30-day Notice, published in Fed. Reg.

Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 190 / Friday, September 30, 2016 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Docket No. IC16–11–000]

Commission Information Collection
Activities (FERC Form Nos. 1, 1–F, and
3–Q); Comment Request
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Comment request.
AGENCY:

The Commission previously
issued a 60-day Notice in the Federal
Register (81 FR 38169, 6/13/2016)
requesting public comments on FERC
Form Nos. 6, 580, 1, 1–F, and 3–Q. The
Commission received no comments
regarding FERC Form Nos. 6 and 580
and issued a separate 30-day Notice on
those collections (81 FR 62112, 9/8/
2016).
The Commission did receive
comments (responding to the 60-day
Notice) regarding FERC Form Nos. 1,
1–F, and 3–Q. This Notice addresses
those comments and solicits additional
comments on FERC Form Nos. 1, 1–F,
and 3–Q.
In compliance with the requirements
of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D), the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission
(Commission or FERC) is submitting the
FERC Form No. 1 (Annual Report of
Major Electric Utilities, Licensees, and
Others), FERC Form No. 1–F (Annual
Report for Nonmajor Public Utilities and
Licensees), and FERC Form No. 3–Q
(Quarterly Financial Report of Electric
Utilities, Licensees, and Natural Gas
Companies) to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
review of the information collection
requirements. Any interested person
may file comments directly with OMB
and should address a copy of those
comments to the Commission as
explained below.
DATES: Comments on the FERC Form
Nos. 1, 1–F, and 3–Q are due by October
31, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Comments filed with OMB,
identified by the OMB Control Nos.
1902–0021 (FERC Form No. 1), 1902–
0029 (FERC Form No. 1–F), and 1902–
0205 (FERC Form No. 3–Q) should be
sent via email to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs:
[email protected], Attention:
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Desk Officer.
A copy of the comments should also
be sent to the Commission, in Docket
No. IC16–11–000, by either of the
following methods:

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SUMMARY:

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• 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:
Type of Request: Three-year extension
of the information collection
requirements for FERC Form Nos. 1,
1–F, and 3–Q, with no changes to the
current reporting requirements. Please
note that each collection is distinct from
the next.
Comments: Comments are invited on:
(1) Whether the collections of
information are 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
estimates of the burden and cost of the
collections of information, including the
validity of the methodology and
assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance
the quality, utility and clarity of the
information collections; and (4) ways to
minimize the burden of the collections
of information on those who are to
respond, including the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
FERC Form No. 1, Annual Report of
Major Electric Utilities, Licensees, and
Others
OMB Control No.: 1902–0021.
Abstract: The FERC Form No. 1 (Form
No. 1) is a comprehensive financial and
operating report submitted annually for
electric rate regulation, market oversight
analysis, and financial audits by Major
electric utilities, licensees and others.
Major pertains to utilities and licensees
having in each of the three previous
calendar years, sales or transmission
services that exceed one of the

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following: (1) One million megawatt
hours of total annual sales; (2) 100
megawatt hours of annual sales for
resale; (3) 500 megawatt hours of annual
power exchanges delivered; or (4) 500
megawatt hours of annual wheeling for
others (deliveries plus losses).1
The Form No. 1 is designed to collect
financial and operational information
and is considered to be a nonconfidential public use form. The Form
No. 1 includes a basic set of financial
statements: Comparative Balance Sheet,
Statement of Income, Statement of
Retained Earnings, Statement of Cash
Flows, Statements of Accumulated
Comprehensive Income, Comprehensive
Income, and Hedging Activities; and
Notes to Financial Statements.
Supporting schedules contain
supplementary information and outlines
of corporate structure and governance;
information on formula rates; and
description of important changes during
the year. Other schedules provide
information on revenues and the related
quantities of electric sales and
electricity transmitted; account balances
for all electric operation and
maintenance expenses; selected plant
cost data; and other statistical
information.
Type of Respondent: Major electric
utilities.
Comments: In response to the 60-day
Notice, the Commission received
comments from The Bureau of
Economic Analysis (BEA) collectively
on Forms 1 and 1–F.2 A summary of the
comments and the Commission’s
responses follow.
• The Bureau of Economic Analysis
(BEA) submitted comments on 7/28/
2016 on Forms 1 and 1–F.3
BEA Comments: BEA uses data from
Forms 1 and 1–F in estimating the
national income and product account
(NIPA) structures investment estimate.
BEA states: ‘‘While BEA uses this
information indirectly through the [U.S.
Census Bureau’s Construction Value
Put-In Place] program, it is considered
an indispensable data source to the
NIPA estimates.’’ 4 BEA would like to
explore receiving data directly from the
Commission with aggregated industry
1 As detailed in 18 CFR 101 (Uniform System of
Accounts Prescribed for Public Utilities and
Licensees Subject to the Provision of the Federal
Power Act, General Instructions) and 18 CFR 141.1.
Nonoperating entities formerly designated as Major
and new entities that expect to be in the Major
category should file as detailed in 18 CFR 101.
2 The submittals are posted at http://
elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/common/
opennat.asp?fileID=14318233 and http://
elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/common/
opennat.asp?fileID=14318200.
3 Id.
4 Id.

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67344

Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 190 / Friday, September 30, 2016 / Notices

totals of particular line items from
Forms 1 and 1–F. BEA also suggests that
the Commission expand the Form 1 and
1–F collection to include additional
information regarding details on capital
expenditures.
FERC Response: BEA may access
Form 1 and 1–F data directly: (1) Using

the Form 1 viewer and historical data
that is accessible via the Commission’s
Web site at www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/
forms.asp; or (2) by searching for
individual filings in eLibrary at http://
www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/elibrary.asp.
The Commission is not presently
considering modifications to collect

additional information on the Forms 1
and 1–F. Separately, the Commission is
looking at modernizing data collection
in Docket No. AD15–11, but that is an
activity not addressed here.5
Estimate of Annual Burden: The
estimated annual burden 6 and cost 7
follow:

FORM NO. 1
Number of
respondents
(1)

Annual
number of
responses per
respondent

Total
number of
responses

Average burden hours & cost
per response

Total annual burden hours &
total annual cost

Cost per
respondent
($)

(2)

(1) * (2) = (3)

(4)

(3) * (4) = (5)

(5) ÷ (1)

1,168 hrs.; $91,874.88 .........

245,280 hrs.; $19,293,724.80

210 .........................................

1

The instructions to the Form 1 will be
updated to reflect the current burden
estimate and email addresses for FERC
and OMB.
FERC Form No. 1–F, Annual Report for
Nonmajor Public Utilities and Licensees
OMB Control No.: 1902–0029.
Abstract: The FERC Form No. 1–F
(Form No. 1–F) is a financial and
operating report submitted annually for
electric rate regulation, market oversight
analysis, and financial audits by
Nonmajor electric utilities and
licensees. Nonmajor pertains to utilities
and licensees having total annual sales
of 10,000 megawatt-hours or more in the
previous calendar year and not
classified as Major.8

210

The Form No. 1–F is designed to
collect financial and operational
information and is considered to be a
non-confidential public use form. The
Form No. 1–F includes a basic set of
financial statements: Comparative
Balance Sheet, Statement of Retained
Earnings, Statement of Cash Flows,
Statement of Comprehensive Income
and Hedging Activities, and Notes to
Financial Statements. Supporting
schedules contain supplementary
information and include revenues and
the related quantities of electric sales
and electricity transmitted; account
balances for all electric operation and
maintenance expenses; selected plant
cost data; and other statistical
information.

$91,874.88

Type of Respondent: Nonmajor
electric utilities.
Comments: In response to the 60-day
Notice, the Commission received
comments from the BEA on 7/28/2016.
As indicated above, these comments
were submitted collectively for both
Forms 1 and 1–F; a summary of the
comments and the Commission’s
responses are provided above under
Form 1.
Estimate of Annual Burden: The
estimated annual burden and cost
follow. (The estimated hourly cost used
for the Form No. 1–F is $78.66 (wages
plus benefits) and is described above,
under the Form No. 1.):

FORM NO. 1–F
Number of
respondents
(1)

Annual
number of
responses per
respondent

Total
number of
responses

Average burden hours & cost
per response

Total annual burden hours &
total annual cost

Cost per
respondent
($)

(2)

(1) * (2) = (3)

(4)

(3) * (4) = (5)

(5) ÷ (1)

122 hrs.; $9,596.52 ..............

610 hrs.; $47,982.60 ............

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5 .............................................

1

5

The instructions to the Form 1–F will
be updated to reflect the current burden
estimate and email addresses for FERC
and OMB.

FERC Form No. 3–Q, Quarterly
Financial Report of Electric Utilities,
Licensees, and Natural Gas Companies

5 When FERC makes changes to the forms,
instructions, and/or reporting platform system, that
information will be submitted to OMB, as
appropriate, for review under the Paperwork
Reduction Act (PRA). More information on the
Forms Refresh project is posted at http://
www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/forms/eforms-refresh.asp.
6 The one-time implementation burden (of 3
hours per respondent for the Forms 1 and 1–F) for
the Final Rule in Docket No. RM11–24 (issued 7/
18/2013) was administratively averaged over Years
1–3 giving an additional 1 hour annually for Years
1–3. Because the implementation period and that 3year period (of averaging the implementation

burden) have been completed, the additional 1 hour
of burden is removed here and for the FERC Form
1–F, below. These changes were inadvertently
omitted from the 60-day Notice in Docket No. IC16–
11.
7 The cost estimate (wages plus benefits) is
$78.66/hour and is used for the Form Nos. 1, 1–F,
and 3–Q. The $78.66/hour (wages plus benefits) is
based on figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
National Industry—Specific Occupational and
Employment Wage Estimates (May 2015 estimates
at http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm,
and benefits information for December 2015 at
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm) and

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OMB Control No.: 1902–0205.

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$9,596.52

Abstract: The FERC Form No. 3–Q
(Form No. 3–Q) is a quarterly financial
and operating report for rate regulation,
market oversight analysis, and financial
audits which supplements the (a) Form
is an average of the following: (a) Management
(code 11–0000) of $88.94/hour; (b) business and
financial operations occupations (code 13–0000) of
$56.86/hour; (c) legal (code 23–0000) of $128.94/
hour; and (d) office and administrative support
(code 43–0000) of $39.91/hour.
8 As detailed in 18 CFR 101 (Uniform System of
Accounts Prescribed for Public Utilities and
Licensees Subject to the Provision of the Federal
Power Act, General Instructions) and 18 CFR 141.2.
Nonoperating entities formerly designated as
Nonmajor and new entities that expect to be in the
Nonmajor category should file as detailed in 18 CFR
101.

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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 190 / Friday, September 30, 2016 / Notices
Nos. 1 and 1–F for the electric industry,
or the (b) Form No. 2 (Major Natural Gas
Pipeline Annual Report; OMB Control
No. 1902–0028) and Form No. 2–A
(Nonmajor Natural Gas Pipeline Annual
Report; OMB Control No. 1902–0030)
(for the natural gas industry). The Form
No. 3–Q is submitted for all Major and
Nonmajor electric utilities and
licensees; and natural gas companies.9
Form No. 3–Q includes a basic set of
financial statements: Comparative
Balance Sheet, Statement of Income and
Statement of Retained Earnings,
Statement of Cash Flows, Statement of
Comprehensive Income and Hedging
Activities and supporting schedules
containing supplementary information.
Electric respondents report revenues
and the related quantities of electric
sales and electricity transmitted;
account balances for all electric
operation and maintenance expenses;
selected plant cost data; and other
statistical information. Natural gas
respondents include monthly and
quarterly quantities of gas transported
and associated revenues; storage,
terminaling and processing services;
natural gas customer accounts and
details of service; and operational
expenses, depreciation, depletion and
amortization of gas plant.
Type of Respondent: Major and
nonmajor electric utilities and natural
gas pipelines.

Comments: In response to the 60-day
Notice, the Commission received
comments from two parties on Form 3–
Q. A summary of the comments and the
Commission’s responses follow.
• BEA submitted comments on 7/28/2016
on Form 3–Q.10
BEA Comments: BEA relies heavily on data
from Forms 3–Q to calculate components of
both the industry and national economic
accounts to estimate gross output,
intermediate input, and value added to the
U.S. economy from the utilities industry.
Similar to BEA’s comments on Forms 1 and
1–F, BEA is interested in the inclusion of
additional information in Form 3–Q
regarding details related to capital
expenditures. BEA suggests expansions to the
Form 3–Q such as adding ‘‘new versus
replacement capital expenditures for certain
line items’’; including ‘‘annual payments for
equipment, software, and structures leased
under operating leases from others’’; and
improving ‘‘questions to help identify plants
producing services in the current period (in
service) versus plant not in service or offline’’.
FERC Response: The Commission is not
presently considering modifications to
collect additional information on the Form
3–Q but as noted above is looking at
modernizing data collection, which is a
separate activity not addressed here.
• EEI submitted comments on 8/12/2016
on the Form 3–Q.11
EEI Comments: In its comments, EEI
proposes eliminating the Form 3–Q or
reducing its frequency. EEI claims that the
Form 3–Q has little to no value to the
Commission’s objective to achieve vigilant

67345

oversight of reporting entities. EEI states that
it is unclear exactly how and to what extent
the Commission uses the quarterly data and
that no EEI member has ever been contacted
about a Form 3–Q filing. EEI poses that Form
3–Q does not lend itself to identification of
emerging trends or the economic effects of
significant transactions and events and that
Form 3–Q has no bearing on formula rate
determination. As such EEI recommends that
the Commission eliminate Form 3–Q or
alternately adopt a mid-year frequency.
Regarding the accuracy of the
Commission’s burden and cost estimates, EEI
comments that the Commission’s estimates
are reasonable, but that EEI does not believe
the burden and costs are warranted.
FERC Response: The Commission currently
uses the Form 3–Q report to perform
oversight analysis and make timely
evaluations of current financial information
submitted to the Commission. Additionally,
Form 3–Q is used to validate the debt and
equity information of filings under Part 34 of
the Commission’s regulations when the most
recent 12-month filing occurred more than 4
months prior to the application under Part
34. The Commission is not presently
considering modifications to the collection or
frequency of collection of the Form 3–Q, but
may consider doing so in the future, at which
time EEI will be able to submit comments on
this issue.

Estimate of Annual Burden: The
estimated annual burden and cost (as
rounded) follow. (The estimated hourly
cost used for the Form No. 3–Q is
$78.66 (wages plus benefits) and is
described above, under the Form No. 1.)

FORM NO. 3–Q
Number of
respondents

FERC 3–Q (electric) ..........
FERC 3–Q (gas) ...............

Annual
number of
responses per
respondent

Total number
of responses

Average burden hours
& cost per response

Total annual burden hours &
total annual cost

Annual cost
per respondent
($)

(1)

(2)(1) * (2) = (3)

(4)

(3) * (4) = (5)

(5) ÷ (1)

168 hrs.; $13,214.88 ..........
167 hrs.; $13,136.22 ..........

107,352 hrs.; $8,444,308 .......
83,667 hrs.; $6,581,246 .........

12 213

3
3

167

639
501

Total for FERC 3–Q ...

1,140

191,019 hrs.; $15,025,554.

The instructions to the Form 3–Q will
be updated to reflect the current burden
estimate and email addresses for FERC
and OMB.

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Dated: September 26, 2016.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.

[Docket No. CP16–502–000]

Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission

Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline,
Inc.; Notice of Request Under Blanket
Authorization

[FR Doc. 2016–23681 Filed 9–29–16; 8:45 am]

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BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

Take notice that on September 16,
2016, Southern Star Central Gas
9 18 CFR 260.1(b) states that for natural gas
companies, Major, as defined by the Natural Gas
Act, pertains to a company whose combined gas
transported or stored for a fee exceed 50 million Dth
in each of the three previous calendar years. 18 CFR
260.2(b) states that for natural gas companies,
Nonmajor as defined by the Natural Gas Act,

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pertains to a company not meeting the filing
threshold for Major, but having total gas sales or
volume transactions exceeding 200,000 Dth in each
of the three previous calendar years.
10 The submittal is posted at http://elibrary.ferc.
gov/idmws/common/opennat.asp?fileID=14318234.

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$39,644.64
39,408.66

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Pipeline, Inc. (Southern Star), 4700
State Highway 56, Owensboro,
Kentucky 42301, filed in Docket No.
CP16–502–000 a prior notice request
pursuant to sections 157.205 and
157.216(b) of the Commission’s
regulations under the Natural Gas Act
(NGA), as amended, requesting
authorization to abandon in place Units
1, 2, 3, and 4, each compressor unit
rated at 170 horsepower, and associated
appurtenances at its Atchison
11 The submittal is posted at http://elibrary.ferc.
gov/idmws/common/opennat.asp?fileID=14328920.
12 The estimated number of electric filers of the
Form No. 3–Q is 213 (rather than the 215 total for
the number of filers of the Form Nos. 1 and 1–F)
due to waivers granted by the Commission in
Docket No. AC04–105.

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