OE417_Supporting Statement B

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Supporting Statement for Survey Clearance

1. Part B: Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods

Form OE-417 Electric Emergency Incident and Disturbance Report

OMB No. 1901-0288

U.S. Department of Energy

Washington, DC 20585

Independent Statistics & Analysis

www.eia.gov

December 2020

Table of Contents

Part B: Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods i

B.1. Respondent Universe 1

B.2. Statistical Methods 1

B.3. Maximizing Response Rates 1

B.4. Test Procedures and Form Consultations 2

B.5. Statistical Consultations 2

B.1. Respondent Universe

The U.S Department of Energy uses Form OE-417 Emergency Incident and Disturbance Report to monitor emergencies and incidents in the United States (including all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Territories), such as power outages from hurricanes or other severe weather events, physical attacks on electrical infrastructure, or cyber incidents. The information gathered allows DOE to conduct post-incident reviews examining significant interruptions, or potential interruptions, of electric power or threats to the national electric system. Form OE-417 also enables the DOE to meet the Departments national security responsibilities as the coordinating agency for Emergency Support Function (ESF) #12 – Energy, under the National Response Framework, and the Sector-Specific Agency for the energy sector, pursuant to Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 21, PPD 41, and the FAST Act.

The respondent universe of this survey covers all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and U.S. Territories. Respondents include electric utilities and entities that have Balancing Authorities (BA) and/or regional Reliability Coordinator (RC) functions. Incident events reporting, such as suspected or actual threats, vandalism, and/or cyber-attacks or total loss of power, is required for all respondents. However, it is the expectation that few, if any, reports would be filed in any given year by most respondents. There are 2,299 regulated utilities, as well as 215 NERC established BA and RC entities that are responsible for the physical operations and reliability coordination of business entities that file the form. All of these functions are located within existing electric utilities or in those business entities that were established by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The entities that have BA responsibilities are considered the primary filer of Form OE-417. In addition to submitting the form online, respondents have the ability to submit by phone, email, or fax.

B.2. Statistical Methods

There is no statistical methodology applied. All incidents meeting the threshold requirements must be reported.

B.3. Maximizing Response Rates

If DOE receives notice of an incident or disturbance that was reported by an entity, DOE will send e-mail requests or make telephone calls to the entity. If no response occurs, correspondence is sent from DOE to management officials in the respondent entity requesting submission of the appropriate information. In addition, upon recertification of Form OE-417, DOE will work with North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and the Energy Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC) to send a notification to all NERC and E-ISAC members to remind them of reporting requirements.

B.4. Test Procedures and Form Consultations

The DOE Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response has discussed proposed changes for Form OE-417 with NERC, the E-ISAC, and FERC. A request for comments from interested persons was solicited in a Federal Register Notice (FRN) describing the proposed extension and proposed modifications to the form. The notice was published in the Federal Register, 85 Fed. Reg. 35925 (June 12, 2020). A second request for comments from interested persons was solicited in a Federal Register Notice (FRN) describing the proposed extension and proposed modifications to the form. The notice was published in the Federal Register, 85 Fed. Reg. 71063 (November 6, 2020).

B.5. Statistical Consultations

For additional information concerning Form OE-417, please contact Matthew Tarduogno at (202) 586-2892 or at [email protected] . For information concerning this request for OMB approval, please contact Faouzi Aloulou at 202-586-1344 or at [email protected].