Climate Change, Extreme Weather, and Electric System Reliability; Supplemental Notice of Technical Conference Inviting Comments, 14895-14896 [2021-05726]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 52 / Friday, March 19, 2021 / Notices
Any person desiring to intervene or
protest in any of the above proceedings
must file in accordance with Rules 211
and 214 of the Commission’s
Regulations (18 CFR 385.211 and
385.214) on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern
time on the specified comment date.
Protests may be considered, but
intervention is necessary to become a
party to the proceeding.
eFiling is encouraged. More detailed
information relating to filing
requirements, interventions, protests,
service, and qualifying facilities filings
can be found at: https://www.ferc.gov/
docs-filing/efiling/filing-req.pdf. For
other information, call (866) 208–3676
(toll free). For TTY, call (202) 502–8659.
Dated: March 15, 2021.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021–05707 Filed 3–18–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Docket No. ER21–1350–000]
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
Citadel Solar, LLC; Supplemental
Notice That Initial Market-Based Rate
Filing Includes Request for Blanket
Section 204 Authorization
This is a supplemental notice in the
above-referenced Citadel Solar, LLC’s
application for market-based rate
authority, with an accompanying rate
tariff, noting that such application
includes a request for blanket
authorization, under 18 CFR part 34, of
future issuances of securities and
assumptions of liability.
Any person desiring to intervene or to
protest should file with the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888
First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426,
in accordance with Rules 211 and 214
of the Commission’s Rules of Practice
and Procedure (18 CFR 385.211 and
385.214). Anyone filing a motion to
intervene or protest must serve a copy
of that document on the Applicant.
Notice is hereby given that the
deadline for filing protests with regard
to the applicant’s request for blanket
authorization, under 18 CFR part 34, of
future issuances of securities and
assumptions of liability, is April 5,
2021.
The Commission encourages
electronic submission of protests and
interventions in lieu of paper, using the
FERC Online links at https://
www.ferc.gov. To facilitate electronic
service, persons with internet access
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:13 Mar 18, 2021
Jkt 253001
who will eFile a document and/or be
listed as a contact for an intervenor
must create and validate an
eRegistration account using the
eRegistration link. Select the eFiling
link to log on and submit the
intervention or protests.
Persons unable to file electronically
may mail similar pleadings to the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
888 First Street NE, Washington, DC
20426. Hand delivered submissions in
docketed proceedings should be
delivered to Health and Human
Services, 12225 Wilkins Avenue,
Rockville, Maryland 20852.
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) using the ‘‘eLibrary’’ link.
Enter the docket number excluding the
last three digits in the docket number
field to access the document. At this
time, the Commission has suspended
access to the Commission’s Public
Reference Room, due to the
proclamation declaring a National
Emergency concerning the Novel
Coronavirus Disease (COVID–19), issued
by the President on March 13, 2020. For
assistance, contact the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission at
FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or call
toll-free, (886) 208–3676 or TYY, (202)
502–8659.
Dated: March 15, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021–05729 Filed 3–18–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
approximately 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Eastern Time each day.
Interested persons are invited to
submit comments regarding the issues
described in the appendix below.
Comments are due on or before April
15, 2021. Comments must refer to
Docket No. AD21–13–000 and must
include the commenter’s name, the
organization they represent, if
applicable, and their address.
Commenters need not answer all of the
questions but are encouraged to
organize responses using the numbering
and order in the appendix below.
The Commission encourages
comments to be filed electronically via
the eFiling link on the Commission’s
website 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.
Those unable to file electronically
may mail comments via the U.S. Postal
Service to: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, Office of the Secretary,
888 First Street NE, Washington, DC
20426. Hand-delivered comments or
comments sent via any other carrier
should be delivered to: Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, Office of the
Secretary, 12225 Wilkins Avenue,
Rockville, Maryland 20852.
All comments will be placed in the
Commission’s public files and may be
viewed, printed, or downloaded
remotely. Commenters in this
proceeding are not required to serve
copies of their comments on other
commenters.
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Dated: March 15, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
Appendix
[Docket No. AD21–13–000]
Climate Change, Extreme Weather, and
Electric System Reliability;
Supplemental Notice of Technical
Conference Inviting Comments
As announced in the Notice of
Technical Conference issued in this
proceeding on March 5, 2021, Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission
(Commission) staff will convene a
technical conference to discuss issues
surrounding the threat to electric system
reliability posed by climate change and
extreme weather events. The conference
will be held on Tuesday, June 1, 2021
and Wednesday June 2, 2021, from
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
14895
1. What are the most significant near-,
medium-, and long-term challenges posed to
electric system reliability due to climate
change and extreme weather events?
2. With respect to extreme weather events
(e.g., hurricanes, extreme heat, extreme cold,
drought, storm surges and other flooding
events, or wildfires), have these issues
impacted the electric system, either directly
or indirectly, more frequently or seriously
than in the past, and if so, how? Will extreme
weather events require changes to the way
generation, transmission, substation, or other
facilities are designed, built, sited, and
operated?
3. Climate change has a range of other
impacts, such as long-term increases in
ambient air or water temperatures that may
impact cooling systems, changes in
precipitation patterns that may impact such
E:\FR\FM\19MRN1.SGM
19MRN1
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
14896
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 52 / Friday, March 19, 2021 / Notices
factors as reservoir levels or snowpack, and
rising sea levels among others. Will these
impacts require changes to the way
generation, transmission, substation, or other
facilities are designed, built, sited, and
operated?
4. What are the electric system reliability
challenges associated with ‘‘common mode
failures’’ where, due to a climate change or
extreme weather event, a large number of
facilities critical to electric reliability (e.g.,
generation resources, transmission lines,
substations, and natural gas pipelines)
experience outages or significant operational
limitations, either simultaneously or in close
succession? How do these challenges differ
across types of generation resources (e.g.,
natural gas, coal, hydro, nuclear, solar,
wind)? To what extent does geographic
diversity (i.e., sharing capacity from many
resources across a large footprint) mitigate
the risk of common mode failures?
5. Are there improvements to coordinated
operations and planning between energy
systems (e.g., the natural gas and electric
power systems) that would help reduce risk
factors related to common mode failures?
What could those improved steps include?
6. How are relevant regulatory authorities
(e.g., federal, state, and local regulators),
individual utilities (including federal power
marketing agencies), and regional planning
authorities (e.g., RTOs/ISOs) evaluating and
addressing challenges posed to electric
system reliability due to climate change and
extreme weather events and what potential
future actions are they considering? What
additional steps should be considered to
ensure electric system reliability?
7. Are relevant regulatory authorities,
individual utilities, or regional planning
authorities considering changes to current
modeling and planning assumptions used for
transmission and resource adequacy
planning? For example, is it still reasonable
to base planning models on historic weather
data and consumption trends if climate
change is expected to result in extreme
weather events that are both more frequent
and more intense than historical data would
suggest? If not, is a different approach to
modeling and planning transmission and
resource adequacy needs required? How
should the benefits and constraints of
alternative modeling and planning
approaches be assessed?
8. Are relevant regulatory authorities,
individual utilities, or regional planning
authorities considering measures to harden
facilities against extreme weather events (e.g.,
winterization requirements for generators,
substations, transmission circuits, and
interstate natural gas pipelines)? If so, what
measures? Should additional measures be
considered?
9. How have entities responsible for realtime operations (e.g. utilities, RTOs/ISOs,
generator operators) changed their operating
practices in light of the challenges posed by
climate change and extreme weather events
and what potential future actions are they
considering? What additional steps should be
considered to change operating practices to
ensure electric system reliability?
10. Are seasonal resource adequacy
assessments currently performed, and have
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:13 Mar 18, 2021
Jkt 253001
they proven effective at identifying actual
resource adequacy needs? If they are used, is
there a process to improve the assessments to
account for a rapidly changing risk
environment such as that driven by climate
change? If seasonal resource adequacy
assessments are performed, are probabilistic
methods used to evaluate a wider range of
system conditions such as non-peak periods,
including shoulder months and low load
conditions?
11. Are any changes being considered to
the resource outage planning process? For
instance, should current practices of
scheduling outages in perceived ‘‘non-peak’’
periods be re-evaluated, and should the
consideration during planning of the reserve
needs during non-peak outage periods be
improved?
12. Mass public notification systems (e.g.,
cellphone texts, emails, smart thermostat
notifications) are sometimes used in
emergencies to solicit voluntary reductions
in the demand for electricity. To what extent
are such measures used when faced with
emergencies related to climate change or
extreme weather events, have they been
effective in helping to address emergencies,
and is there room for improvement?
13. What measures are being considered to
improve recovery times following extreme
weather event-related outages? For example,
are there potential changes to operating
procedures, spare equipment inventory, or
mutual assistance networks under
consideration? What additional steps should
be considered to improve recovery times?
14. Given the key role blackstart resources
play in recovering from large-scale events on
the electric system, how is the sufficiency of
existing blackstart capability assessed, and
has that assessment been adjusted to account
for factors associated with climate change or
extreme weather events? For example, is the
impact of potential common mode failures
considered in the development of black start
restoration plans (including but not limited
to common mode failure impacts on
generation resources, transmission lines,
substations, and interstate natural gas
pipelines)? Should these be addressed?
15. What actions should the Commission
consider to help achieve an electric system
that can better withstand, respond to, and
recover from climate change and extreme
weather events? In particular, are there
changes to ratemaking practices or market
design that the Commission should consider?
16. Are there opportunities to improve the
Commission-approved NERC Reliability
Standards in order to address vulnerabilities
to the bulk power system due to climate
change or extreme weather events in areas
including but not limited to the following:
Transmission planning, bulk power system
operations, bulk power system maintenance,
emergency operations, and black start
restoration? For example, should the
Reliability Standards require transmission
owners, operators or others to take additional
steps to maintain reliability of the bulk
power system in high wildfire or storm surge
risk areas? Should the Reliability Standards
require the application of new technologies
to address vulnerabilities related to extreme
weather events, such as to use new
PO 00000
Frm 00032
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
technologies to inspect the bulk power
system remotely?
17. Where climate change and extreme
weather events may implicate both federal
and state issues, should the Commission
consider conferring with the states, as
permitted under FPA section 209(b), to
collaborate on such issues?
[FR Doc. 2021–05726 Filed 3–18–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Docket No. ER21–1373–000]
Edwards Solar 1A, LLC; Supplemental
Notice That Initial Market-Based Rate
Filing Includes Request for Blanket
Section 204 Authorization
This is a supplemental notice in the
above-referenced proceeding of Edwards
Solar 1A, LLC’s application for marketbased rate authority, with an
accompanying rate tariff, noting that
such application includes a request for
blanket authorization, under 18 CFR
part 34, of future issuances of securities
and assumptions of liability.
Any person desiring to intervene or to
protest should file with the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888
First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426,
in accordance with Rules 211 and 214
of the Commission’s Rules of Practice
and Procedure (18 CFR 385.211 and
385.214). Anyone filing a motion to
intervene or protest must serve a copy
of that document on the Applicant.
Notice is hereby given that the
deadline for filing protests with regard
to the applicant’s request for blanket
authorization, under 18 CFR part 34, of
future issuances of securities and
assumptions of liability, is April 5,
2021.
The Commission encourages
electronic submission of protests and
interventions in lieu of paper, using the
FERC Online links at https://
www.ferc.gov. To facilitate electronic
service, persons with internet access
who will eFile a document and/or be
listed as a contact for an intervenor
must create and validate an
eRegistration account using the
eRegistration link. Select the eFiling
link to log on and submit the
intervention or protests.
Persons unable to file electronically
may mail similar pleadings to the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
888 First Street NE, Washington, DC
20426. Hand delivered submissions in
docketed proceedings should be
delivered to Health and Human
E:\FR\FM\19MRN1.SGM
19MRN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 52 (Friday, March 19, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14895-14896]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05726]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. AD21-13-000]
Climate Change, Extreme Weather, and Electric System Reliability;
Supplemental Notice of Technical Conference Inviting Comments
As announced in the Notice of Technical Conference issued in this
proceeding on March 5, 2021, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(Commission) staff will convene a technical conference to discuss
issues surrounding the threat to electric system reliability posed by
climate change and extreme weather events. The conference will be held
on Tuesday, June 1, 2021 and Wednesday June 2, 2021, from approximately
1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time each day.
Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding the
issues described in the appendix below. Comments are due on or before
April 15, 2021. Comments must refer to Docket No. AD21-13-000 and must
include the commenter's name, the organization they represent, if
applicable, and their address. Commenters need not answer all of the
questions but are encouraged to organize responses using the numbering
and order in the appendix below.
The Commission encourages comments to be filed electronically via
the eFiling link on the Commission's website 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.
Those unable to file electronically may mail comments via the U.S.
Postal Service to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of the
Secretary, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426. Hand-delivered
comments or comments sent via any other carrier should be delivered to:
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of the Secretary, 12225
Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
All comments will be placed in the Commission's public files and
may be viewed, printed, or downloaded remotely. Commenters in this
proceeding are not required to serve copies of their comments on other
commenters.
Dated: March 15, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
Appendix
1. What are the most significant near-, medium-, and long-term
challenges posed to electric system reliability due to climate
change and extreme weather events?
2. With respect to extreme weather events (e.g., hurricanes,
extreme heat, extreme cold, drought, storm surges and other flooding
events, or wildfires), have these issues impacted the electric
system, either directly or indirectly, more frequently or seriously
than in the past, and if so, how? Will extreme weather events
require changes to the way generation, transmission, substation, or
other facilities are designed, built, sited, and operated?
3. Climate change has a range of other impacts, such as long-
term increases in ambient air or water temperatures that may impact
cooling systems, changes in precipitation patterns that may impact
such
[[Page 14896]]
factors as reservoir levels or snowpack, and rising sea levels among
others. Will these impacts require changes to the way generation,
transmission, substation, or other facilities are designed, built,
sited, and operated?
4. What are the electric system reliability challenges
associated with ``common mode failures'' where, due to a climate
change or extreme weather event, a large number of facilities
critical to electric reliability (e.g., generation resources,
transmission lines, substations, and natural gas pipelines)
experience outages or significant operational limitations, either
simultaneously or in close succession? How do these challenges
differ across types of generation resources (e.g., natural gas,
coal, hydro, nuclear, solar, wind)? To what extent does geographic
diversity (i.e., sharing capacity from many resources across a large
footprint) mitigate the risk of common mode failures?
5. Are there improvements to coordinated operations and planning
between energy systems (e.g., the natural gas and electric power
systems) that would help reduce risk factors related to common mode
failures? What could those improved steps include?
6. How are relevant regulatory authorities (e.g., federal,
state, and local regulators), individual utilities (including
federal power marketing agencies), and regional planning authorities
(e.g., RTOs/ISOs) evaluating and addressing challenges posed to
electric system reliability due to climate change and extreme
weather events and what potential future actions are they
considering? What additional steps should be considered to ensure
electric system reliability?
7. Are relevant regulatory authorities, individual utilities, or
regional planning authorities considering changes to current
modeling and planning assumptions used for transmission and resource
adequacy planning? For example, is it still reasonable to base
planning models on historic weather data and consumption trends if
climate change is expected to result in extreme weather events that
are both more frequent and more intense than historical data would
suggest? If not, is a different approach to modeling and planning
transmission and resource adequacy needs required? How should the
benefits and constraints of alternative modeling and planning
approaches be assessed?
8. Are relevant regulatory authorities, individual utilities, or
regional planning authorities considering measures to harden
facilities against extreme weather events (e.g., winterization
requirements for generators, substations, transmission circuits, and
interstate natural gas pipelines)? If so, what measures? Should
additional measures be considered?
9. How have entities responsible for real-time operations (e.g.
utilities, RTOs/ISOs, generator operators) changed their operating
practices in light of the challenges posed by climate change and
extreme weather events and what potential future actions are they
considering? What additional steps should be considered to change
operating practices to ensure electric system reliability?
10. Are seasonal resource adequacy assessments currently
performed, and have they proven effective at identifying actual
resource adequacy needs? If they are used, is there a process to
improve the assessments to account for a rapidly changing risk
environment such as that driven by climate change? If seasonal
resource adequacy assessments are performed, are probabilistic
methods used to evaluate a wider range of system conditions such as
non-peak periods, including shoulder months and low load conditions?
11. Are any changes being considered to the resource outage
planning process? For instance, should current practices of
scheduling outages in perceived ``non-peak'' periods be re-
evaluated, and should the consideration during planning of the
reserve needs during non-peak outage periods be improved?
12. Mass public notification systems (e.g., cellphone texts,
emails, smart thermostat notifications) are sometimes used in
emergencies to solicit voluntary reductions in the demand for
electricity. To what extent are such measures used when faced with
emergencies related to climate change or extreme weather events,
have they been effective in helping to address emergencies, and is
there room for improvement?
13. What measures are being considered to improve recovery times
following extreme weather event-related outages? For example, are
there potential changes to operating procedures, spare equipment
inventory, or mutual assistance networks under consideration? What
additional steps should be considered to improve recovery times?
14. Given the key role blackstart resources play in recovering
from large-scale events on the electric system, how is the
sufficiency of existing blackstart capability assessed, and has that
assessment been adjusted to account for factors associated with
climate change or extreme weather events? For example, is the impact
of potential common mode failures considered in the development of
black start restoration plans (including but not limited to common
mode failure impacts on generation resources, transmission lines,
substations, and interstate natural gas pipelines)? Should these be
addressed?
15. What actions should the Commission consider to help achieve
an electric system that can better withstand, respond to, and
recover from climate change and extreme weather events? In
particular, are there changes to ratemaking practices or market
design that the Commission should consider?
16. Are there opportunities to improve the Commission-approved
NERC Reliability Standards in order to address vulnerabilities to
the bulk power system due to climate change or extreme weather
events in areas including but not limited to the following:
Transmission planning, bulk power system operations, bulk power
system maintenance, emergency operations, and black start
restoration? For example, should the Reliability Standards require
transmission owners, operators or others to take additional steps to
maintain reliability of the bulk power system in high wildfire or
storm surge risk areas? Should the Reliability Standards require the
application of new technologies to address vulnerabilities related
to extreme weather events, such as to use new technologies to
inspect the bulk power system remotely?
17. Where climate change and extreme weather events may
implicate both federal and state issues, should the Commission
consider conferring with the states, as permitted under FPA section
209(b), to collaborate on such issues?
[FR Doc. 2021-05726 Filed 3-18-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
