FERC-725X 60-day notice (published)

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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 59 / Tuesday, March 30, 2021 / Notices

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888
First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426,
in accordance with Rules 211 and 214
of the Commission’s Rules of Practice
and Procedure (18 CFR 385.211 and
385.214). Anyone filing a motion to
intervene or protest must serve a copy
of that document on the Applicant.
Notice is hereby given that the
deadline for filing protests with regard
to the applicant’s request for blanket
authorization, under 18 CFR part 34, of
future issuances of securities and
assumptions of liability, is April 13,
2021.
The Commission encourages
electronic submission of protests and
interventions in lieu of paper, using the
FERC Online links at http://
www.ferc.gov. To facilitate electronic
service, persons with internet access
who will eFile a document and/or be
listed as a contact for an intervenor
must create and validate an
eRegistration account using the
eRegistration link. Select the eFiling
link to log on and submit the
intervention or protests.
Persons unable to file electronically
may mail similar pleadings to the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
888 First Street NE, Washington, DC
20426. Hand delivered submissions in
docketed proceedings should be
delivered to Health and Human
Services, 12225 Wilkins Avenue,
Rockville, Maryland 20852.
In addition to publishing the full text
of this document in the Federal
Register, the Commission provides all
interested persons an opportunity to
view and/or print the contents of this
document via the internet through the
Commission’s Home Page (http://
www.ferc.gov) using the ‘‘eLibrary’’ link.
Enter the docket number excluding the
last three digits in the docket number
field to access the document. At this
time, the Commission has suspended
access to the Commission’s Public
Reference Room, due to the
proclamation declaring a National
Emergency concerning the Novel
Coronavirus Disease (COVID–19), issued
by the President on March 13, 2020. For
assistance, contact the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission at
[email protected] or call
toll-free, (886) 208–3676 or TYY, (202)
502–8659.
Dated: March 24, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021–06501 Filed 3–29–21; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Docket No. IC21–12–000]

Commission Information Collection
Activities (FERC–725X); Comment
Request; Extension
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of information collection
and request for comments.
AGENCY:

In compliance with the
requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission
(Commission or FERC) is soliciting
public comment on the currently
approved information collection, FERC
725X (Mandatory Reliability Standards:
Voltage and Reactive (VAR) Standards).
DATES: Comments on the collection of
information are due June 1, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit copies of
your comments (identified by Docket
No. IC21–12–000) by one of the
following methods: Electronic filing
through http://www.ferc.gov, is
preferred.
• Electronic Filing: Documents must
be filed in acceptable native
applications and print-to-PDF, but not
in scanned or picture format.
• For those unable to file
electronically, comments may be filed
by USPS mail or by hand (including
courier) delivery.
• Mail via U.S. Postal Service Only:
Addressed to: Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the
Commission, 888 First Street NE,
Washington, DC 20426.
• Hand (including courier) delivery:
Deliver to: Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue,
Rockville, MD 20852.
Instructions: All submissions must be
formatted and filed in accordance with
submission guidelines at: http://
www.ferc.gov. For user assistance,
contact FERC Online Support by email
at [email protected], or by
phone at (866) 208–3676 (toll-free).
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ellen Brown may be reached by email
at [email protected], telephone
at (202) 502–8663.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: FERC 725X, Mandatory
Reliability Standards: Voltage and
Reactive (VAR).
SUMMARY:

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Standards OMB Control No.: 1902–
0278.
Type of Request: Three-year extension
of the FERC–725X information
collection requirements with no changes
to the current reporting requirements.
Abstract: Pursuant to Section 215 of
the Federal Power Act (FPA),1 North
American Electric Reliability
Corporation (NERC) established the
Voltage and Reactive (‘‘VAR’’) group of
Reliability Standards, which consists of
two continent-wide Reliability
Standards, VAR–001–5 and VAR–002–
4.1. NERC conducts periodic reviews of
Reliability Standards in accordance
with Section 317 of the NERC Rules of
Procedure and Section 13 of the NERC
Standard Processes Manual. In
accordance with these authorities and
the NERC Reliability Standards
Development Plan: 2017–2019, NERC
recently completed Project 2016–EPR–
02 Enhanced Periodic Review of Voltage
and Reactive Reliability Standards. This
project conducted a periodic review of
mandatory and enforceable Reliability
Standards VAR–001–4.1 (Voltage and
Reactive Control) 2 and VAR–002–4
(Generator Operation for Maintaining
Network Schedules).3 These two
standards were designed to maintain
voltage stability on the Bulk-Power
System, protect transmission,
generation, distribution, and customer
equipment, and support the reliable
operation of the Bulk-Power System.
Voltage stability is the ability of a power
system to maintain acceptable voltage
levels throughout the system under
normal operating conditions and
following a disturbance. Failure to
maintain acceptable voltage levels (i.e.,
voltage levels become too high or too
low) may cause violations of System
Operating Limits (‘‘SOLs’’) and
Interconnection Reliability Operating
Limits (‘‘IROLs’’), result in damage to
Bulk-Power System equipment, and
thereby threaten the reliable operation
of the Bulk-Power System.
Reliability Standard VAR–001–5
This Reliability Standard requires
Transmission Operators to:
1 16

U.S.C. 824o (2012).
Commission approved Reliability Standard
VAR–001–4 (Voltage and Reactive Control) on
August 1, 2014. See North American Electric
Reliability Corp., Docket No. RD14–11–000 (Aug. 1,
2014) (delegated letter order). The Commission
approved errata version VAR–001–4.1 on November
13, 2015. See North American Electric Reliability
Corp., Docket No. RD15–6–000 (Nov. 13, 2015)
(delegated letter order).
3 The Commission approved Reliability Standard
VAR–002–4, which clarified the applicability of the
VAR–002 standard to dispersed generation
resources, on May 29, 2015. See North American
Electric Reliability Corp, 151 FERC ¶ 61,186 (May
29, 2015).
2 The

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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 59 / Tuesday, March 30, 2021 / Notices
• Specify a system-wide voltage
schedule (which is either a range or a
target value with an associated tolerance
band) as part of its plan to operate
within SOLs and IROLs, and to provide
the voltage schedule to its Reliability
Coordinator and adjacent Transmission
Operators upon request (Requirement
R1);
• Schedule sufficient reactive
resources to regulate voltage levels
(Requirement R2);
• Operate or direct the operation of
devices to regulate transmission voltage
and reactive flows (Requirement R3);
• Develop a set of criteria to exempt
generators from certain requirements
under Reliability Standard VAR–002–
4.1 related to voltage or Reactive Power
schedules, automatic voltage
regulations, and notification
(Requirement R4);
• Specify a voltage or Reactive Power
schedule (which is either a range or a
target value with an associated tolerance
band) for generators at either the high or
low voltage side of the generator stepup transformer, provide the schedule to
the associated Generator Operator,
direct the Generator Operator to comply
with that schedule in automatic voltage
control mode, provide the Generator
Operator the notification requirements
for deviating from the schedule, and, if
requested, provide the Generator

Operator the criteria used to develop the
schedule (Requirement R5); and
• Communicate step-up transformer
tap changes, the time frame for
completion, and the justification for
these changes to Generator Owners
(Requirement R6).
Reliability Standard VAR–002–4.1
This Reliability Standard includes an
information collection activity for
‘‘Requirement R1’’ and a separate
information collection activity for
‘‘Requirements R2 through R6.’’
This Reliability Standard requires
Generator Operators to:
• Operate each of its generators
connected to the interconnected
transmission system in automatic
voltage control mode or in a different
control mode as instructed by the
Transmission Operator, unless the
Generator Operator (1) is exempted
pursuant to the criteria developed under
VAR–001–5, Requirement R4, or (2)
makes certain notifications to the
Transmission Operator specifying the
reasons it cannot so operate
(Requirement R1);
• Maintain the Transmission
Operator’s generator voltage or Reactive
Power schedule, unless the Generator
Operator (1) is exempted pursuant to the
criteria developed under VAR–001–5,
Requirement R4, or (2) complies with

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the notification requirements for
deviations as established by the
Transmission Owner pursuant to VAR–
001–5, Requirement R5 (Requirement
R2);
• Notify the Transmission Operator of
a change in status of its voltage
controlling device within 30 minutes,
unless the status is restored within that
time period (Requirement R3); and
• Notify the Transmission Operator of
a change in reactive capability due to
factors other than those described in
VAR–002–4.1, Requirement R3 within
30 minutes unless the capability has
been restored during that time period
(Requirement R4).
• Provide information on its step-up
transformers and auxiliary transformers
within 30 days of a request from the
Transmission Operator or Transmission
Planner (Requirement R5); and
• Comply with the Transmission
Operator’s step-up transformer tap
change directives unless compliance
would violate safety, an equipment
rating, or applicable laws, rules or
regulations (Requirement R6).
Type of Respondents: Generator
owners and transmission operators.
Estimate of Annual Burden: 4 The
Commission estimates the annual public
reporting burden for the information
collection as:

FERC–725X, MANDATORY RELIABILITY STANDARDS: VOLTAGE AND REACTIVE (VAR) STANDARDS

VAR–001–5 (Requirements R1–
R6).
VAR–002–4.1 (Requirement R1)
VAR–002–4.1 (Requirements
R2–R6).

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Total ...................................

Number of
respondents 5

Annual number
of responses
per respondent

Total number
of responses

Average burden & cost
per response 6

Total annual burden hours &
total annual cost

Cost per
respondent
($)

(1)

(2)

(1) * (2) = (3)

(4)

(3) * (4) = (5)

(5) ÷ (1)

167 (TOP) ........

1

167

160 hrs.; $11,721.73 ....

26,887 hrs.; $1,887,198.53 .......

$11,721.73

937 (GOP) ........
937 (GOP) ........

1
1

937
937

80 hrs.; $5,615.20 ........
120 hrs.; $8,422.80 ......

74,960 hrs.; $5,261,442.4 .........
112,440 hrs.; $7,892,163.6 .......

5,615.20
8,422.80

..........................

..........................

2,041

.......................................

214,287 hrs.; $15,040,804.53.

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
4 The Commission defines burden as the total
time, effort, or financial resources expended by
persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or
provide information to or for a Federal agency. For
further explanation of what is included in the

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the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including the use
of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Dated: March 24, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.

[Docket No. RM19–12–000]

[FR Doc. 2021–06504 Filed 3–29–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission

Revisions to the Filing Process for
Commission Forms; Notice of Eforms
Updates, Termination of Visual Foxpro
Filings, and Extension of Filing
Deadlines
As provided for in the July 17, 2020
Order on Technical Conference, notice

information collection burden, reference 5 Code of
Federal Regulations 1320.3.
5 TOP = transmission operator; GOP = generator
operators. Respondent counts based of the NERC
Compliance Registry numbers February 5, 2021.

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6 The estimate for hourly cost is $70.19/hour.
This figure is the average salary plus benefits for an
electrical engineer (Occupation Code: 17–2071)
from the Bureau of Labor Statistics at https://
www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm.

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