Terms of the previous clearance remain in effect. The requested revision is not approved at this time, so that the agency may consider and respond to any public comments on the associated proposed rule.
table that charts list comparision
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
07/31/2013
36 Months From Approved
07/31/2013
678
0
678
339,200
0
339,200
40,704,000
0
40,704,000
FERC-725G is a filing requirement concerning the implementation of a Reliability Standard by the Electric Reliability Organization as well as the Regional Entities and Regional Advisory Bodies who are responsible in the development of Reliability Standards. Specifically, FERC-725G began with the Reliability Standard PRC-023-1 and is implicated here by the proposed approval of Reliability Standard PRC-023-2. Reliability Standard PRC-023-2 requires transmission owners, generator owners, distribution providers, and planning coordinators to ensure that protective relay settings shall not limit transmission loadability; not interfere with system operators' ability to take remedial action to protect system reliability and; be set to reliability detect all fault conditions and protect the electrical network from these faults.
Protective relays, also know as primary relays are one type of equipment used to detect, operate and initiate the removal of faults on electric systems. Protective relays read electrical measurements (such as current, voltage and frequency) and remove from service any system element that suffers a fault and threatens to damage equipment or interfere with effective operation of the system. Protective relays are applied to protect specific system elements and are set to recognize certain electrical measurements as indicating a fault.
The proposed Reliability Standard does not impose entirely new burden requirements on applicable entities. Instead it improves upon existing requirements in the current Reliability Standard (PRC-023-1).
The modifications to the existing Reliability Standard PRC-023-1, and the corresponding burden increase, are a result of two things: one, FERC directives given to NERC when FERC approved the existing Reliability Standard; and two, an increase of 39 in the estimated number of entities that must comply with this collection. The estimated cost to comply with the information collection requirements is also increasing due to the increase in the burden hours (more fully discussed in question 13).
The FERC directives led NERC to propose version two of Reliability Standard PRC-023 which makes modifications and improvements to the existing standard. The revised standard includes new and modified requirements that, if approved, are estimated to increase the burden on applicable entities by a total of 27,960 hours, or approximately 39 hours per entity. NERC states that the proposed Reliability Standard requires transmission owners, generator owners, and distribution providers to verify relay loadability using methods that achieve "the reliability goal of this Standard in an effective and efficient manner familiar to the responsible entities." The proposed Standard also applies to out-of-step blocking systems as well as to load-responsive phase protections systems. NERC specifically identifies the benefits of proposed Reliability Standard PRC-023-2, as including (a) consistent identification of operationally critical circuits operated below 200 kV that must comply with the Requirements of the Standard, and (b) providing transmission operators, planning coordinators, reliability coordinators, and the ERO with more information regarding the criteria selected by entities for verifying relay loadability.
The increase in the number of applicable entities is thought to be due to changes in the number of entities contained in the NERC Compliance Registry. The previous version of the Reliability was based on the NERC compliance Registry as of March 3, 2009. The current estimate is based on the NERC compliance registry as of July 29, 2011.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
RM11-16_NOPR_ombjust_v2.doc
PRC-023-2 Reliability Standard.pdf
Transmission Relay Loadability Mandatory Reliability Standard