FERC-60 Annual Reports Of Centralized Service Companies, FERC61 Narrative Description Of Service Company Functions, & FERC-555A Preservation of Records for Service Companies Subject to PUHCA 2005
ICR 201302-1902-001
OMB: 1902-0215
Federal Form Document
⚠️ Notice: This information collection may be outdated. More recent filings for OMB 1902-0215 can be found here:
FERC-60 Annual Reports Of
Centralized Service Companies, FERC61 Narrative Description Of
Service Company Functions, & FERC-555A Preservation of Records
for Service Companies Subject to PUHCA 2005
Extension without change of a currently approved collection
In accordance
with 5 CFR 1320, the information collection is approved for three
years.
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
04/30/2016
36 Months From Approved
04/30/2013
216
0
160
110,591
0
110,861
39,526
0
1,912,341
Section 1264 of PUHCA 2005 concerns
FERC access to the books and records of holding companies and other
companies in holding company systems, and Section 1275 of PUHCA
2005 addresses FERC's review and authorization of the allocation of
costs for non-power goods or administrative or management services
when requested by a holding company system or state commission.
Section 1264 and Section 1275 of PUHCA supplement the Commission's
existing authorities under the Federal Power Act (FPA) and the
Natural Gas Act (NGA) to protect customers against improper
cross-subsidization or encumbrances of assets including the
Commission's authority under FPA Section 301 and NGA Section 8 to
obtain the books and records of regulated companies and any person
that controls or is controlled by these companies if relevant to
jurisdictional activities. Sections 1264(a) and (b) of EPAct 2005
provide that each holding company and each associate of a holding
company will maintain and make available to FERC "such books,
accounts, memoranda, and other records as the Commission determines
are relevant to the costs incurred by a public utility or natural
gas company that is an associate of such holding company and
necessary or appropriate for the protection of the public utility
or natural gas company customers with respect to jurisdictional
rates." Section 1264(c) empowers FERC to examine the books and
records of any company in a holding company system, or any
affiliate thereof, that FERC determines are relevant to the costs
incurred by a public utility or natural gas company within the
holding company system and necessary or appropriate for the
protection of public utility or natural gas customers with respect
to jurisdictional rates. Further, Congress has enhanced FERC's
existing authorities over public utility mergers, acquisitions and
dispositions of jurisdictional facilities regarding the electric
industry. Since 1935, the Commission has regulated certain electric
utility activities under the Federal Power Act (FPA). Under FPA
Sections 205 and 206, the Commission oversees the rates, terms, and
conditions of sales for resale of electric energy and transmission
service in interstate commerce by public utilities. The Commission
must ensure that those rates, terms and conditions are just and
reasonable and are not unduly discriminatory or preferential. Under
FPA Section 203, the Commission reviews mergers and other asset
transfers involving public utilities. The Commission's role in the
natural gas industry is primarily defined by the Natural Gas Act of
1938 (NGA). Under the NGA, the Commission regulates the
construction of new natural gas pipelines, liquefied natural gas
terminals and related facilities. The NGA also enables the
Commission to oversee the rates, terms and conditions of sales for
resale and transportation of natural gas in interstate commerce.
The Commission utilizes its existing FPA and NGA authorities (in
combination with its enhanced authority over public utility
mergers, acquisitions, and disposition of jurisdictional
facilities) in conjunction with the authorities under PUHCA 2005 to
provide a sound framework to protect customers. If the Commission
did not conduct the collection of data for FERC-60, FERC-61, or the
records retention requirements (FERC-555A), the Commission would
not be able to meet its statutory responsibilities under NGA, FPA,
EPAct 2005 or PUHCA 2005. The Commission would not have all of the
regulatory mechanisms necessary to ensure customer
protection.
The requirements within FERC-60
did not change. However, the Commission proposes four less filers
for this clearance (from 38 to 34 respondents) due to the
consolidation of part of the respondent universe and the
discontinuance of some centralized service companies. The
requirements within FERC-61 did not change. However, the Commission
proposes 60 more filers for this clearance (from 22 to 82
respondents) due to respondents' ability to either file
individually or to have a holding company file for a group of
companies per 18 CFR 366.23(a)(2). The requirements within
FERC-555A did not change. Thus, there is no significant change in
burden from the last date of submittal. The Commission proposes a
net increase of 56 respondents to the annual number of responses
associated with FERC-60/61/555A. The Commission proposes no
significant change in annual time burden. The proposed clearance
package illustrates a significant decrease to the annual cost
burden for these information collections. This is due primarily to
1) a previous error in accounting for capital investment and
non-labor costs and 2) a large reduction in storage costs due the
ongoing implementation of digital (i.e. cheaper) storage and
record-keeping. See the supporting statement for more details.
$217,616
No
No
No
No
No
Uncollected
Brian Holmes 202
219-2618
No
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.