[Federal Register: December 1, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 231)]
[Notices]               
[Page 72782-72783]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01de08-46]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Energy Information Administration

 
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request

AGENCY: Energy Information Administration (EIA), Department of Energy 
(DOE).

ACTION: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request.

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SUMMARY: The EIA is soliciting comments on the proposed revision and 
three-year extension to the Form OE-781R ``Report of International 
Electrical Export/Import Data.''

DATES: Comments must be filed by January 30, 2009. If you anticipate 
difficulty in submitting comments within that period, contact the 
person listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Mr. Steve Mintz. To ensure receipt of the 
comments by the due date, submission by FAX (202-586-8008) or e-mail 
(steven.mintz@hq.doe.gov) is recommended. The mailing address is the 
Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Department of 
Energy (Mail Code OE-20), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence 
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585. Alternatively, Mr. Mintz may be 
contacted by telephone at 202-586-9506.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of any forms and instructions (the proposed draft collection) 
should be directed to Mr. Steve Mintz at the address listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background
II. Current Actions
III. Request for Comments

I. Background

    The Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 761 et 
seq. ) and the DOE Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq. ) require 
the EIA to carry out a centralized, comprehensive, and unified energy 
information program. This program collects, evaluates, assembles, 
analyzes, and disseminates information on energy resource reserves, 
production, demand, technology, and related economic and statistical 
information. This information is used to assess the adequacy of energy 
resources to meet near and longer term domestic demands.
    The EIA, as part of its effort to comply with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq. ), provides the general 
public and other Federal agencies with opportunities to comment on 
collections of energy information conducted by or in conjunction with 
the EIA. Also, the EIA will later seek approval for this collection by 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under Section 3507(a) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
    The DOE Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, 
which currently has programmatic responsibility, oversees international 
electricity power flows for reliability and violations of permit 
standards. They also monitor the levels of electricity imports and 
exports and issue summary tabulations in a staff Annual Report. Monthly 
tabulations of these data may be used by the Energy Information 
Administration. The publications may include: Annual Energy Outlook, 
Annual Energy Review, Electric Power Annual, Electric Power Monthly, 
and Monthly Energy Review. This information will be kept in the public 
electronic files and will be available for public copying.
    The existing survey was designed for an electric utility industry 
that was dominated by integrated utilities, operating narrowly within 
prescribed markets and individually holding complete information on 
their operations and finances. In that environment, utilities that held 
Presidential Permits and or Export Authorizations could provide 
relatively complete information on their activities. The utilities, 
before restructuring of the power industry, also controlled power lines 
that largely were dedicated to serving their own customers, so it was 
appropriate for regulatory concern about reliability of supply to focus 
on the capacities and uses of individual lines, not systems. That has 
all changed. The reasons include: the restructuring of the wholesale 
and transmission markets by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
(FERC); the entry of a large number of independent marketers into those 
markets; and the regulatory requirement that entities in the electric 
power industry keep information on transmission operations separate 
from their information on marketing. All of that has placed limits on 
the usefulness of the existing form and collection format.

II. Current Actions

    The following changes are being proposed:
    The form would collect data on monthly activity, and respondents 
would file the form monthly using an internet-based electronic data 
collection and editing system. Monthly data would be filed within 30 
days of the end of the reporting month, e.g. October data would be due 
not later than November 30. (The existing form collects monthly 
information annually on paper filings.)
    The Form OE-781R would be retitled ``Monthly Electricity Imports 
and Exports Report.''
    A new category of respondents is being proposed to report on 
transmission system operations. That category would cover the 
independent system operators (ISOs) and regional transmission operators 
(RTOs). Since much of the physical information on cross-border power 
flows today is held by ISOs/RTOs and the transmission system managers 
in the federal power marketing administrations (PMA), they will likely 
be the principal respondents for questions on flows, capacities, and 
characteristics of transmission operations.
    Purchasers and sellers (including the marketing entities in the 
PMAs) would respond to questions on the value of the imports and 
exports (costs and revenues).
    The form would be restructured by disaggregating it into two parts 
and would separately query the U.S. transmission system operators and 
the U.S. purchasing and selling entities involved in cross-border 
trade. The separation of transmission and power

[[Page 72783]]

marketing functions in the industry today was established by the FERC.
    Transmission system operators would report the following: cross-
border flows across major transmission interfaces (scheduled, actual, 
and inadvertent), regional sources and destinations of power, fuel 
sources of generation (including system-based transactions), the 
provision of ancillary services, transmission capacity and planned 
additions, and the characteristics of transmission operations.
    Existing survey questions on the cost of imports and exports would 
be revised to reflect changes in industry structure concerning price 
setting. New questions would separately collect information on the 
value of imports and exports in different regional markets that rely on 
cost-of-service pricing and or market-based pricing. In addition 
questions covering the total cost of ancillary service along with a 
general identification of the type's ancillary services would be asked.
    For each category of proposed respondents, the survey design would 
work to minimize respondent burden by focusing on information readily 
available to those entities.

III. Request for Comments

    Prospective respondents and other interested parties should comment 
on the actions discussed in item II. The following guidelines are 
provided to assist in the preparation of comments.

As a Potential Respondent to the Request for Information

    A. Is the proposed collection of information necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the agency and does the 
information have practical utility?
    B. What actions could be taken to help ensure and maximize the 
quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of the information to be 
collected?
    C. Are the instructions and definitions clear and sufficient? If 
not, which instructions need clarification?
    D. Can the information be submitted by the respondent by the due 
date?
    E. Public reporting burden for this collection is estimated to 
average 2 hours per month for each respondent, and 1 hour per response 
for those reporting new proposed transmission line additions per year. 
The estimated burden includes the total time necessary to provide the 
requested information. In your opinion, how accurate is this estimate?
    F. The agency estimates that the only cost to a respondent is for 
the time it will take to complete the collection. Will a respondent 
incur any start-up costs for reporting, or any recurring annual costs 
for operation, maintenance, and purchase of services associated with 
the information collection?
    G. What additional actions could be taken to minimize the burden of 
this collection of information? Such actions may involve the use of 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    H. Does any other Federal, State, or local agency collect similar 
information? If so, specify the agency, the data element(s), and the 
methods of collection.

As a Potential User of the Information to be Collected

    A. Is the proposed collection of information necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the agency and does the 
information have practical utility?
    B. What actions could be taken to help ensure and maximize the 
quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of the information 
disseminated?
    C. Is the information useful at the levels of detail to be 
collected?
    D. For what purpose(s) would the information be used? Be specific.
    E. Are there alternate sources for the information and are they 
useful? If so, what are their weaknesses and/or strengths?
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the form. They also 
will become a matter of public record.

    Statutory Authority: Section 3507(h)(1) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (15 
U.S.C. 761 et seq.), and the DOE Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et 
seq.).

    Issued in Washington, DC, November 24, 2008.
Stephanie Brown,
Director, Statistics and Methods Group, Energy Information 
Administration.
 [FR Doc. E8-28447 Filed 11-28-08; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450-01-P