2025 Resource Pool-Loveland Area Projects, Allocation Procedures and Call for Applications, 52145-52153 [2021-20242]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
• Western Area Power Administration

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 179 (Monday, September 20, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52145-52153]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-20242]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Western Area Power Administration


2025 Resource Pool--Loveland Area Projects, Allocation Procedures 
and Call for Applications

AGENCY: Western Area Power Administration, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of allocation procedures and call for 2025 Resource Pool 
applications.

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SUMMARY: Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), a Federal Power 
Marketing Administration of the Department of Energy (DOE), is 
publishing this notice of allocation procedures and call for 
applications from new preference entities interested in an allocation 
of Federal firm power. WAPA's Rocky Mountain Region (RMR) published its 
Loveland Area Projects (LAP)--2025 Power Marketing Initiative (2025 
PMI) in the Federal Register on December 30, 2013, to be effective 
January 29, 2014. The 2025 PMI established the criteria for allocating 
firm power from the LAP beginning October 1, 2024, through September 
30, 2054. The 2025 PMI established three resource pools of up to one 
percent each of the marketable resource under contract at the time of 
each reallocation to be available for eligible new preference entities. 
Reallocations will occur at the beginning of the October 1, 2024, 
contract term and again every 10 years thereafter on October 1, 2034, 
and October 1, 2044. Therefore, WAPA is issuing a call for applications 
for the 2025 Resource Pool. New preference entities interested in 
applying for an allocation of firm power from LAP must submit a written 
application using the Applicant Profile Data (APD) form and satisfy the 
General Eligibility Criteria, General Allocation Criteria, and General 
Contract Principles described in this notice.

DATES: WAPA must receive a completed and signed application using the 
APD form by 4:00 p.m., MST, on November 15, 2021. WAPA will accept 
applications by email or delivered by U.S. mail. Applications sent by 
U.S. mail will be accepted if postmarked at least three days before 
November 15, 2021, and received no later than November 18, 2021. WAPA 
reserves the right to not consider an application received after the 
prescribed date and time.
    A single virtual public information forum (not to exceed three 
hours) addressing the allocation procedures, call for applications, and 
APD form will be held on Wednesday,
    October 6, 2021, at 1 p.m., MDT. The public information forum can 
be accessed 15 minutes in advance of the start time for the public 
information forum by copying and pasting the following link into your 
browser: https://doe.webex.com/doe/j.php?MTID=m40e148a1ad3464d2f53ea61f8608c48e.

ADDRESSES: If submitting a paper application, please print a completed 
and signed APD form and mail it to Barton V. Barnhart, Regional 
Manager, Rocky Mountain Region, Western Area Power Administration, 5555 
East Crossroads Boulevard, Loveland, CO 80538-8986. If submitting an 
electronic application, please email a completed and signed APD form to 
Parker Wicks, Contracts and Energy Services Manager, Rocky Mountain 
Region, Western Area Power Administration, at [email protected]. A 
completed and signed APD form must be received by WAPA within the time 
required in the DATES section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Parker Wicks, Contracts and Energy 
Services Manager, Rocky Mountain Region, Western Area Power 
Administration, (970) 461-7202, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 2025 PMI, as published in the Federal 
Register December 30, 2013 (78 FR 79444), extends the current marketing 
plan, with amendments to key marketing plan principles, and provides 
the basis for marketing the LAP long-term firm hydroelectric resource 
beginning October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2054. As part of the 
2025 PMI, WAPA will provide for three resource pools of up to one 
percent of the marketable resource under contract. Service under the 
first of these pools begins on October 1, 2024, and again every 10 
years thereafter (October 1, 2034, and October 1, 2044), until the 
conclusion of the marketing plan on September 30, 2054. Each 
reallocation will be placed in a resource pool from which power 
allocations to eligible new preference entities will be made. This 
notice sets forth the following procedures for determining these 
allocations: (1) The amount of pool resources; (2) general eligibility 
criteria; (3) general allocation criteria, i.e., how WAPA plans to 
allocate pool resources to eligible new preference entities as provided 
for in the Program and the 2025 PMI; (4) general contract principles 
under which WAPA will sell the allocated power; and (5) applications 
for firm power, i.e., APD application information required from each 
applicant. After evaluating applications, if WAPA determines there is 
one or more eligible applicants, WAPA will publish a Notice of Proposed 
Allocations in the Federal Register. The public will have an 
opportunity to comment on the Proposed Allocations. After reviewing the 
comments, WAPA will publish a Notice of Final Allocations in the 
Federal Register. If there are no qualified applicants under the 2025 
Resource Pool, WAPA will publish a notice in the Federal Register to 
conclude the 2025 Resource Pool.

I. Amount of Pool Resources

    WAPA will allocate up to one percent of the LAP long-term firm 
hydroelectric resource under contract as of October 1,

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2024, to be available for eligible new preference entities, as firm 
power. ``Firm power'' means firm capacity and associated energy 
allocated by WAPA that is subject to the terms and conditions specified 
in WAPA's long-term LAP firm electric service contract. The amount of 
the resource that will become available October 1, 2024, is 
approximately 6.9 MW for the summer season and 6.1 MW for the winter 
season.

II. General Eligibility Criteria

    WAPA will apply the following general eligibility criteria to 
applicants seeking an allocation of firm power under the 2025 Resource 
Pool:
    A. All qualified applicants must be preference entities as defined 
by Section 9(c) of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 (43 U.S.C. 
485h(c)), as amended and supplemented.
    B. All qualified applicants must be located within the currently 
established LAP marketing area. (See Section III.C. for a description 
of the LAP marketing area.)
    C. All qualified applicants must not have a current LAP firm 
electric service contract or be a member of a parent entity who has a 
LAP firm electric service contract with WAPA.
    D. All qualified utility and non-utility applicants must be able to 
use the firm power directly or be able to sell it directly to retail 
customers.
    E. All qualified utility applicants who are municipalities, 
cooperatives, public utility districts, or public power districts must 
attain utility status by October 1, 2021. ``Utility status'' means the 
entity has responsibility to meet load growth, has a distribution 
system, and is ready, willing, and able to purchase firm power from 
WAPA on a wholesale basis.
    F. A qualified Native American applicant must be an Indian Tribe as 
defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304(e)), as amended and supplemented.

III. General Allocation Criteria

    WAPA will apply the following general allocation criteria to 
applicants seeking an allocation of firm power under the 2025 Resource 
Pool:
    A. Allocations of firm power will be made in amounts solely 
determined by WAPA in exercising its discretion as permitted under 
Reclamation Law.
    B. An allottee will have the right to purchase firm power only 
after executing a LAP firm electric service contract between WAPA and 
the allottee and satisfying all conditions for firm electric service 
delivery in that contract.
    C. Firm power allocated under these procedures will be available 
only to new, qualified applicants residing within LAP's current 
marketing area. The LAP current marketing area includes parts of 
Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming. LAP's marketing area is 
specifically defined as the portion of Colorado east of the Continental 
Divide, Mountain Parks Electric, Inc.'s service territory in Colorado 
west of the Continental Divide, the portion of Kansas located in the 
Missouri River Basin, the portion of Kansas west of the eastern borders 
of the counties intersected by the 100th Meridian, the portion of 
Nebraska west of the 101st Meridian, and the portion of Wyoming east of 
the Continental Divide.
    D. An allocation of firm power made to an Indian Tribe will be 
based on actual load, or estimated load as developed by the Indian 
Tribe, in calendar year 2020. WAPA will evaluate and may adjust 
inconsistent estimates during the allocation process. WAPA is willing 
to assist Indian Tribes in developing load estimating methods.
    E. Allocations made to eligible utility and non-utility applicants 
will be based on actual calendar year 2020 loads. WAPA will apply the 
2025 PMI criteria to these loads, except as stated herein.
    F. Firm capacity and energy will be based upon each applicant's 
calendar year 2020 load factor.
    G. Any long-term LAP firm electric service contract offered by WAPA 
to an eligible applicant is expected to be executed by the applicant no 
later than September 30, 2022, unless otherwise agreed to in writing by 
WAPA.
    H. The 2025 Resource Pool will be dissolved after September 30, 
2022, the closing date for executing firm electric service contracts. 
Firm power, not under contract or a written contract execution 
extension, will be used as WAPA determines.
    I. The minimum allocation shall be 100 kilowatts (kW).
    J. The maximum allocation shall be 5,000 kW. Qualified Native 
American applicants are not subject to this limitation.
    K. Contract rates of delivery shall be subject to adjustment in the 
future as provided in the 2025 PMI and the firm electric service 
contract between WAPA and the allottee.
    L. If WAPA encounters obstacles to delivering firm electric service 
to an Indian Tribe, it retains the right to provide the economic 
benefit of the resource directly to the Indian Tribe.

IV. General Contract Principles

    WAPA will apply the following general contract principles to all 
allottees receiving an allocation of firm power under the 2025 Resource 
Pool:
    A. WAPA, at its discretion and sole determination, reserves the 
right to adjust the contract rate of delivery on a five years advance 
written notice in response to changes in hydrology and river 
operations. Any such adjustments shall take place only after a public 
process.
    B. Each allottee is ultimately responsible for making its own 
third-party delivery arrangements. WAPA may assist allottees in making 
third-party transmission arrangements for delivery of firm power.
    C. Contracts entered under the 2025 Resource Pool allocation 
procedures shall provide for WAPA to furnish firm electric service 
effective October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2054.
    D. Contracts entered under the 2025 Resource Pool shall incorporate 
WAPA's standard provisions for power sales contracts, integrated 
resource planning, and the General Power Contract Provisions.

V. Applications for Firm Power

    Through this notice, WAPA formally requests applications from new 
qualified preference entities interested in purchasing firm power 
beginning October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2054. All applicants 
must submit applications using the APD form. Completed applications for 
an allocation of firm power under the 2025 Resource Pool must be 
submitted in writing either via regular postal delivery to the Regional 
Manager, Rocky Mountain Region, or electronically via email to the 
Contracts and Energy Services Manager. The APD form must be received by 
WAPA's Rocky Mountain Region in accordance with the requirements listed 
herein. WAPA will not consider applications submitted before 
publication of this notice or after the deadline specified in the DATES 
section. Applications are available either upon request or in fillable 
Word and PDF versions at https://www.wapa.gov/regions/RM/PowerMarketing/Pages/2025-Loveland-Area-Projects-Resource-Pool.aspx.

A. Applicant Profile Data Form

    APD form content and format are outlined below. To be considered, 
each applicant must submit its completed and signed APD form to WAPA's 
Rocky Mountain Region no later than 4:00 p.m., MST, on November 15, 
2021. See the DATES and ADDRESSES sections listed

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previously for specific information on submission and deadline 
requirements. Each applicant must provide all requested information or 
the most reasonable available estimate and note any requested 
information that is not applicable or not available. WAPA is not 
responsible for errors in data, missing data, or missing pages.

B. Confidential Business Information

    According to 10 CFR 1004.11, any person submitting information that 
he or she believes to be confidential and exempt by law from public 
disclosure should submit via email two well-marked copies: One copy of 
the document marked ``CONFIDENTIAL'' including all the information 
believed to be confidential, and one copy of the document marked ``NON-
CONFIDENTIAL'' with the information believed to be confidential 
deleted. DOE will make its own determination about the confidential 
status of the information and treat it according to its determination. 
The information collected under this process will not be part of a 
system of records covered by the Privacy Act and may be subject to 
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). If you are 
submitting any confidential business information, and believe this 
information is exempt from disclosure under FOIA Exemption 4 (5 U.S.C. 
552(b)(4)), please mark such information before submitting your 
application.
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C. WAPA's Consideration of Applications

    1. Upon receipt, WAPA will review the APD form and verify that each 
applicant meets the general eligibility criteria set forth in Section 
II above.
    a. WAPA will request, in writing, additional information from any 
applicant whose APD form is deficient. The applicant shall have 15 
calendar days from the date on WAPA's request letter to provide, in 
writing, the requested information. If the requested information is not 
provided within that time period, the application will not be 
considered.
    b. If WAPA determines that an applicant does not meet the general 
eligibility criteria, WAPA will send a letter explaining why the 
applicant did not qualify.
    c. If an applicant meets the general eligibility criteria, WAPA 
will determine the amount of firm power to be allocated under the 
general allocation criteria set forth in Section III above. WAPA will 
send for the applicant's review a draft firm electric service contract, 
which contains the terms and conditions of the offer and the amount of 
firm power allocated to the applicant.
    2. WAPA reserves the right to determine the amount of firm power to 
allocate to an applicant, as justified by an applicant's APD form.

VI. Regulatory Procedure Requirements

A. Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

    WAPA has determined this action fits within the following 
categorical exclusion listed in appendix B to subpart D of 10 CFR part 
1021.B4.1 (Contracts, policies, and marketing and allocation plans for 
electric power). Categorically excluded projects and activities do not 
require preparation of either an environmental impact statement or an 
environmental assessment.\1\ Specifically, WAPA has determined this 
rulemaking is consistent with activities identified in part B4, 
Categorical Exclusions Applicable to Specific Agency Actions (see 10 
CFR part 1021, appendix B to subpart D, part B4). A copy of the 
categorical exclusion determination is available on WAPA-RMR's website 
at: https://www.wapa.gov/regions/RM/environment/Pages/CX2021.aspx. Look 
for the file entitled ``2021-091 LAP 2025 Resource Pool CX.''
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    \1\ The determination was done in compliance with NEPA (42 
U.S.C. 4321-4347); the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations 
for implementing NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508); and DOE NEPA 
Implementing Procedures and Guidelines (10 CFR part 1021).
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B. Review Under Paperwork Reduction Act

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et 
seq.), WAPA has received approval from the Office of Management and 
Budget for the collection of customer information in this rule, under 
OMB control number 1910-5136.

C. Determination Under Executive Order 12866

    WAPA has an exemption from centralized regulatory review under 
Executive Order 12866; accordingly, no clearance of this notice by the 
Office of Management and Budget is required.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on September 
10, 2021, by Tracey A. LeBeau, Administrator, Western Area Power 
Administration, pursuant to delegated authority from the Secretary of 
Energy. That document, with the original signature and date, is 
maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes only, and in compliance 
with requirements of the Office of the Federal Register, the 
undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to 
sign and submit the document in electronic format for publication, as 
an official document of the Department of Energy. This administrative 
process in no way alters the legal effect of this document upon 
publication in the Federal Register.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on September 15, 2021.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2021-20242 Filed 9-17-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P