FERC-725R, Mandatory Reliability Standards: BAL Reliability Standards, as Revised by Delegated Letter Order in Docket No. RD20-9-000

Forms and Documents

Document Name	Status
BAL-003-2.pdf Supplementary Document	2020-12-30
FERC-725R publisehd 12 29 2020.pdf Supplementary Document	2020-12-30
FERC-725R (Docket Nos. IC20-23 and RD20-9) 30-day notice issued 12 2 2020.docx Supplementary Document	2020-12-30
60day_20200820-3036_RD20-9-000 60-day notice 8 20 2020.docx Supplementary Document	2020-12-29
FERC-725R 60-day notice issued 8 21 2020.pdf Supplementary Document	2020-12-29
FERC-725 R 60-day notice published 8 28 2020.pdf Supplementary Document	2020-12-29
725R and RD20-9 supporting statement 12 29 2020.docx Supporting Statement A	2020-12-29
60-day notice for RD20-9-000 published 8 26 2020.pdf Supplementary Document	2020-12-29
Delegated Letter Order.pdf Supplementary Document	2020-12-29
NERC petition.docx Supplementary Document	2020-12-29
16 U.S.C. 824o.pdf Supplementary Document	2020-12-29
18 CFR Part 40.pdf Supplementary Document	2020-12-29

IC Document Collections

IC ID	Document Title	Status
245098	BAL-005-1, recordkeeping requirements	New
245096	BAL-002-3, recordkeeping requirements	New
245094	BAL-001-2, recordkeeping requirements	New
245085	BAL-003-2, recordkeeping requirements, as approved in Docket No. RD20-9	New
228496	BAL-005-1, repolrting requirements	Modified
225715	BAL-002-3, reporting requirements	Modified
214413	BAL-001-2, reporting requirements	Modified
207745	BAL-003-2, reporting requirements, as approved in Docket No. RD20-9	Modified

ICR Details

OMB Control No: 1902-0268	ICR Reference No: 202012-1902-004
Status: Received in OIRA	Previous ICR Reference No: 201902-1902-006
Agency/Subagency: FERC	Agency Tracking No: FERC-725R
Title: FERC-725R, Mandatory Reliability Standards: BAL Reliability Standards, as Revised by Delegated Letter Order in Docket No. RD20-9-000
Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR:  No
Type of Review Request: Regular	Date Submitted to OIRA: 12/30/2020

	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	36 Months From Approved	01/31/2021
Responses	3,446	3,989
Time Burden (Hours)	24,802	32,061
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0

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Abstract: On August 8, 2005, Congress enacted into law the Electricity Modernization Act of 2005, which is Title XII, Subtitle A, of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005). EPAct 2005 added a new section 215 to the Federal Power Act (FPA), which requires a Commission-certified Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) to develop mandatory and enforceable Reliability Standards, which are subject to Commission review and approval. Once approved, the Reliability Standard may be enforced by the ERO subject to Commission oversight, or the Commission may independently enforce Reliability Standards. On February 3, 2006, the Commission issued Order No. 672, implementing section 215 of the FPA. Pursuant to Order No. 672, the Commission certified one organization, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), as the ERO. The Reliability Standards developed by the ERO and approved by the Commission apply to users, owners and operators of the Bulk-Power System as set forth in each Reliability Standard. Information Collection Components Not Affected by Docket No. RD20-9-000 On August 28, the Commission published a notice that it is seeking renewal of FERC-725R (85 FR 53358). The Commission invited public comments, but received none. At present, FERC-725R includes the following nation-wide Reliability Standards that would not be affected by Docket No. RD20-9-000: • BAL-001-2, Real Power Balancing Control Performance. Reliability Standard BAL-001-2 is designed to ensure that applicable entities balance generation and load by maintaining system frequency within narrow bounds around a scheduled value, and it improves reliability by adding a frequency component to the measurement of a Balancing Authority’s Area Control Error (ACE). • BAL-002-3, Disturbance Control Standard – Contingency Reserve for Recovery from a Balancing Contingency Event. This standard ensures that a responsible entity, either a balancing authority or reserve sharing group, is able to recover from system contingencies by deploying adequate reserves to return their Area Control Error to defined values and replacing the capacity and energy lost due to generation or transmission equipment outages. • BAL-005-1, Balancing Authority Control. This standard establishes requirements for acquiring data necessary to calculate Reporting Area Control Error (Reporting ACE). The standard also specifies a minimum periodicity, accuracy, and availability requirement for acquisition of the data and for providing the information to the System Operator. It requires balancing authorities to maintain minimum levels of annual availability of 99.5% for each balancing authority system for calculating Reporting ACE . Information Collection Components Affected by Docket No. RD20-9-000 On December 19, 2019, NERC submitted a petition seeking Commission approval for proposed Reliability Standard BAL-003-2. On May 20, 2020, the Commission noticed the petition in Docket No. RD20-9-000. Interventions, comments, and protests were due on or before June 29, 2020. None were received. The Commission approved Reliability Standard BAL-003-2 on July 15, 2020 in a Delegated Letter Order (DLO). On August 26, 2020, the Commission published a notice of revision of FERC-725R in Docket No. RD20-9-000 (85 FR 52584). The Commission received no comments in response to the notice of revision. The Commission now seeks renewal of FERC-725R with the revisions that the Commission has approved in Docket No. RD20-9-000.

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Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 16 USC 824o Name of Law: EPAct 2005
  

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

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Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
	Not associated with rulemaking

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Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	85 FR 53358	08/28/2020
30-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	85 FR 85629	12/29/2020
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

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Number of Information Collection (IC) in this ICR: 8

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
BAL-003-2, recordkeeping requirements, as approved in Docket No. RD20-9
BAL-001-2, recordkeeping requirements
BAL-002-3, recordkeeping requirements
BAL-005-1, recordkeeping requirements
BAL-001-2, reporting requirements
BAL-003-2, reporting requirements, as approved in Docket No. RD20-9
BAL-002-3, reporting requirements
BAL-005-1, repolrting requirements

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ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Request	Previously Approved	Change Due to New Statute	Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Estimate	Change Due to Potential Violation of the PRA
Annual Number of Responses	3,446	3,989	0	-543	0	0
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	24,802	32,061	0	-7,259	0	0
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0	0	0	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: Yes

Burden Increase Due to: Miscellaneous Actions

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: Yes

Burden Reduction Due to: Miscellaneous Actions

Short Statement: We have re-organized the information collection activities in order to improve the precision of the burden estimates. The resulting program changes separate reporting requirements from recordkeeping requirements. Previously, reporting and recordkeeping requirements were combined for each Reliability Standard. The previously approved burdens were 3,989 responses and 32,061 hours. The requested burdens are 3,446 responses and 24,802 hours. There are no non-hour costs. The net effect of the program changes is 543 fewer responses and 7,259 fewer hours.

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Annual Cost to Federal Government: $5,723

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Does this ICR request any personally identifiable information (see OMB Circular No. A-130 for an explanation of this term)? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination.     No

Does this ICR include a form that requires a Privacy Act Statement (see 5 U.S.C. §552a(e)(3))? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination.     No

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? No

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Common Form ICR:  No

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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:

(a) It is necessary for the proper performance of agency functions;

(b) It avoids unnecessary duplication;

(c) It reduces burden on small entities;

(d) It uses plain, coherent, and unambiguous language that is understandable to respondents;

(e) Its implementation will be consistent and compatible with current reporting and recordkeeping practices;

(f) It indicates the retention periods for recordkeeping requirements;

(g) It informs respondents of the information called for under 5 CFR 1320.8 (b)(3) about:

(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;

(h) It was developed by an office that has planned and allocated resources for the efficient and effective management and use of the information to be collected.

(i) It uses effective and efficient statistical survey methodology (if applicable); and

(j) It makes appropriate use of information technology.

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.

Certification Date: 12/30/2020

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