PUBLISHED IC13-4-000 (FERC-538) 30dy

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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 44 / Wednesday, March 6, 2013 / Notices
challenge by always having more
capacity available than needed and
relying on certain entities to ensure the
moment-to-moment balancing of supply
and demand. Electric utilities that
perform the balancing function are
called Balancing Authorities. Due to the
interconnected nature of power grids,
collecting operating information from
only a subset of the entities involved
significantly undermines the usefulness
of the survey.
Balancing Authority operators
monitor their systems continuously and
may act whenever necessary to maintain
reliability. However, Balancing
Authority operating procedures, such as
scheduling supply, demand and
interchange (the flow of electricity
between Balancing Authorities), and the
mandatory reliability standards that
apply to them, use the hour as the
primary operating period. Consequently,
the proposed survey uses the operating
hour as its data measurement interval.
The proposed survey is specifically
designed to minimize burden on electric
system operators. The surveyed data is
typically produced in the normal course
of business by Balancing Authority
energy management systems. Hourly
demand and demand forecast data is
currently posted on public Web sites in
the proposed posting timeframes by a
number of Balancing Authorities,
including most Regional Transmission
Organizations. These balancing
authorities supply over half of end-use
electricity consumption in the United
States. A few Balancing Authorities post
publicly more detailed operating data.
Under Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) Order 890,
Transmitting Utilities are required to
post on their Open Access Same-time
Information System (OASIS) Web sites
prior-day’s peak hour demand and the
associated demand forecast value. Most
Balancing Authorities are also
Transmitting Utilities. Therefore, the
Balancing Authorities subject to Order
890 already have in place the means for
posting some of the data requested by
the proposed survey.
The proposed survey does not
duplicate existing data collections. EIA
currently collects monthly and annual
production from electric generators and
demand from load-serving entities. The
data are published about 52 days after
the end of a month for major generators
and systems, and about eight months
after the end of the year for smaller
entities.
FERC currently collects demand, net
generation and actual interchange from
Balancing Authorities on an annual
survey, the FERC Form 714. The
reporting is on a monthly and annual

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basis. In addition, Balancing Authorities
report actual interchange received and
delivered with each directly
interconnected Balancing Authority on
an annual basis. Monthly or annual
values for demand, net generation and
actual interchange do not provide
relevant information about the timevarying nature of these operating values
as would be provided by the proposed
survey.
The FERC Form 714 also collects
historical hourly demand by Planning
Area. Most Balancing Authorities are
also Planning Areas, but not all. The
hourly demand data is collected
annually and posted with the rest of the
form data in August of the year
following the reporting year. The FERC
Form 714 data is both less complete and
far less timely than the data collected by
the proposed survey, and does not offer
current information on the status of the
nation’s electric system that the
proposed survey would provide.
Certain real-time system information
is made available by NERC to DOE’s
Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy
Reliability. However, this data is not
made available to the public and under
the agency’s agreement with NERC the
data is not recorded or otherwise
retained by DOE.
EIA does not believe that this
information is business sensitive. As
noted above, Regional Transmission
Organizations that serve as Balancing
Authorities and some other Balancing
Authorities currently post publicly
hourly operating data. A potential
commercial issue is whether these data
will reveal whether a specific utility is
short on available generating capacity
and may be willing to pay premium
prices for electricity to meet load. The
proposed survey data, including sameday posting of hourly demand, does not
provide information about the
availability of generating units. The
next-day posting of operating data is
after the relevant short-term wholesale
power markets have closed.
Multiple power plants supply most
Balancing Authorities. Therefore, the
generation data reported under the
proposed survey will not reveal which
specific generators are operating or a
history of their operating trends.
However, some individual generators
and small utilities with little or no
generation have chosen for commercial
reasons to operate as Balancing
Authorities. Most Balancing Authorities
of this type are embedded within
another Balancing Authority and have a
single interconnection with that
Balancing Authority.
While the proposed survey data does
not provide information about the

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current availability of a single-generator
Balancing Authority power plant, it
does provide a history of the plant’s
hourly output. There is little value in
collecting system level operating data
from these Balancing Authorities.
However, their information is needed to
provide comprehensive operating
statistics. EIA requests comments on
how to exempt these Balancing
Authorities or limit their reporting
while maintaining the
comprehensiveness of the survey.
(5) Estimated Number of Survey
Respondents: The annual estimated
number of respondents is 107. This
includes 98 Balancing Authorities in the
contiguous United States, 6 electric
utilities in Alaska, and 3 electric
utilities in Hawaii.
(6) Annual Estimated Number of
Total Responses: The annual estimated
number of total responses is 39,055.
(7) Annual Estimated Number of
Burden Hours: The annual estimated
burden is 7,534 hours for the first year
(to include start-up activities) and 3,254
hours each subsequent year.
(8) Annual Estimated Reporting and
Recordkeeping Cost Burden: Additional
costs to respondents are not anticipated
beyond costs associated with response
burden.
Statutory Authority: Section 13(b) of the
Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974,
Pub. L. 93–275, codified at 15 U.S.C. 772(b).
Issued in Washington, DC, on February 27,
2013.
Renee Miller,
Acting Director, Office of Survey Development
and Statistical Integration, U.S. Energy
Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 2013–05152 Filed 3–5–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Docket No. IC13–4–000; (FERC–538)]

Commission Information Collection
Activities; Comment Request
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Comment request.
AGENCY:

SUMMARY: In compliance with the
requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission
(Commission or FERC) is submitting the
information collection FERC–538, Gas
Pipeline Certificates: Section 7(a)
Mandatory Initial Service, to the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) for
review of the information collection

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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 44 / Wednesday, March 6, 2013 / Notices

requirements. Any interested person
may file comments directly with OMB
and should address a copy of those
comments to the Commission as
explained below. The Commission
issued a Notice in the Federal Register
(77 FR 75627, 12/21/2012) requesting
public comments. FERC received no
comments on the FERC–538 and is
making this notation in its submittal to
OMB.
DATES: Comments on the collection of
information are due by April 5, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB,
identified by the OMB Control No.
1902–0061, should be sent via email to
the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs: [email protected].
Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission Desk Officer. The Desk
Officer may also be reached via
telephone at 202–395–4718.
A copy of the comments should also
be sent to the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, identified by the Docket
No. IC13–4–000, by either of the
following methods:
• eFiling at Commission’s Web Site:
http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/
efiling.asp.

• Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier:
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
Secretary of the Commission, 888 First
Street NE., Washington, DC 20426.
Instructions: All submissions must be
formatted and filed in accordance with
submission guidelines at: http://
www.ferc.gov/help/submissionguide.asp. For user assistance contact
FERC Online Support by email at
[email protected], or by phone
at: (866) 208–3676 (toll-free), or (202)
502–8659 for TTY.
Docket: Users interested in receiving
automatic notification of activity in this
docket or in viewing/downloading
comments and issuances in this docket
may do so at http://www.ferc.gov/docsfiling/docs-filing.asp.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ellen Brown may be reached by email
at [email protected], by
telephone at (202) 502–8663, and by fax
at (202) 273–0873.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title:
FERC–538: Gas Pipelines Certificates:
Section 7(a) Mandatory Initial Service.
OMB Control No.: 1902–0061.
Type of Request: Three-year extension
of the FERC–538 information collection

requirements with no changes to the
reporting requirements.
Abstract: Under sections 7(a), 10(a)
and 16 of Natural Gas Act (NGA),1 upon
application by a person or municipality
authorized to engage in the local
distribution of natural gas, the
Commission may order a natural gas
company to extend or improve its
transportation facilities, and sell natural
gas to the municipality or person and,
for such purpose, to extend its
transportation facilities to communities
immediately adjacent to such facilities
or to territories served by the natural gas
pipeline company. The Commission
uses the application data in order to be
fully informed concerning the applicant,
and the service the applicant is
requesting.
Type of Respondents: Persons or
municipalities authorized to engage in
the local distribution of natural gas.
Estimate of Annual Burden: 2 The
Commission estimates the total Public
Reporting Burden for this information
collection as:

FERC–538—GAS PIPELINES CERTIFICATES: SECTION 7(A) MANDATORY INITIAL SERVICE
Number of
respondents

Number of
responses per
respondent

Total number
of responses

Average
burden hours
per response

Estimated total
annual burden

(A)

(B)

(A) × (B) = (C)

(D)

(C) × (D)

1

1

1

240

240

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Gas Pipeline Certificates .......................

The total estimated annual cost
burden to respondents is $16,562 [240
hours * $69.01/hour 3 = $16,562].
Comments: Comments are invited on:
(1) Whether the collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
Commission, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(2) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate
of the burden and cost of the collection
of information, including the validity of
the methodology and assumptions used;
(3) ways to enhance the quality, utility
and clarity of the information collection;
and (4) ways to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including the use
of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.

1 15

U.S.C. 717f–w.
is defined as the total time, effort, or
financial resources expended by persons to
generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or provide
2 Burden

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Dated: February 27, 2013.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013–05121 Filed 3–5–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Project No. 11169–029]

Mayo Hydropower, LLC, Avalon
Hydropower, LLC; Notice of
Application for Transfer of License,
and Soliciting Comments and Motions
To Intervene
On November 20, 2012, Mayo
Hydropower, LLC (transferor) and
Avalon Hydropower, LLC (transferee)
filed an application for transfer of
information to or for a Federal agency. For further
explanation of what is included in the information
collection burden, reference 5 Code of Federal
Regulations 1320.3.

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license for the Avalon Dam Project, No.
11169, located on the Mayo River in
Rockingham County, North Carolina.
Mayo Hydropower, LLC and Avalon
Hydropower, LLC are both owned by
Mr. Dean Edwards and his wife Ms.
Wynona Edwards.
Applicants seek Commission approval
to transfer the license for the Avalon
Dam Project from transferor to
transferee.
Applicants’ Contact: Mr. Dean
Edwards, Manager, Avalon
Hydropower, LLC, 5400 Downing Street,
Dover, Florida 33527, telephone (813)
659–3014.
FERC Contact: Patricia W. Gillis (202)
502–8735.
Deadline for filing comments and
motions to intervene: 15 days from the
issuance date of this notice, by the
Commission. Comments and motions to
intervene may be filed electronically via
3 2080 hours = 52 weeks * 40 hours per week (i.e.
1 year of full-time employment).

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