Department of Energy February 16, 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) is issuing this Notice to document emergency actions that it has taken pursuant to the Federal Power Act. DOE issued an emergency order to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) to operate certain power generating facilities under limited circumstances as described further. ERCOT is the independent system operator for over 26 million people in Texas (ERCOT Region). The state of Texas experienced a severe winter weather system that caused a significant drop in temperatures. While the vast majority of generating units in the ERCOT region continued to operate without any problem, a small number of units experienced operating difficulties due to cold weather or gas curtailments. Additional generation required to serve the ERCOT Region was anticipated to result in a conflict with environmental standards and requirements, therefore DOE authorized only the necessary additional generation for ERCOT to sufficiently supply the amount of energy needed to prevent electrical disruption. Because no facilities operated above permitted levels during the emergency as authorized by the DOE order, no environmental impacts resulted from DOE issuing the order. Consequently, DOE has decided not to prepare a special environmental analysis.

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 a renewal of currently approved information collection, FERC-725I, (Reporting of Flow Volume and Capacity by Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines), which will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. No Comments were received on the 60-day notice published on December 5, 2022.