Western Area Power Administration 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Deputy Secretary of Energy confirmed and approved Rate Order No. WAPA-135 and Rate Schedules P-SED-F9 and P-SED-FP9, placing firm power and firm peaking power rates from the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin ProgramEastern Division (P-SMBPED) of the Western Area Power Administration (Western) into effect on an interim basis. The provisional rates will be in effect until the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) confirms, approves, and places them into effect on a final basis or until they are replaced by other rates. The provisional rates will provide sufficient revenue to pay all annual costs, including interest expense, and repay power investment and irrigation aid within the allowable periods.

Western Area Power Administration (Western) announces the availability of the Supplemental Draft Big Stone II Power Plant and Transmission Project (Project) Environmental Impact Statement (Supplemental Draft EIS) for public review and comment. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), are participating as cooperating agencies in the EIS process. The Supplemental Draft EIS addresses the environmental impacts of a different back-up water supply plan that uses groundwater instead of surface water along with associated cooling alternatives for the proposed Big Stone II power plant's back-up water supply. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires Western to make the Supplemental Draft EIS available to interested members of the public, groups, and Federal, State, local, and tribal agencies for review and comment to assure they have an opportunity to provide input to the Federal decision making process. Comments on the Supplemental Draft EIS may be provided in writing or at the hearing scheduled during the review period.

The Deputy Secretary of Energy confirmed and approved Rate Order No. WAPA-130 and Rate Schedules INT-FT4 and INT-NFT3, placing firm and nonfirm transmission service rates for the Pacific Northwest- Pacific Southwest Intertie Project (Intertie) of the Western Area Power Administration (Western) into effect on an interim basis. The provisional rates will be in effect until the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) confirms, approves, and places them into effect on a final basis, or until they are replaced by other rates. The provisional rates will provide sufficient revenue to pay all annual costs, including interest expense, and repay required investment within the allowable periods.

The Deputy Secretary of Energy has approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Base Charge and Rates (Rates) for Boulder Canyon Project (BCP) electric service provided by the Western Area Power Administration (Western). The Rates will provide sufficient revenue to pay all annual costs, including interest expense, and repay investments, within the allowable period.

The Western Area Power Administration (Western), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for rebuilding the Granby Pumping Plant-Windy Gap transmission line in Grand County, Colorado. The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) will participate in the preparation of the EIS, which will address the proposed removal of about 12 miles of 69-kilovolt (kV) transmission line, the construction and operation of about 12 miles of new 138-kV double-circuit transmission line (operated at 69/138-kV), and adding a second power transformer. Input for the scope of the EIS may be provided in writing or at an open-house scoping meeting in the project area.

The Western Area Power Administration (Western), an agency of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) intends to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the construction and operation of the proposed NextGen Energy Facility (Project) in South Dakota. Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin Electric) has applied to interconnect the proposed Project to Western's electric power transmission system. The EIS will address the construction and operation of the proposed Project, which includes a 500 to 700 megawatt (MW) (net) coal-fired generation facility and ancillary equipment and facilities east of the Missouri River in South Dakota. Portions of the proposed Project may affect floodplains and wetlands in the area. Western will hold public scoping meetings near the Project area during the public scoping period to share information and receive comments and suggestions on the scope of the EIS.

As a non-regulated electric utility, the Western Area Power Administration (Western) must consider and determine whether to implement certain standards under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct of 2005), which amended the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA). Western considered five standards: Net metering, fuel source diversity, fossil fuel generation efficiency, smart metering, and consumer interconnections. After considering the comments received, Western will not adopt the EPAct of 2005 standards for PURPA at this time.

The Western Area Power Administration (Western), Upper Great Plains Region, a Federal power marketing agency of the Department of Energy (DOE), is publishing this notice of Request for Letters of Interest from entities interested in an allocation of Federal power, to gather information to aid Western in determining the appropriate purposes for this proposed resource pool, and/or to provide comments regarding a proposed resource pool. A Federal power resource pool increment of up to 1 percent of the long-term marketable resource of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin ProgramEastern Division (P-SMBPED), up to approximately 20 megawatts, may become available January 1, 2011, under the Energy Planning and Management Program (Program). This Federal Register notice initiates the process for the proposed resource pool.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Western Area Power Administration (Western) issued a notice of intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on August 2, 2006, for the Eastern Plains Transmission Project (EPTP or Transmission Project). This notice announces an additional public meeting to provide the public opportunity to review and comment on additional and revised transmission line routes and the scope of the EIS. A summary of comments previously received during the scoping meetings held in August and September 2006, and meetings held in February 2007, is available upon request or at https://www.wapa.gov/transmission/eptp.htm. Western is proposing to participate with Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Incorporated (Tri-State) in the construction of the EPTP. Western's participation would be in exchange for 275 megawatts (MW) of capacity rights on the proposed transmission lines. The EIS will address the construction, operation, and maintenance of approximately 1,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and ancillary facilities, which include substations, fiber optic installations, access roads, and construction staging areas. The EIS will discuss alternatives such as Western's system alternatives and the no action alternative (no Federal action). The EIS will analyze and present environmental impacts compared to the existing baseline condition in which no Transmission Project facilities exist. The EIS also will include analyses of the environmental impacts of Tri-State's proposed generation and other past, present and reasonably foreseeable projects in the EPTP area. The EIS will be prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and DOE NEPA Implementing Procedures.

The Western Area Power Administration (Western) is proposing revised rates for Loveland Area Projects (LAP) firm electric service. LAP consists of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project (Fry-Ark) and the Pick- Sloan Missouri Basin Program (Pick-Sloan)Western Division, which were integrated for marketing and rate-making purposes in 1989. The current rates, under Rate Schedule L-F6, expire on December 31, 2010, but are not sufficient to meet the LAP revenue requirements. The proposed rates will provide sufficient revenue to pay all annual costs, including interest expense, and repay required investment within the allowable period. Western will prepare a brochure that provides detailed information on the proposed rates. The proposed rates, under Rate Schedule L-F7, are scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2008, and will remain in effect through December 31, 2012. Publication of this Federal Register notice begins the formal process for the proposed rate adjustment.

The Western Area Power Administration (Western) is proposing an adjustment to the Boulder Canyon Project (BCP) electric service base charge and rates. The current base charge and rates expire September 30, 2007. The current base charge is not sufficient to pay all annual costs including operation, maintenance, replacements, and interest expense, and to repay investment obligations within the required period. The proposed base charge will provide sufficient revenue to pay all annual costs and to repay investment obligations within the allowable period. A detailed rate package that identifies the reasons for the base charge and rates adjustment will be available in March 2007. The proposed base charge and rates are scheduled to become effective on October 1, 2007, and will remain in effect through September 30, 2008. This Federal Register notice initiates the formal process for the proposed base charge and rates.