coordinating with
regional DOE project officers to identify
any State evaluation efforts with which
they are associated; (3) meeting with
selected State program managers to keep
informed of ongoing evaluation efforts
and the research approaches being
employed; and (4) coordinating with
evaluation contractors to learn of State
evaluation efforts with which they are
involved. These efforts will keep the
national SEP evaluation informed of
what States are doing so that the
programmatic activities sampled for this
study do not overlap with any
independent State evaluations. In
addition to these efforts to avoid
duplication, DOE has provided a set of
evaluation guidelines to the States to
help inform their evaluation efforts and
ensure that the results are reliable
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Jkt 223001
enough to allow them to be used to
support the national SEP evaluation
without the need to study the same
activities again.
The sample selection of BPACs and
specific programmatic activities within
each BPAC is scheduled to be
completed in May 2011. Data collection
and calculation of outcomes is
scheduled to be completed by July 2012.
The detailed study design and work
plan for the SEP evaluation will be
available for public review in May, 2011
at https://weatherization.ornl.gov/
evaluation_sep.shtml.
(5) Annual Estimated Number of
Respondents: 5,050.
(6) Annual Estimated Number of
Total Responses: 5,050.
(7) Annual Estimated Total Number
of Burden Hours: 6,160.
Statutory Authority: Title III of the Energy
Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, (42
U.S.C. 6321 et seq.) as amended, authorizes
DOE to administer the State Energy Program
(SEP).
Issued in Washington, DC, on June 13,
2011.
Henry C. Kelly,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency
and Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 2011–16996 Filed 7–6–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
Combined Notice of Filings #1
Take notice that the Commission
received the following exempt
wholesale generator filings:
Docket Numbers: EG11–97–000.
Applicants: Post Rock Wind Power
Project, LLC.
Description: Notice of SelfCertification of Exempt Wholesale
Generator Status of Post Rock Wind
Power Project, LLC.
Filed Date: 06/28/2011.
Accession Number: 20110628–5147.
Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time
on Tuesday, July 19, 2011.
Take notice that the Commission
received the following electric rate
filings:
Docket Numbers: ER10–1478–002.
Applicants: Pennsylvania Electric
Company.
Description: Pennsylvania Electric
Company submits tariff filing per 35:
Revised Market-Based Rate Power Sales
Tariff to be effective 6/29/2011.
Filed Date: 06/28/2011.
Accession Number: 20110628–5044.
Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time
on Tuesday, July 19, 2011.
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Frm 00052
Fmt 4703
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Docket Numbers: ER11–2040–002.
Applicants: Schuylkill Energy
Resources, Inc.
Description: Supplement to Refund
Report of Schuylkill Energy Resources,
Inc.
Filed Date: 06/10/2011.
Accession Number: 20110610–5138.
Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time
on Wednesday, July 20, 2011.
Docket Numbers: ER10–2585–001;
ER10–2618–001; ER10–2619–001;
ER10–2616–001; ER10–2647–001;
ER10–2591–001; ER10–2617–001;
ER10–2613–001.
Applicants: Ontelaunee Power
Operating Company, LLC, Dynegy
Power Marketing, Inc., Casco Bay
Energy Company, LLC, Dynegy
Marketing and Trade, LLC, Dynegy
Danskammer, LLC, Dynegy Kendall
Energy, LLC, Dynegy Roseton, LLC,
Sithe/Independence Power Partners, LP.
Description: Updated Market Power
Analysis of Casco Bay Energy Company,
LLC, et al.
Filed Date: 06/28/2011.
Accession Number: 20110628–5189.
Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time
on Monday, August 29, 2011.
Docket Numbers: ER10–2881–001;
ER10–2882–001; ER10–2883–001;
ER10–2884–001; ER10–2885–001;
ER10–2641–001; ER10–2663–001;
ER10–2886–001.
Applicants: Alabama Power
Company, Southern Company Services,
Inc., Georgia Power Company,
Mississippi Power Company, Gulf
Power Company, Oleander Power
Project, L.P., Southern Company—
Florida LLC, Southern Turner Cimarron
I, LLC, Southern Power Company.
Description: Notification of NonMaterial Change in Status of Southern
Companies.
Filed Date: 06/28/2011.
Accession Number: 20110628–5177.
Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time
on Tuesday, July 19, 2011.
Docket Numbers: ER10–3260–002.
Applicants: Granite Ridge Energy,
LLC.
Description: Updated Market Power
Analysis of Granite Ridge Energy, LLC.
Filed Date: 06/28/2011.
Accession Number: 20110628–5188.
Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time
on Monday, August 29, 2011.
Docket Numbers: ER10–3286–003;
ER10–3299–002.
Applicants: Millennium Power
Partners, L.P., New Athens Generating
Company, LLC.
Description: Updated Market Power
Analysis for MILLENIUM POWER
PARTNERS, L.P.
Filed Date: 06/28/2011.
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 130 (Thursday, July 7, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39860-39862]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-16996]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Proposed Agency Information Collection
AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice and Request for Comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) invites public comment on a
proposed collection of information for a National Evaluation of the
State Energy Program that DOE is developing for submission to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the
proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the
information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions
used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of
automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology. Information about the outcomes of the program, including
energy savings, the number of jobs created, increases in the production
of renewable energy, and reductions in carbon emissions, are needed for
a rigorous evaluation of the program.
DATES: Comments regarding this proposed information collection must be
received on or before September 6, 2011. If you anticipate difficulty
in submitting comments within that period, contact the person listed in
ADDRESSES as soon as possible.
ADDRESSES: Written comments may be sent to Martin Schweitzer,
Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, One
Bethel Valley Road, P.O. Box 2008, MS-6036, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6036;
schweitzerm@ornl.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be directed to: Martin Schweitzer, Environmental Sciences
Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, One Bethel Valley Road, P.O.
Box 2008, MS-6036, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6036; schweitzerm@ornl.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This information collection request
contains:
(1) OMB No. New.
(2) Information Collection Request Title: National Evaluation of
the United
[[Page 39861]]
States Department of Energy's State Energy Program.
(3) Type of Request: New.
(4) Purpose: The Department of Energy (DOE) is conducting an
evaluation of the State Energy Program (SEP), a national program
providing grants and technical support to the States, the District of
Columbia and the U.S. territories to implement energy efficiency and
renewable energy activities that meet their unique energy needs, while
also addressing DOE's national goals, such as energy security. The SEP
was created in 1996 by Congress, when the State Energy Conservation
Program and the Institutional Conservation Programs were consolidated.
In February 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
provided a substantial increase in the funding available to support SEP
activities. The additional $3.1 billion of ARRA funds began to be
disbursed in mid-2009 and are required to be expended by mid-2012. Due
to the large differences in volume, scope, and relative priority of
policy goals between the pre-ARRA and ARRA-funded activities, this
evaluation will assess the outcomes of SEP programmatic activities for
one program year (2008) prior to distribution of the ARRA funding as
well as for the ARRA-funded program years of 2009-2011.
The principal objective of the evaluation is to estimate four key
program outcomes:
Energy, cost, and demand savings;
Increases in renewable energy capacity and generation;
Carbon emissions reductions; and
Direct and indirect job creation
The evaluation will require information to be collected from SEP
State program managers, SEP program implementation staff in selected
States, participants in selected SEP programs, and equipment vendors
familiar with participants' purchases of qualifying equipment.
Scale of the Information Collection
The evaluation effort will focus on programmatic activities
implemented in 2008 (prior to the ARRA funding) and in Program Years
2009-2011 (with ARRA funding). Programmatic activities will be
organized into ``Broad Program Area Categories'' (BPACs) for purposes
of conducting the research. For each evaluation period, DOE has
determined that those BPACs accounting for approximately 80 percent of
the total SEP activity will be evaluated.
A sampling frame consisting of all relevant programmatic activities
for Program Year 2008 and program years 2009-2011 will be compiled,
assigning each programmatic activity to a single BPAC. A probability
sample of approximately 90 individual programmatic activities will be
selected, using BPACs as strata, to represent the most heavily-funded
activities in the portfolio of SEP's energy efficiency and renewable
energy efforts. The total level of effort for the evaluation will be
allocated to BPACs in proportion to their level of spending.
To use resources efficiently, the programmatic activities within
the various BPACs will be studied at different levels of rigor,
reflecting their relative size and expected contribution towards
overall energy savings. Rigor level corresponds to both the statistical
analysis and the quality of data necessary to support the analysis.
High Rigor evaluation approaches will yield the most reliable impact
estimates, using methods recognized by the California Evaluation
Protocols, DOE's Impact Evaluation Framework for Technology Deployment
Programs, and the International Performance Measurement and
Verification Protocol (IPMVP). The high-rigor evaluation methods will
be applied to BPACs that (a) account for a large proportion of funds
spent on State-level initiatives; (b) are believed to achieve
substantial energy savings; (c) are considered important by the States;
and (d) are expected to play a major role in future SEP efforts.
Medium-high rigor methods will require verification of savings and
outcomes with individual participants, but will use less intensive data
collection methods than those prescribed for high-rigor. For example,
data may be collected by telephone contact with participants, rather
than a site visit. Sample sizes will also be smaller in the medium-high
rigor evaluations. Medium-low rigor evaluation approaches will not
include any data collection from individual program participants to
estimate savings or outcomes. These evaluations will use data that can
be obtained from program records and secondary sources, as well as
engineering-based methods to produce energy savings and outcome
estimates.
A range of qualitative, quantitative (survey), on-site inspection
and verification, and secondary data will be used to support the
evaluation. Different types of data will be required for each of the
four types of previously-identified outcomes.
For estimating energy, cost, and demand savings, the high and
medium-high rigor evaluations require data such as pre- and post-
participation energy use and demand, surveys of measure implementation
or participation, and verification of installation of energy efficient
equipment and operating conditions and schedule by interview and/or on-
site inspection. The calculation of energy impacts will follow the
IPMVP methods and will include estimation of gross and net savings,
annualizing and normalizing results to post-participation levels to
calculate impacts. Medium-high rigor evaluations will utilize telephone
interview data, combined with engineering data and secondary data, such
as published reports and program statistics to calculate energy
impacts.
The high and medium-high rigor evaluation of increases in renewable
energy capacity and generation will require collection of meter data
(where available from participants), on-site inspection and review of
the system design and equipment used, interviews with project owners
and operators, and review of project files. Medium-low rigor
evaluations will utilize secondary data, such as published reports and
statistics.
The high and medium-high rigor evaluations of carbon emissions
reductions will require an assessment of annualized carbon dioxide
reductions achieved as a result of SEP-funded activities. This
assessment will require calculation of reductions in consumption of
fossil fuel and replacement of fossil fuel generation with renewable
energy generation. The data required for these assessments will include
the types of data identified above for energy savings and for increases
in renewable generation.
The high and medium-high rigor evaluations of direct and indirect
job impacts will use a 51-region (State) REMI Policy Insight simulation
model. Data required for the job creation analysis will include the
types of data identified above for energy, cost, and demand savings to
calculate the dollar savings to households and businesses resulting
from energy and electric demand plus surveys of additional expenditures
on new energy-efficient equipment and systems. State economic data on
patterns of spending and business sales among key sectors affecting the
flow of dollars into, out of and within the State will also be
required.
The evaluation will utilize three distinct data collection methods.
First, the evaluation will employ a total of six computer-assisted
telephone interviewing (CATI) survey instruments. With an average of
approximately 670 respondents per telephone survey, 4,000 telephone
survey respondents will be targeted for participation in the
evaluation. Second, the study will
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utilize 28 individual in-depth interview guides targeting an average of
approximately 30 respondents each, with a total target population of
approximately 880 interviewees. Third, a total of 152 on-site data
collections will be conducted as part of the evaluation. Together,
these three methods will involve approximately 5,050 respondents and
entail a total burden of approximately 5,090 hours. (This calculation
is based on assumptions that telephone surveys require 45 minutes on
average, in-depth interviews--90 minutes, and on-site data
collections--300 minutes.)
The above-described data collection methods will be supplemented by
additional records research and database review activities applicable
to all three methods across all participant categories. These general
recordkeeping activities will require an estimated 1,070 hours.
Combining the burden hours associated with telephone surveys, in-depth
interviews, and on-site data collections (5,090 hours) with the burden
hours associated with general records review (1,070 hours) produces a
total estimated burden of 6,160 hours.
The evaluation protocols will provide BPAC-level estimates for each
of the outcome measures. The results of the evaluations for all the
BPACs studied will be expanded to produce cumulative estimates. Outcome
measures will be calculated for the 2008 (pre-ARRA) and the 2009-2011
(ARRA funding) evaluation periods.
A number of steps are being taken to avoid duplicating the efforts
of any concurrent evaluations of SEP activities sponsored by individual
States. These include: (1) Coordinating with the National Association
of State Energy Officials to share information on the programmatic
activities being examined by specific States; (2) coordinating with
regional DOE project officers to identify any State evaluation efforts
with which they are associated; (3) meeting with selected State program
managers to keep informed of ongoing evaluation efforts and the
research approaches being employed; and (4) coordinating with
evaluation contractors to learn of State evaluation efforts with which
they are involved. These efforts will keep the national SEP evaluation
informed of what States are doing so that the programmatic activities
sampled for this study do not overlap with any independent State
evaluations. In addition to these efforts to avoid duplication, DOE has
provided a set of evaluation guidelines to the States to help inform
their evaluation efforts and ensure that the results are reliable
enough to allow them to be used to support the national SEP evaluation
without the need to study the same activities again.
The sample selection of BPACs and specific programmatic activities
within each BPAC is scheduled to be completed in May 2011. Data
collection and calculation of outcomes is scheduled to be completed by
July 2012.
The detailed study design and work plan for the SEP evaluation will
be available for public review in May, 2011 at https://weatherization.ornl.gov/evaluation_sep.shtml.
(5) Annual Estimated Number of Respondents: 5,050.
(6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: 5,050.
(7) Annual Estimated Total Number of Burden Hours: 6,160.
Statutory Authority: Title III of the Energy Policy and
Conservation Act of 1975, (42 U.S.C. 6321 et seq.) as amended,
authorizes DOE to administer the State Energy Program (SEP).
Issued in Washington, DC, on June 13, 2011.
Henry C. Kelly,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 2011-16996 Filed 7-6-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P