Department of Energy April 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Rocky Mountain Region (RMR) of the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) proposes to convert its existing rates for short- term sales for RMR to use under the WEIS Market to new long-term formula rates for use October 1, 2021, through September 30, 2024. The existing formula rates (approved under the WAPA Administrator's short- term rate authority) expire on September 30, 2021. No changes are being proposed to the existing formula rates under the rates for short-term sales Rate Schedules L-NFJDT (joint dispatch transmission), L-AS4 (energy imbalance), L-AS9 (generator imbalance), and L-AS7 (balancing authority real power losses).

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission published a document in the Federal Register of March 30, 2021 concerning arguments raised on rehearing of its final rule amending its regulations to remove barriers to the participation of distributed energy resource aggregations in the capacity, energy, and ancillary service markets operated by Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators. The document contained an error.

In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the currently approved information collection, FERC-716 (Good Faith Requests for Transmission Service and Good Faith Responses by Transmitting Utilities Under Sections 211(a) and 213(a) of the Federal Power Act (FPA)).

In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the currently approved information collection, FERC-725Y, Mandatory Reliability Standard (Personnel Performance, Training, and Qualifications).

The U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'' or ``the Department'') will hold a webinar to discuss and receive comments on the preliminary analysis it has conducted for purposes of evaluating energy conservation standards for consumer clothes dryers. The webinar will cover the analytical framework, models, and tools that DOE is using to evaluate potential standards for this product; the results of preliminary analyses performed by DOE for this product; the potential energy conservation standard levels derived from these analyses that DOE could consider for this product should it determine that proposed amendments are necessary; and any other issues relevant to the evaluation of energy conservation standards for consumer clothes dryers. In addition, DOE encourages written comments on these subjects. To inform interested parties and to facilitate this process, DOE has prepared an agenda, a preliminary technical support document (``TSD''), and briefing materials, which are available on the DOE website at: https://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/ standards.aspx?productid=50&action=viewlive.

The U.S. Department of Energy (``DOE'') is undertaking the preliminary stages of a rulemaking to consider amendments to the test procedure for Commercial and Industrial Pumps (``pumps''). Through this request for information (``RFI''), DOE seeks data and information regarding issues pertinent to whether amended test procedures would more accurately or fully comply with the requirement that the test procedure produces results that measure energy use during a representative average use cycle for the product without being unduly burdensome to conduct, or that reduce testing burden. DOE welcomes written comments from the public on any subject within the scope of this document (including topics not raised in this RFI), as well as the submission of data and other relevant information.

The Desert Southwest Region (DSW) of the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) is proposing an adjustment to the base charge and rates for fiscal year (FY) 2022 Boulder Canyon Project (BCP) electric service under Rate Schedule BCP-F10. The proposal would increase the base charge 9 percent from $65.4 million in FY 2021 to $71.3 million in FY 2022. The change is primarily the result of an increase in Bureau of Reclamation's (Reclamation) replacement costs, an increase in WAPA's operations and maintenance expenses and replacement costs, and a decrease in prior year carryover funds from FY 2021. The proposed base charge and rates would go into effect on October 1, 2021 and remain in effect through September 30, 2022. Publication of this Federal Register notice will initiate the public process.