Department of Energy August 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The EIA has submitted the Financial Reporting EIA-28 Surveys package to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and a three-year extension under section 3507(h)(1) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq).

The Department of Energy (DOE) amends its Financial Assistance Regulations to update, streamline, and simplify the general rules. DOE also removes regulations governing the DOE Financial Assistance Appeals Board.

Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc. (MLCI) has applied to renew its authority to transmit electric energy from the United States to Canada pursuant to section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act.

As authorized in Section 654 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, DOE is announcing the Initial H-Prize Competition which will be a single award for $1 million in the subject area of advanced materials for hydrogen storagea critical challenge to enable widespread commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Evaluation of entries will begin approximately 15 months after the date this announcement appears in the Federal Register (FR). A single prize of $1 million will be awarded, unless no entries are significant enough to merit an award. The essential elements of the H-Prize Competition are included in this announcement; further updates and answers to questions asked by participants will be available on a public Web site, https://hydrogenprize.org, and through future FR notices as required. We encourage prospective participants to visit the Web site, as it will be updated periodically.

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has decided to offer BP Alternative Energy North America, Inc. a Large Generator Interconnection Agreement for interconnection of up to 200 megawatts of power into the Federal Columbia River Transmission System. The power would be generated by the Golden Hills Wind Project (Wind Project) in Sherman County, Oregon. To interconnect the Wind Project, BPA will string a jumper line at an existing transmission tower outside Klondike Schoolhouse Substation and connect to BPA's Biglow CanyonKlondike Schoolhouse No. 2 230-kilovolt line. BPA will also purchase part of Portland General Electric's Biglow Canyon Substation, as well as about 1 acre of land next to Biglow Canyon Substation for the expansion of the substation to accommodate new equipment, including a new transmission tower. This new tower will then be connected to an existing transmission tower outside the substation fence. This decision to interconnect the Wind Project is consistent with and tiered to BPA's Business Plan Environmental Impact Statement (DOE/EIS-0183, June 1995), and the Business Plan Record of Decision (BP ROD, August 1995).

The Western Area Power Administration (Western) received an application to interconnect the Big Stone II Power Plant and Transmission Project (Project) into Western's transmission system. The Project entails the construction of a new 600-megawatt (MW) coal-fired electric power generating station adjacent to the existing Big Stone plant in Grant County, South Dakota. The Project also includes approximately 140 miles of new or upgraded transmission lines. On June 26, 2009, Western published a notice of the availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Project (74 FR 30559). Western considered the environmental impacts of the Project and has decided to allow the request to interconnect at Western's Morris and Granite Falls substations located in Minnesota.