Non-Substantive Changes, as implemented in Docket No. RD16-1-000

FERC-725L (OMB Control No. 1902-0261)

3/10/2016

Non-Substantive Changes, Made by the Delegated Letter Order in Docket No. RD16-1-000 (Petition of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation for Approval of Proposed Reliability Standard MOD-031-2)

The proposed Reliability Standard MOD-031-2 achieves the same reliability purpose of the prior version MOD-031-1. This standard provides authority for Bulk-Power System planners and operators to collect demand, energy, and related data to support reliability studies and assessments, and enumerates the responsibilities and obligations of requestors and respondents of that data. 

In its November 13, 2015 petition, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) states that Reliability Standard MOD-031-2 is an improvement to the existing version of the standard because it clarifies the compliance obligations related to (1) providing data to Regional Entities and (2) responding to a request for data subject to confidentiality restrictions. NERC also states that the improvements to the Reliability Standard are consistent with the Commission directives in Order No. 804.¹ In Order No. 804, the Commission approved Reliability Standard MOD-031. However, the Commission also directed, pursuant to 215(d)(5) of the FPA, that NERC develop a modification to Reliability Standard MOD-031-1 to clarify that planning coordinators and balancing authorities must provide demand and energy data upon request of a Regional Entity, as necessary to support NERC’s development of seasonal and long-term reliability assessments.

In a Delegated Letter Order in Docket No. RD16-1, the Commission approved the proposed Reliability Standard MOD-031-2 on 2/18/2016.²

FERC is not changing the way the collection is being done, and is not modifying the burden, cost or respondents, and sees this as a non-material or non-substantive change to a currently approved collection.

1 NERC Petition at 2, n.8 citing Demand and Energy Data Reliability Standard, Order No. 804, 150 FERC ¶ 61,109 at PP 14-15 (2015).

2 The Delegated Letter Order is available in FERC’s eLibrary at http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/common/opennat.asp?fileID=14148897.