Demand and Energy Data Reliability Standard, 58716-58720 [2014-23195]
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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 189 / Tuesday, September 30, 2014 / Proposed Rules
environment.45 The Commission has
categorically excluded certain actions
from this requirement as not having a
significant effect on the human
environment. Included in the exclusion
are rules that are clarifying, corrective,
or procedural or that do not
substantially change the effect of the
regulations being amended.46 The
actions proposed herein fall within this
categorical exclusion in the
Commission’s regulations.
VI. Comment Procedures
42. The Commission invites interested
persons to submit comments on the
matters and issues proposed in this
notice to be adopted, including any
related matters or alternative proposals
that commenters may wish to discuss.
Comments are due December 1, 2014.
Comments must refer to Docket No.
RM14–13–000, and must include the
commenter’s name, the organization
they represent, if applicable, and
address.
43. The Commission encourages
comments to be filed electronically via
the eFiling link on the Commission’s
Web site at https://www.ferc.gov. The
Commission accepts most standard
word processing formats. Documents
created electronically using word
processing software should be filed in
native applications or print-to-PDF
format and not in a scanned format.
Commenters filing electronically do not
need to make a paper filing.
44. Commenters that are not able to
file comments electronically must send
an original of their comments to:
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
Secretary of the Commission, 888 First
Street NE., Washington, DC 20426.
45. All comments will be placed in
the Commission’s public files and may
be viewed, printed, or downloaded
remotely as described in the Document
Availability section below. Commenters
on this proposal are not required to
serve copies of their comments on other
commenters.
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VII. Document Availability
46. In addition to publishing the full
text of this document in the Federal
Register, the Commission provides all
interested persons an opportunity to
view and/or print the contents of this
document via the Internet through the
Commission’s Home Page (https://
www.ferc.gov) and in the Commission’s
Public Reference Room during normal
business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
45 Regulations Implementing the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, Order No. 486,
FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 30,783 (1987).
46 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii).
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Eastern time) at 888 First Street NE.,
Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426.
47. From the Commission’s Home
Page on the Internet, this information is
available on eLibrary. The full text of
this document is available on eLibrary
in PDF and Microsoft Word format for
viewing, printing, and/or downloading.
To access this document in eLibrary,
type the docket number excluding the
last three digits of this document in the
docket number field.
48. User assistance is available for
eLibrary and the Commission’s Web site
during normal business hours from the
Commission’s Online Support at 202–
502–6652 (toll free at 1–866–208–3676)
or email at ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov,
or the Public Reference Room at (202)
502–8371, TTY (202) 502–8659. Email
the Public Reference Room at
public.referenceroom@ferc.gov.
By direction of the Commission.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014–23196 Filed 9–29–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
18 CFR Part 40
[Docket No. RM14–12–000]
Demand and Energy Data Reliability
Standard
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
AGENCY:
The Commission proposes to
approve Demand and Energy Data
Reliability Standard MOD–031–1
developed by the North American
Electric Reliability Corporation, which
the Commission has certified as the
Electric Reliability Organization
responsible for developing and
enforcing mandatory Reliability
Standards.
SUMMARY:
DATES:
Comments are due December 1,
2014.
Comments, identified by
docket number, may be filed in the
following ways:
• Electronic Filing through https://
www.ferc.gov. Documents created
electronically using word processing
software should be filed in native
applications or print-to-PDF format and
not in a scanned format.
• Mail/Hand Delivery: Those unable
to file electronically may mail or handdeliver comments to: Federal Energy
ADDRESSES:
PO 00000
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Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the
Commission, 888 First Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20426.
Instructions: For detailed instructions
on submitting comments and additional
information on the rulemaking process,
see the Comment Procedures Section of
this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Susan Morris (Technical Information),
Office of Electric Reliability, Division
of Reliability Standards and Security,
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20426, Telephone:
(202) 502–6803, Susan.Morris@
ferc.gov.
Robert T. Stroh (Legal Information),
Office of the General Counsel, Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888
First Street NE., Washington, DC
20426, Telephone: (202) 502–8473,
Robert.Stroh@ferc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Pursuant to section 215(d) of the
Federal Power Act (FPA),1 the
Commission proposes to approve
Reliability Standard MOD–031–1
(Demand and Energy Data) developed
by the North American Electric
Reliability Corporation (NERC), which
the Commission has certified as the
Electric Reliability Organization (ERO)
responsible for developing and
enforcing mandatory Reliability
Standards. Reliability Standard MOD–
031–1 provides authority for applicable
entities to collect demand, energy and
related data to support reliability
studies and assessments and to
enumerate the responsibilities and
obligations of requestors and
respondents of that data. In addition,
the Commission proposes to approve
NERC’s proposed definitions for the
terms Demand Side Management and
Total Internal Demand. The
Commission also proposes to approve
the associated implementation plan,
violation risk factors and violation
severity levels, and NERC’s proposed
retirement of the currently-effective
Reliability Standards MOD–016–1.1,
MOD–017–0.1, MOD–018–0, MOD–
019–0.1, and MOD–021–1 (Existing
MOD C Standards).
I. Background
2. Section 215 of the FPA requires a
Commission-certified ERO to develop
mandatory and enforceable Reliability
Standards, which are subject to
Commission review and approval. Once
approved, the Reliability Standards are
enforced by the ERO, subject to
Commission oversight, or by the
1 16
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Commission independently. In 2006,
NERC submitted the initial version of
Reliability Standards MOD–016–1.1,
MOD–017–0.1, MOD–018–0, MOD–
019–0.1, MOD–020–0, and MOD–021–1.
The Existing MOD C Standards are
designed to help ensure that historical
and forecasted demand and energy data
are available for past event validation
and future system assessment. In
particular, the Existing MOD C
Standards, along with Reliability
Standard MOD–020–0, require the
collection of actual and forecast demand
data necessary to analyze the resource
needs to serve peak demand while
maintaining a sufficient margin to
address operating events.2 In Order No.
693, the Commission approved the
Existing MOD C Standards and
Reliability Standard MOD–020–0. In
addition, the Commission directed
NERC to develop certain modifications
to the standards.
II. NERC Petition
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3. NERC states that proposed
Reliability Standard MOD–031–1
provides planners and operators access
to actual and forecast demand and
energy data, as well as other related
information, needed to perform resource
adequacy studies.3 NERC explains that
the proposed Reliability Standard also
supports the continued development of
the reliability assessments prepared by
NERC. NERC states that the proposed
Reliability Standard improves the
Existing MOD C Standards by: (1)
Streamlining them to clarify data
collection requirements; (2) including
transmission planners as applicable
entities that must report demand and
energy data; (3) requiring applicable
entities to report weather normalized
annual peak hour actual demand data
from the previous year to allow for
meaningful comparison with forecasted
values; and (4) requiring applicable
entities to provide an explanation of
how their demand side management
forecasts compare to actual demand side
management for the prior calendar year
and how their peak demand forecasts
compare to actual demand for the prior
calendar year with due regard to any
relevant weather-related variations.4
2 Mandatory Reliability Standards for the BulkPower System, Order No. 693, FERC Stats. & Regs.
¶ 31,242, at PP 1223, 1235, order on reh’g, Order
No. 693–A, 120 FERC ¶ 61,053 (2007).
3 NERC Petition at 3. The proposed MOD
Reliability Standard is not attached to the NOPR.
The complete text of the Reliability Standard is
available on the Commission’s eLibrary document
retrieval system in Docket No. RM14–12 and is
posted on the ERO’s Web site, available at: https://
www.nerc.com.
4 NERC Petition at 4.
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4. Proposed Reliability Standard
MOD–031–1 contains four
requirements. Requirement R1 mandates
that each planning coordinator or
balancing authority that identifies a
need for the collection of demand and
energy data shall develop and issue a
data request for such data to the relevant
entities in its area. The requirement
mandates that the data request identify:
(i) The entities responsible for providing
the data; (ii) the data to be provided by
each entity; and (iii) the schedule for
providing the data. Requirement R2
obligates the entities identified in a
Requirement R1 data request to provide
the requested data to their planning
coordinator or balancing authority.
Requirement R3 requires that the
planning coordinator or the balancing
authority provide the data collected
under Requirement R2 to their Regional
Entity, if requested, to facilitate NERC’s
development of reliability assessments.
Requirement R4 requires entities to
share their demand and energy data
with any applicable entity that
demonstrates a reliability need for such
data, subject to applicable
confidentiality, regulatory or security
restrictions.5
5. The term Demand Side
Management is currently defined in the
NERC Glossary as: ‘‘[t]he term for all
activities or programs undertaken by a
Load-Serving Entity or its customers to
influence the amount or timing of
electricity they use.’’ NERC proposes to
modify the definition of ‘‘Demand Side
Management’’ as ‘‘[a]ll activities or
programs undertaken by any applicable
entity to achieve a reduction in
Demand.’’ NERC states that, consistent
with the Commission directive in Order
No. 693, the proposed definition for
Demand Side Management is not
limited to ‘‘activities or program
undertaken by Load Serving Entities or
its customers’’ but is expanded to
include ‘‘activities or programs
undertaken by any applicable entity.’’ 6
6. NERC requests that the Commission
approve the proposed Reliability
Standard, the proposed new and
modified NERC Glossary terms and the
retirement of the Existing MOD C
Standards, effective on the first day of
the first calendar quarter that is twelve
months after Commission approval.
NERC states that the 12-month
implementation period is designed to
provide applicable entities sufficient
time to transition from compliance with
the Existing MOD C Standards to
5 Id.
6 Id.
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at 5.
at 15–16.
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proposed Reliability Standard MOD–
031–1.7
III. Discussion
7. Pursuant to section 215(d)(2) of the
FPA, the Commission proposes to
approve Reliability Standard MOD–
031–1 as just, reasonable, not unduly
discriminatory or preferential, and in
the public interest. We also propose to
approve the new and modified glossary
definitions, implementation plan,
associated violation risk factors and
violation severity levels as well as the
retirement of the Existing MOD C
Standards, as requested by NERC.
8. The Commission believes that the
proposed Reliability Standard MOD–
031–1 continues to provide planners
and operators access to complete and
accurate demand and energy data to
allow such entities to conduct their own
resource adequacy analyses to serve
peak demand. The proposed Reliability
Standard also appears to provide for
consistent documentation and
information sharing practices for
demand and energy data, and promotes
efficient planning practices across the
industry and supports the identification
of needed system reinforcements. The
Commission believes that proposed
Reliability Standard MOD–031–1
improves the Existing MOD C Standards
by providing applicable entities the
authority to collect demand and energy
data, and related information, to support
reliability assessments and also includes
transmission planners as applicable
entities that must report demand and
energy data. Furthermore, the proposed
Reliability Standard requires applicable
entities to provide an explanation of
current and previous demand side
management forecasts and how their
peak demand forecasts compare to
actual demand for the prior calendar
year.
9. While we propose to approve
Reliability Standard MOD–031–1, we
seek comment on the collection of data
through mechanisms other than data
requests. Requirements R1 through R3
specifically reference the obtaining of
data through data requests as follows:
R1. Each Planning Coordinator or
Balancing Authority that identifies a need for
the collection of Total Internal Demand, Net
Energy for Load, and Demand Side
Management data shall develop and issue a
data request to the applicable entities in its
area. The data request shall include: . . .
R2. Each Applicable Entity identified in a
data request shall provide the data requested
by its Planning Coordinator or Balancing
Authority in accordance with the data
request issued pursuant to Requirement R1.
7 Id.
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R3. The Planning Coordinator or the
Balancing Authority shall provide the data
collected under Requirement R2 to the
applicable Regional Entity within 75
calendar days of receiving a request for such
data, unless otherwise agreed upon by the
parties.
In its petition, NERC states that
Requirement R1 applies when a
planning coordinator or balancing
authority ‘‘identifies a need’’ for the
collection of demand and energy data.8
According to NERC, this language of
Requirement R1:
is intended to reflect that certain Planning
Coordinators and Balancing Authorities may
not need to collect Demand and energy data
through a data request issued pursuant to the
proposed Reliability Standard. That is
because certain Planning Coordinators and
Balancing Authorities obtain the data
through alternative mechanisms or develop
the data themselves. For instance, many
Planning Coordinators, such as independent
system operators (ISOs) and regional
transmission organizations (RTOs), collect
the necessary data and information from
entities within their footprint pursuant to
requirements in their Open Access
Transmission Tariffs. Additionally, ISOs/
RTOs are often in a better position to develop
the necessary Demand and energy forecasts
or aggregate the historical data than the
entities in their area. Accordingly, the
requirement is drafted so as to only require
a Planning Coordinator or Balancing
Authority to issue a data request if there is
a need to do so.9
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10. The Commission understands
NERC’s explanation to mean that, while
a planning coordinator or balancing
authority may collect demand and
energy forecast data under a tariff or
other arrangement, the planning
coordinator or balancing authority
always retains the option to seek the
necessary data through a Requirement
R1 data request if, for example, the data
are not forthcoming through other
means. The Commission seeks comment
on this understanding. Further, the
Commission seeks clarification from
NERC and other commenters whether a
planning coordinator or balancing
authority that receives data ‘‘through
alternative mechanisms’’ remains
obligated to provide such data (i.e.,
within the scope of Requirement R1) to
a Regional Entity upon request, as set
forth in Requirement R3.
IV. Information Collection Statement
11. The collection of information
contained in this Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (NOPR) is subject to review
by the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) under section 3507(d) of
Petition at 22.
at 22–23.
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.10
OMB’s regulations require approval of
certain information collection
requirements imposed by agency
rules.11 Upon approval of a collection(s)
of information, OMB will assign an
OMB control number and an expiration
date. Respondents subject to the filing
requirements of a rule will not be
penalized for failing to respond to these
collections of information unless the
collections of information display a
valid OMB control number.
12. We solicit comments on the need
for this information, whether the
information will have practical utility,
the accuracy of the burden estimates,
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be collected
or retained, and any suggested methods
for minimizing respondents’ burden,
including the use of automated
information techniques. Specifically,
the Commission asks that any revised
burden or cost estimates submitted by
commenters be supported by sufficient
detail to understand how the estimates
are generated.
13. Interested persons may obtain
information on the reporting
requirements by contacting the
following: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20426 [Attention: Ellen
Brown, Office of the Executive Director,
email: DataClearance@ferc.gov, phone:
(202) 502–8663, fax: (202) 273–0873].
14. Comments concerning the
information collection proposed in this
NOPR and the associated burden
estimates should be sent to the
Commission in this docket and may also
be sent to the Office of Management and
Budget, Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs [Attention: Desk
Officer for the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission]. For security
reasons, comments should be sent by
email to OMB at the following email
address: oira_submission@omb.eop.gov.
Please reference FERC–725L and the
docket number of this Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (Docket No.
RM14–12–000) in your submission.
15. The Commission proposes to
approve Reliability Standard MOD–
031–1, which will replace MOD–016–
1.1, MOD–017–.01, MOD–018–0, MOD–
019–0.1 and MOD–021–1 (Existing
MOD C Standards). As stated above, the
Existing MOD C Standards were
approved by the Commission in Order
No. 693. All information collection
estimates associated with the collection
of demand and energy data and
subsequent retention were assessed in
8 NERC
10 44
9 Id.
11 5
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Order No. 693 and will not be repeated
here. The proposed Reliability Standard
expands the actual data to be submitted
in two areas: (1) Weather normalized
annual peak hour actual demand for the
prior calendar year if this demand varies
due to weather-related conditions (e.g.,
temperature, humidity or wind speed);
and (2) summaries detailed in
Requirement R1, Subparts 1.5.4 and
1.5.5. The additional data and
summaries will increase reporting and
preparation time for some applicable
entities. Most entities already normalize
their actual demand data based on
weather. However, some entities may
have a one-time cost of determining the
method to ‘‘weather normalize’’ the
actual demand data. Accordingly, the
information collection costs will consist
of an annual cost for all applicable
entities and, for a small percentage,
additional costs will occur during the
first year of implementation.
Public Reporting Burden: Reliability
Standard MOD–031–1 requires each
‘‘Applicable Entity’’ to provide the data
requested by its planning coordinator or
balancing authority in accordance with
the data request issued pursuant to
Requirement R1.12 Our estimate below
regarding the number of respondents is
based on the NERC Compliance Registry
as of July 31, 2014. According to the
NERC Compliance Registry, NERC has
registered 478 distribution providers,
469 load-serving entities, 179
transmission planners and 107
balancing authorities. However, under
NERC’s compliance registration
program, entities may be registered for
multiple functions, so these numbers
incorporate some double counting. The
total number of unique entities that may
be identified as a data provider (e.g.
applicable entity) in accordance with
proposed Reliability Standard MOD–
031–1 will be approximately 561
entities registered in the United States
as a distribution provider, load-serving
entity, transmission planner and/or
balancing authority.13 The Commission
12 Requirement R1, Subpart 1.1 refers to
‘‘Applicable Entities’’ as the list of transmission
planners, balancing authorities, load-serving
entities and distribution providers that are required
to provide the data.
13 This estimate assumes all of the unique entities
will be identified to provide demand and energy
data.
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estimates the annual reporting burden
and cost as follows:
Number and type
of respondents
Total ...................................
Total number
of responses
Average
burden & cost
per response
Total annual
burden hours &
total annual cost
Cost per
respondent 14
(1)
(One-time) Determine method
to weather normalize annual
peak hour actual demand.
(On-going) Develop summary in
accordance w/Requirement
R1, Subparts 1.5.4 and 1.5.5.
Annual
number of
responses per
respondent
(2)
(1)*(2) = (3)
(4)
(3)*(4) = (5)
(5) ÷ (1)
28 15
1
28
240 hrs. &
$14,309
6,720 hours &
$400,646.
$14,309
561 (DP, LSE, TP
and/or BA).
1
561
8 hrs. & $477
4,488 hours &
$267,575.
$477
........................
589
........................
11,208 hours &
$668,221.
(DP, LSE, TP
and/or BA) 16.
...............................
itself, by means of internal review, that
there is specific, objective support for
the burden estimates associated with the
information requirements.
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Title: Mandatory Reliability Standards
for the Bulk-Power System: MOD
Reliability Standards.
Action: Proposed FERC–725L.
OMB Control No: 1902–0261
Respondents: Businesses or other forprofit institutions; not-for-profit
institutions.
Frequency of Responses: One-time
and ongoing.
Necessity of the Information:
Reliability Standard MOD–031–1, if
adopted, would implement the
Congressional mandate of the Energy
Policy Act of 2005 to develop
mandatory and enforceable Reliability
Standards to better ensure the reliability
of the nation’s Bulk-Power System.
Specifically, the purpose of the
proposed Reliability Standard is to
provide authority for applicable entities
to collect demand, energy and related
data to support reliability studies and
assessments and to enumerate the
responsibilities and obligations of
requestors and respondents of that data.
Internal Review: The Commission has
reviewed the requirements pertaining to
the proposed Reliability Standard for
the Bulk-Power System and determined
that the proposed requirements are
necessary to meet the statutory
provisions of the Energy Policy Act of
2005. These requirements conform to
the Commission’s plan for efficient
information collection, communication
and management within the energy
industry. The Commission has assured
16. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of
1980 (RFA) 17 generally requires a
description and analysis of proposed
rules that will have significant
economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities. As shown in
the information collection section, the
proposed Reliability Standard applies to
561 entities. Comparison of the
applicable entities with the
Commission’s small business data
indicates that approximately 249 are
small entities.18 Of these, the
Commission estimates that
approximately five percent, or twelve of
these small entities expect to be affected
by the new requirements of the
proposed Reliability Standard.19
17. Proposed Reliability Standard
MOD–031–1 is designed to replace,
consolidate and improve upon the
Existing MOD C Standards in
addressing the collection and
aggregation of demand and energy data
necessary to support reliability
assessments performed by the ERO and
Bulk-Power System planners and
operators. The reliability of the BulkPower System is dependent on having
an adequate amount of resources and
transmission infrastructure available to
14 The estimated hourly costs (salary plus
benefits) are based on Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS) information (available at https://bls.gov/oes/
current/naics3_221000.htm#17-0000) for an
electrical engineer ($59.62/hour).
15 This value represents the number of entities
that have not already determined a method to
weather normalize annual peak actual demand data.
We estimate approximately 5 percent of the
applicable entities fall into this category.
16 DP = distribution provider, LSE = load-serving
entity, TP = transmission planner and BA =
balancing authority, are functions the applicable
entities perform in conjunction or individually. We
estimate the total number of unique entities
performing one or more of these functions to be
561.
17 5 U.S.C. 601–612 (2012).
18 The Small Business Administration sets the
threshold for what constitutes a small business.
Public utilities may fall under one of several
different categories, each with a size threshold
based on the company’s number of employees,
including affiliates, the parent company, and
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V. Regulatory Flexibility Act
Certification
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........................
serve peak demand while also
maintaining a sufficient margin to
address operating events.20 The
Commission estimates that the small
entities that will be affected by
proposed Reliability Standard MOD–
031–1 will incur one-time compliance
costs ranging up to $14,309 (i.e. the cost
of determining the method of weather
normalizing annual peak hour actual
demand), plus the annual development
of summary narratives in accordance
with Requirement R1, Subparts 1.5.4
and 1.5.5, resulting in costs of $477.
These costs represent an estimate of the
costs a small entity could incur if the
entity is identified as an applicable
entity; the entity’s annual peak hour
actual demand varies due to weatherrelated conditions; and the entity has
not yet determined a method for
weather normalizing actual demand
data. The Commission does not consider
the estimated costs per small entity to
have a significant economic impact on
a substantial number of small entities.
Accordingly, the Commission certifies
that this NOPR will not have a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
VI. Environmental Analysis
18. The Commission is required to
prepare an Environmental Assessment
or an Environmental Impact Statement
for any action that may have a
significant adverse effect on the human
environment.21 The Commission has
subsidiaries. The possible categories for the
applicable entities have a size threshold ranging
from 250 employees to 1,000 employees. For the
analysis in this proposed rule, we are using the
1,000 employee threshold for each applicable entity
type.
19 See n.15 supra.
20 NERC Petition at 2.
21 Regulations Implementing the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, Order No. 486,
52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. & Regs.,
Regulations Preambles 1986–1990 ¶ 30,783 (1987).
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categorically excluded certain actions
from this requirement as not having a
significant effect on the human
environment. Included in the exclusion
are rules that are clarifying, corrective,
or procedural or that do not
substantially change the effect of the
regulations being amended.22 The
actions proposed herein fall within this
categorical exclusion in the
Commission’s regulations.
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VII. Comment Procedures
19. The Commission invites interested
persons to submit comments on the
matters and issues proposed in this
notice to be adopted, including any
related matters or alternative proposals
that commenters may wish to discuss.
Comments are due December 1, 2014.
Comments must refer to Docket No.
RM14–12–000, and must include the
commenter’s name, the organization
they represent, if applicable, and their
address in their comments.
20. The Commission encourages
comments to be filed electronically via
the eFiling link on the Commission’s
Web site at https://www.ferc.gov. The
Commission accepts most standard
word processing formats. Documents
created electronically using word
processing software should be filed in
native applications or print-to-PDF
format and not in a scanned format.
Commenters filing electronically do not
need to make a paper filing.
21. Commenters that are not able to
file comments electronically must send
an original of their comments to:
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
Secretary of the Commission, 888 First
Street NE., Washington, DC 20426.
22. All comments will be placed in
the Commission’s public files and may
be viewed, printed, or downloaded
remotely as described in the Document
Availability section below. Commenters
on this proposal are not required to
serve copies of their comments on other
commenters.
VIII. Document Availability
23. In addition to publishing the full
text of this document in the Federal
Register, the Commission provides all
interested persons an opportunity to
view and/or print the contents of this
document via the Internet through the
Commission’s Home Page (https://
www.ferc.gov) and in the Commission’s
Public Reference Room during normal
business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Eastern time) at 888 First Street NE.,
Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426.
24. From the Commission’s Home
Page on the Internet, this information is
22 18
CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii).
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:11 Sep 29, 2014
Jkt 232001
available on eLibrary. The full text of
this document is available on eLibrary
in PDF and Microsoft Word format for
viewing, printing, and/or downloading.
To access this document in eLibrary,
type the docket number excluding the
last three digits of this document in the
docket number field.
25. User assistance is available for
eLibrary and the Commission’s Web site
during normal business hours from the
Commission’s Online Support at 202–
502–6652 (toll free at 1–866–208–3676)
or email at ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov,
or the Public Reference Room at (202)
502–8371, TTY (202)502–8659. Email
the Public Reference Room at
public.referenceroom@ferc.gov.
By direction of the Commission.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014–23195 Filed 9–29–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employee Benefits Security
Administration
29 CFR Part 2520
RIN 1210–AB62
Electronic Filing of Notices for
Apprenticeship and Training Plans and
Statements for Pension Plans for
Certain Select Employees
Employee Benefits Security
Administration, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:
This document contains
proposed regulations that would revise
filing procedures for apprenticeship and
training plan notices and ‘‘top hat’’ plan
statements with the Secretary of Labor
to require electronic submission of these
notices and statements.
DATES: Comments are due on or before
December 29, 2014.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by RIN 1210–AB62, by one of
the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
• Email: e-ORI@dol.gov. Include RIN
1210–AB62 in the subject line of the
message.
• Mail or personal delivery: Office of
Regulations and Interpretations,
Employee Benefits Security
Administration, Room N–5655, U.S.
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210.
Instructions: All submissions received
must include the agency name and
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00020
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) for
this rulemaking. Comments received,
including any personal information
provided, will be posted without change
to https://www.regulations.gov and
https://www.dol.gov/ebsa, and made
available for public inspection at the
Public Disclosure Room, N–1513,
Employee Benefits Security
Administration, 200 Constitution
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210.
Persons submitting comments
electronically are encouraged not to
submit paper copies.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Marjorie M. Kress or Eric A. Raps, Office
of Regulations and Interpretations,
Employee Benefits Security
Administration (EBSA), Department of
Labor, at (202) 693–8500. This is not a
toll-free number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Part 1 of Title I of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974,
as amended (ERISA), contains reporting
and disclosure requirements applicable
to plans covered by ERISA. For
instance, sections 103 and 104 of ERISA
establish requirements for the
publication and filing of annual reports,
while sections 102 and 104 of ERISA
require plan administrators to furnish
summary plan descriptions and
summaries of material modifications or
changes to participants and
beneficiaries.
Section 104(a)(3) of ERISA, however,
authorizes the Secretary to exempt any
welfare benefit plan from all or part of
the reporting and disclosure obligations,
or to provide simplified reporting and
disclosure, if the Secretary finds that the
requirements are inappropriate for these
plans. Under this authority, the
Secretary, in 1980, issued 29 CFR
2520.104–22, which provides an
exemption from the reporting and
disclosure provisions of Part 1 of Title
I of ERISA for employee welfare benefit
plans that provide only apprenticeship
or training benefits, or both, if certain
conditions are met.1 Under the
regulation, a welfare plan that provides
only these benefits is not required to
meet the requirements of Part 1 of Title
I if the administrator files with the
Secretary a notice as described in
§ 2520.104–22 by mail or personal
delivery, takes steps reasonably
designed to ensure that the information
required to be contained in the notice is
disclosed to employees of employers
contributing to the plan who may be
1 See 40 FR 24647 (June 9, 1975); 40 FR 34529,
34530 (August 15, 1975); and 45 FR 34528, 34529
FN 10 (March 11, 1980).
E:\FR\FM\30SEP1.SGM
30SEP1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 189 (Tuesday, September 30, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 58716-58720]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-23195]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
18 CFR Part 40
[Docket No. RM14-12-000]
Demand and Energy Data Reliability Standard
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Commission proposes to approve Demand and Energy Data
Reliability Standard MOD-031-1 developed by the North American Electric
Reliability Corporation, which the Commission has certified as the
Electric Reliability Organization responsible for developing and
enforcing mandatory Reliability Standards.
DATES: Comments are due December 1, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Comments, identified by docket number, may be filed in the
following ways:
Electronic Filing through https://www.ferc.gov. Documents
created electronically using word processing software should be filed
in native applications or print-to-PDF format and not in a scanned
format.
Mail/Hand Delivery: Those unable to file electronically
may mail or hand-deliver comments to: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20426.
Instructions: For detailed instructions on submitting comments and
additional information on the rulemaking process, see the Comment
Procedures Section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Susan Morris (Technical Information), Office of Electric Reliability,
Division of Reliability Standards and Security, Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426,
Telephone: (202) 502-6803, Susan.Morris@ferc.gov.
Robert T. Stroh (Legal Information), Office of the General Counsel,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington,
DC 20426, Telephone: (202) 502-8473, Robert.Stroh@ferc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Pursuant to section 215(d) of the Federal Power Act (FPA),\1\
the Commission proposes to approve Reliability Standard MOD-031-1
(Demand and Energy Data) developed by the North American Electric
Reliability Corporation (NERC), which the Commission has certified as
the Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) responsible for developing
and enforcing mandatory Reliability Standards. Reliability Standard
MOD-031-1 provides authority for applicable entities to collect demand,
energy and related data to support reliability studies and assessments
and to enumerate the responsibilities and obligations of requestors and
respondents of that data. In addition, the Commission proposes to
approve NERC's proposed definitions for the terms Demand Side
Management and Total Internal Demand. The Commission also proposes to
approve the associated implementation plan, violation risk factors and
violation severity levels, and NERC's proposed retirement of the
currently-effective Reliability Standards MOD-016-1.1, MOD-017-0.1,
MOD-018-0, MOD-019-0.1, and MOD-021-1 (Existing MOD C Standards).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 16 U.S.C. 824o(d) (2012).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Background
2. Section 215 of the FPA requires a Commission-certified ERO to
develop mandatory and enforceable Reliability Standards, which are
subject to Commission review and approval. Once approved, the
Reliability Standards are enforced by the ERO, subject to Commission
oversight, or by the
[[Page 58717]]
Commission independently. In 2006, NERC submitted the initial version
of Reliability Standards MOD-016-1.1, MOD-017-0.1, MOD-018-0, MOD-019-
0.1, MOD-020-0, and MOD-021-1. The Existing MOD C Standards are
designed to help ensure that historical and forecasted demand and
energy data are available for past event validation and future system
assessment. In particular, the Existing MOD C Standards, along with
Reliability Standard MOD-020-0, require the collection of actual and
forecast demand data necessary to analyze the resource needs to serve
peak demand while maintaining a sufficient margin to address operating
events.\2\ In Order No. 693, the Commission approved the Existing MOD C
Standards and Reliability Standard MOD-020-0. In addition, the
Commission directed NERC to develop certain modifications to the
standards.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System,
Order No. 693, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,242, at PP 1223, 1235, order
on reh'g, Order No. 693-A, 120 FERC ] 61,053 (2007).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. NERC Petition
3. NERC states that proposed Reliability Standard MOD-031-1
provides planners and operators access to actual and forecast demand
and energy data, as well as other related information, needed to
perform resource adequacy studies.\3\ NERC explains that the proposed
Reliability Standard also supports the continued development of the
reliability assessments prepared by NERC. NERC states that the proposed
Reliability Standard improves the Existing MOD C Standards by: (1)
Streamlining them to clarify data collection requirements; (2)
including transmission planners as applicable entities that must report
demand and energy data; (3) requiring applicable entities to report
weather normalized annual peak hour actual demand data from the
previous year to allow for meaningful comparison with forecasted
values; and (4) requiring applicable entities to provide an explanation
of how their demand side management forecasts compare to actual demand
side management for the prior calendar year and how their peak demand
forecasts compare to actual demand for the prior calendar year with due
regard to any relevant weather-related variations.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ NERC Petition at 3. The proposed MOD Reliability Standard is
not attached to the NOPR. The complete text of the Reliability
Standard is available on the Commission's eLibrary document
retrieval system in Docket No. RM14-12 and is posted on the ERO's
Web site, available at: https://www.nerc.com.
\4\ NERC Petition at 4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Proposed Reliability Standard MOD-031-1 contains four
requirements. Requirement R1 mandates that each planning coordinator or
balancing authority that identifies a need for the collection of demand
and energy data shall develop and issue a data request for such data to
the relevant entities in its area. The requirement mandates that the
data request identify: (i) The entities responsible for providing the
data; (ii) the data to be provided by each entity; and (iii) the
schedule for providing the data. Requirement R2 obligates the entities
identified in a Requirement R1 data request to provide the requested
data to their planning coordinator or balancing authority. Requirement
R3 requires that the planning coordinator or the balancing authority
provide the data collected under Requirement R2 to their Regional
Entity, if requested, to facilitate NERC's development of reliability
assessments. Requirement R4 requires entities to share their demand and
energy data with any applicable entity that demonstrates a reliability
need for such data, subject to applicable confidentiality, regulatory
or security restrictions.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ Id. at 5.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. The term Demand Side Management is currently defined in the NERC
Glossary as: ``[t]he term for all activities or programs undertaken by
a Load-Serving Entity or its customers to influence the amount or
timing of electricity they use.'' NERC proposes to modify the
definition of ``Demand Side Management'' as ``[a]ll activities or
programs undertaken by any applicable entity to achieve a reduction in
Demand.'' NERC states that, consistent with the Commission directive in
Order No. 693, the proposed definition for Demand Side Management is
not limited to ``activities or program undertaken by Load Serving
Entities or its customers'' but is expanded to include ``activities or
programs undertaken by any applicable entity.'' \6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ Id. at 15-16.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. NERC requests that the Commission approve the proposed
Reliability Standard, the proposed new and modified NERC Glossary terms
and the retirement of the Existing MOD C Standards, effective on the
first day of the first calendar quarter that is twelve months after
Commission approval. NERC states that the 12-month implementation
period is designed to provide applicable entities sufficient time to
transition from compliance with the Existing MOD C Standards to
proposed Reliability Standard MOD-031-1.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ Id. at 31.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. Discussion
7. Pursuant to section 215(d)(2) of the FPA, the Commission
proposes to approve Reliability Standard MOD-031-1 as just, reasonable,
not unduly discriminatory or preferential, and in the public interest.
We also propose to approve the new and modified glossary definitions,
implementation plan, associated violation risk factors and violation
severity levels as well as the retirement of the Existing MOD C
Standards, as requested by NERC.
8. The Commission believes that the proposed Reliability Standard
MOD-031-1 continues to provide planners and operators access to
complete and accurate demand and energy data to allow such entities to
conduct their own resource adequacy analyses to serve peak demand. The
proposed Reliability Standard also appears to provide for consistent
documentation and information sharing practices for demand and energy
data, and promotes efficient planning practices across the industry and
supports the identification of needed system reinforcements. The
Commission believes that proposed Reliability Standard MOD-031-1
improves the Existing MOD C Standards by providing applicable entities
the authority to collect demand and energy data, and related
information, to support reliability assessments and also includes
transmission planners as applicable entities that must report demand
and energy data. Furthermore, the proposed Reliability Standard
requires applicable entities to provide an explanation of current and
previous demand side management forecasts and how their peak demand
forecasts compare to actual demand for the prior calendar year.
9. While we propose to approve Reliability Standard MOD-031-1, we
seek comment on the collection of data through mechanisms other than
data requests. Requirements R1 through R3 specifically reference the
obtaining of data through data requests as follows:
R1. Each Planning Coordinator or Balancing Authority that
identifies a need for the collection of Total Internal Demand, Net
Energy for Load, and Demand Side Management data shall develop and
issue a data request to the applicable entities in its area. The
data request shall include: . . .
R2. Each Applicable Entity identified in a data request shall
provide the data requested by its Planning Coordinator or Balancing
Authority in accordance with the data request issued pursuant to
Requirement R1.
[[Page 58718]]
R3. The Planning Coordinator or the Balancing Authority shall
provide the data collected under Requirement R2 to the applicable
Regional Entity within 75 calendar days of receiving a request for
such data, unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties.
In its petition, NERC states that Requirement R1 applies when a
planning coordinator or balancing authority ``identifies a need'' for
the collection of demand and energy data.\8\
According to NERC, this language of Requirement R1:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ NERC Petition at 22.
is intended to reflect that certain Planning Coordinators and
Balancing Authorities may not need to collect Demand and energy data
through a data request issued pursuant to the proposed Reliability
Standard. That is because certain Planning Coordinators and
Balancing Authorities obtain the data through alternative mechanisms
or develop the data themselves. For instance, many Planning
Coordinators, such as independent system operators (ISOs) and
regional transmission organizations (RTOs), collect the necessary
data and information from entities within their footprint pursuant
to requirements in their Open Access Transmission Tariffs.
Additionally, ISOs/RTOs are often in a better position to develop
the necessary Demand and energy forecasts or aggregate the
historical data than the entities in their area. Accordingly, the
requirement is drafted so as to only require a Planning Coordinator
or Balancing Authority to issue a data request if there is a need to
do so.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ Id. at 22-23.
10. The Commission understands NERC's explanation to mean that,
while a planning coordinator or balancing authority may collect demand
and energy forecast data under a tariff or other arrangement, the
planning coordinator or balancing authority always retains the option
to seek the necessary data through a Requirement R1 data request if,
for example, the data are not forthcoming through other means. The
Commission seeks comment on this understanding. Further, the Commission
seeks clarification from NERC and other commenters whether a planning
coordinator or balancing authority that receives data ``through
alternative mechanisms'' remains obligated to provide such data (i.e.,
within the scope of Requirement R1) to a Regional Entity upon request,
as set forth in Requirement R3.
IV. Information Collection Statement
11. The collection of information contained in this Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) is subject to review by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) under section 3507(d) of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995.\10\ OMB's regulations require approval of
certain information collection requirements imposed by agency
rules.\11\ Upon approval of a collection(s) of information, OMB will
assign an OMB control number and an expiration date. Respondents
subject to the filing requirements of a rule will not be penalized for
failing to respond to these collections of information unless the
collections of information display a valid OMB control number.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ 44 U.S.C. 3507(d) (2012).
\11\ 5 CFR 1320.11.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. We solicit comments on the need for this information, whether
the information will have practical utility, the accuracy of the burden
estimates, ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected or retained, and any suggested methods for
minimizing respondents' burden, including the use of automated
information techniques. Specifically, the Commission asks that any
revised burden or cost estimates submitted by commenters be supported
by sufficient detail to understand how the estimates are generated.
13. Interested persons may obtain information on the reporting
requirements by contacting the following: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426 [Attention:
Ellen Brown, Office of the Executive Director, email:
DataClearance@ferc.gov, phone: (202) 502-8663, fax: (202) 273-0873].
14. Comments concerning the information collection proposed in this
NOPR and the associated burden estimates should be sent to the
Commission in this docket and may also be sent to the Office of
Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
[Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission].
For security reasons, comments should be sent by email to OMB at the
following email address: oirasubmission@omb.eop.gov. Please
reference FERC-725L and the docket number of this Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (Docket No. RM14-12-000) in your submission.
15. The Commission proposes to approve Reliability Standard MOD-
031-1, which will replace MOD-016-1.1, MOD-017-.01, MOD-018-0, MOD-019-
0.1 and MOD-021-1 (Existing MOD C Standards). As stated above, the
Existing MOD C Standards were approved by the Commission in Order No.
693. All information collection estimates associated with the
collection of demand and energy data and subsequent retention were
assessed in Order No. 693 and will not be repeated here. The proposed
Reliability Standard expands the actual data to be submitted in two
areas: (1) Weather normalized annual peak hour actual demand for the
prior calendar year if this demand varies due to weather-related
conditions (e.g., temperature, humidity or wind speed); and (2)
summaries detailed in Requirement R1, Subparts 1.5.4 and 1.5.5. The
additional data and summaries will increase reporting and preparation
time for some applicable entities. Most entities already normalize
their actual demand data based on weather. However, some entities may
have a one-time cost of determining the method to ``weather normalize''
the actual demand data. Accordingly, the information collection costs
will consist of an annual cost for all applicable entities and, for a
small percentage, additional costs will occur during the first year of
implementation.
Public Reporting Burden: Reliability Standard MOD-031-1 requires
each ``Applicable Entity'' to provide the data requested by its
planning coordinator or balancing authority in accordance with the data
request issued pursuant to Requirement R1.\12\ Our estimate below
regarding the number of respondents is based on the NERC Compliance
Registry as of July 31, 2014. According to the NERC Compliance
Registry, NERC has registered 478 distribution providers, 469 load-
serving entities, 179 transmission planners and 107 balancing
authorities. However, under NERC's compliance registration program,
entities may be registered for multiple functions, so these numbers
incorporate some double counting. The total number of unique entities
that may be identified as a data provider (e.g. applicable entity) in
accordance with proposed Reliability Standard MOD-031-1 will be
approximately 561 entities registered in the United States as a
distribution provider, load-serving entity, transmission planner and/or
balancing authority.\13\ The Commission
[[Page 58719]]
estimates the annual reporting burden and cost as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\12\ Requirement R1, Subpart 1.1 refers to ``Applicable
Entities'' as the list of transmission planners, balancing
authorities, load-serving entities and distribution providers that
are required to provide the data.
\13\ This estimate assumes all of the unique entities will be
identified to provide demand and energy data.
\14\ The estimated hourly costs (salary plus benefits) are based
on Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) information (available at http:/
/bls.gov/oes/current/naics3221000.htm#17-0000) for an
electrical engineer ($59.62/hour).
\15\ This value represents the number of entities that have not
already determined a method to weather normalize annual peak actual
demand data. We estimate approximately 5 percent of the applicable
entities fall into this category.
\16\ DP = distribution provider, LSE = load-serving entity, TP =
transmission planner and BA = balancing authority, are functions the
applicable entities perform in conjunction or individually. We
estimate the total number of unique entities performing one or more
of these functions to be 561.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual number Average burden Total annual burden Cost per
Number and type of of responses Total number & cost per hours & total annual respondent
respondents per respondent of responses response cost \14\
(1)..................... (2) (1)*(2) = (3) (4) (3)*(4) = (5).......... (5) / (1)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(One-time) Determine method to 28 \15\ (DP, LSE, TP and/ 1 28 240 hrs. & 6,720 hours & $400,646. $14,309
weather normalize annual peak hour or BA) \16\. $14,309
actual demand.
(On-going) Develop summary in 561 (DP, LSE, TP and/or 1 561 8 hrs. & $477 4,488 hours & $267,575. $477
accordance w/Requirement R1, BA).
Subparts 1.5.4 and 1.5.5.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total............................ ........................ .............. 589 .............. 11,208 hours & $668,221 ..............
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title: Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System:
MOD Reliability Standards.
Action: Proposed FERC-725L.
OMB Control No: 1902-0261
Respondents: Businesses or other for-profit institutions; not-for-
profit institutions.
Frequency of Responses: One-time and ongoing.
Necessity of the Information: Reliability Standard MOD-031-1, if
adopted, would implement the Congressional mandate of the Energy Policy
Act of 2005 to develop mandatory and enforceable Reliability Standards
to better ensure the reliability of the nation's Bulk-Power System.
Specifically, the purpose of the proposed Reliability Standard is to
provide authority for applicable entities to collect demand, energy and
related data to support reliability studies and assessments and to
enumerate the responsibilities and obligations of requestors and
respondents of that data.
Internal Review: The Commission has reviewed the requirements
pertaining to the proposed Reliability Standard for the Bulk-Power
System and determined that the proposed requirements are necessary to
meet the statutory provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. These
requirements conform to the Commission's plan for efficient information
collection, communication and management within the energy industry.
The Commission has assured itself, by means of internal review, that
there is specific, objective support for the burden estimates
associated with the information requirements.
V. Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
16. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) \17\ generally
requires a description and analysis of proposed rules that will have
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
As shown in the information collection section, the proposed
Reliability Standard applies to 561 entities. Comparison of the
applicable entities with the Commission's small business data indicates
that approximately 249 are small entities.\18\ Of these, the Commission
estimates that approximately five percent, or twelve of these small
entities expect to be affected by the new requirements of the proposed
Reliability Standard.\19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\17\ 5 U.S.C. 601-612 (2012).
\18\ The Small Business Administration sets the threshold for
what constitutes a small business. Public utilities may fall under
one of several different categories, each with a size threshold
based on the company's number of employees, including affiliates,
the parent company, and subsidiaries. The possible categories for
the applicable entities have a size threshold ranging from 250
employees to 1,000 employees. For the analysis in this proposed
rule, we are using the 1,000 employee threshold for each applicable
entity type.
\19\ See n.15 supra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. Proposed Reliability Standard MOD-031-1 is designed to replace,
consolidate and improve upon the Existing MOD C Standards in addressing
the collection and aggregation of demand and energy data necessary to
support reliability assessments performed by the ERO and Bulk-Power
System planners and operators. The reliability of the Bulk-Power System
is dependent on having an adequate amount of resources and transmission
infrastructure available to serve peak demand while also maintaining a
sufficient margin to address operating events.\20\ The Commission
estimates that the small entities that will be affected by proposed
Reliability Standard MOD-031-1 will incur one-time compliance costs
ranging up to $14,309 (i.e. the cost of determining the method of
weather normalizing annual peak hour actual demand), plus the annual
development of summary narratives in accordance with Requirement R1,
Subparts 1.5.4 and 1.5.5, resulting in costs of $477. These costs
represent an estimate of the costs a small entity could incur if the
entity is identified as an applicable entity; the entity's annual peak
hour actual demand varies due to weather-related conditions; and the
entity has not yet determined a method for weather normalizing actual
demand data. The Commission does not consider the estimated costs per
small entity to have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities. Accordingly, the Commission certifies that
this NOPR will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\20\ NERC Petition at 2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
VI. Environmental Analysis
18. The Commission is required to prepare an Environmental
Assessment or an Environmental Impact Statement for any action that may
have a significant adverse effect on the human environment.\21\ The
Commission has
[[Page 58720]]
categorically excluded certain actions from this requirement as not
having a significant effect on the human environment. Included in the
exclusion are rules that are clarifying, corrective, or procedural or
that do not substantially change the effect of the regulations being
amended.\22\ The actions proposed herein fall within this categorical
exclusion in the Commission's regulations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\21\ Regulations Implementing the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969, Order No. 486, 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats.
& Regs., Regulations Preambles 1986-1990 ] 30,783 (1987).
\22\ 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
VII. Comment Procedures
19. The Commission invites interested persons to submit comments on
the matters and issues proposed in this notice to be adopted, including
any related matters or alternative proposals that commenters may wish
to discuss. Comments are due December 1, 2014. Comments must refer to
Docket No. RM14-12-000, and must include the commenter's name, the
organization they represent, if applicable, and their address in their
comments.
20. The Commission encourages comments to be filed electronically
via the eFiling link on the Commission's Web site at https://www.ferc.gov. The Commission accepts most standard word processing
formats. Documents created electronically using word processing
software should be filed in native applications or print-to-PDF format
and not in a scanned format. Commenters filing electronically do not
need to make a paper filing.
21. Commenters that are not able to file comments electronically
must send an original of their comments to: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20426.
22. All comments will be placed in the Commission's public files
and may be viewed, printed, or downloaded remotely as described in the
Document Availability section below. Commenters on this proposal are
not required to serve copies of their comments on other commenters.
VIII. Document Availability
23. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an
opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this document via the
Internet through the Commission's Home Page (https://www.ferc.gov) and
in the Commission's Public Reference Room during normal business hours
(8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time) at 888 First Street NE., Room 2A,
Washington, DC 20426.
24. From the Commission's Home Page on the Internet, this
information is available on eLibrary. The full text of this document is
available on eLibrary in PDF and Microsoft Word format for viewing,
printing, and/or downloading. To access this document in eLibrary, type
the docket number excluding the last three digits of this document in
the docket number field.
25. User assistance is available for eLibrary and the Commission's
Web site during normal business hours from the Commission's Online
Support at 202-502-6652 (toll free at 1-866-208-3676) or email at
ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, or the Public Reference Room at (202) 502-
8371, TTY (202)502-8659. Email the Public Reference Room at
public.referenceroom@ferc.gov.
By direction of the Commission.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-23195 Filed 9-29-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
