In accordance
with 5 CFR 1320, the information collection is approved for three
years.
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
05/31/2019
36 Months From Approved
05/31/2016
1
0
12,000,000
1
0
8,334
0
0
0
In FERC Order 771 (issued 12/20/2012
in Docket No. RM11-12), the FERC-740 information collection
(providing Commission staff access to e-Tag data) was implemented
to provide the Commission, Market Monitoring Units (MMUs), Regional
Transmission Organizations (RTOs), and Independent System Operators
(ISOs) with information that allows them to perform market
surveillance and analysis more effectively. The e-Tag information
is necessary to understand the use of the interconnected
electricity grid, particularly transactions occurring at
interchanges. Due to the nature of the electricity grid, an
individual transaction’s impact on an interchange cannot be
assessed adequately in all cases without information from all
connected systems, which is included in the e-Tags. The details of
the physical path of a transaction included in the e-Tags helps the
Commission to monitor, in particular, interchange transactions
effectively, detect and prevent price manipulation over
interchanges, and ensure the efficient and orderly use of the
transmission grid. For example, the e-Tag data allows the
Commission to identify transmission reservations as they go from
one market to another and link the market participants involved in
that transaction. Order No. 771 provided the Commission access to
e-Tags by requiring that Purchasing-Selling Entities (PSEs) and
Balancing Authorities (BAs), list the Commission on the "CC" list
of e-Tags so that the Commission can receive a copy of the e-Tags.
The Commission accesses the e-Tags by contracting with a commercial
vendor, OATI. In early 2014, the North American Energy Standards
Board (NAESB) incorporated the requirement that the Commission be
added to the “CC” list on e-Tags as part of the tagging process.
Even before NAESB added the FERC requirement to the tagging
standards, the rules behind the "CC" list requirement had already
been programmed into the industry standard tagging software so as
to make the inclusion of FERC in the "CC" list automatic. The
Commission expects that PSEs and BAs will continue to use existing,
automated procedures to create and validate the e-Tags in a way
that provides the Commission with access to them. In the rare event
that a new BA would need to alert e-Tag administrators that certain
tags it generates qualify for exemption under the Commission’s
regulations (e.g., transmissions from a new Canadian BA into
another Canadian BA), this administrative function would be
expected to require less than an hour of effort total from both the
BA and an e-Tag administrator to include the BA on the exemption
list. New exempt BAs occur less frequently than every year, but for
the purpose of estimation we will conservatively assume one appears
each year creating an additional burden associated with the
Commission’s FERC-740 requirement of $60.59.
There is a program decrease due
to the following. • The implementation phase of adding FERC as the
‘cc’ on the e-Tags is completed. The effort is now completely
automated. • The requirement is also part of industry’s normal
business function due to NAESB incorporating the requirement for
FERC to be added as a ‘cc’ on e-Tags, as described further in the
supporting statement. FERC is including a burden of one hour for
any new Balancing Authority which may enter the field and need to
perform the initial set-up to identify FERC as a ‘cc’ for e-Tags.
We have deleted the previous 2 IC's and added a new IC for the
possible new Balancing Authority & the now totally completed
and automated efforts by Purchasing-Selling Entities (e-Tag
Authors) and Balancing Authorities. See the supporting statement
for more information.
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.
IC16-2_30day_FR2016-04956_538-740-729-715-592-60-61-555a.pdf
IC16-2_538_740_729_715_592_60_61_555A_30day_20160224-3019.doc
Information on eTag data fields and additional background.docx
1 New Balancing Authority (plus auto. filing by Purchasing-Selling Entities (e-Tag Authors) & Balancing Authors)