[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 143 (Tuesday, July 27, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 43956]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-18356]
[[Page 43956]]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Energy Information Administration
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Change of
Disclosure Information From Protected to Public
AGENCY: Energy Information Administration (EIA), Department of Energy
(DOE).
ACTION: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Public
Release of Past Responses; Comment Request.
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SUMMARY: The EIA proposes to change the data confidentiality protection
provisions for data collected from the ``Annual Nonutility Power
Producer Report'' Form EIA-867.
DATES: Comments must be filed by September 27, 2010. If you anticipate
difficulty in submitting comments within that period, contact the
person listed below as soon as possible.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Christopher Cassar. To ensure receipt of
the comments by the due date, submission by FAX (202-287-1938) or e-
mail ([email protected]) is recommended. The mailing address is
Christopher Cassar, EI-53, Forrestal Building, U.S. Department of
Energy, 1000 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20585.
Alternatively, Christopher Cassar may be contacted by telephone at 202-
586-5448.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be directed to Christopher Cassar at the address listed above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
II. Current Actions
III. Request for Comments
I. Background
The Form EIA-867, ``Annual Nonutility Power Producer Report'' was
used to collect data from the nonutility electricity generator sector
from 1989 through 1997. The data collected on the survey form included
plant-level electric power production and consumption data. The survey
also collected ownership statistics such as, company name, number of
electric generating facilities owned, and contact person name, title,
and telephone number. From 1989 through 1997, EIA collected some
information as public and non-confidential and other data such as fuels
consumed, generation, purchases of electricity, sales, electricity used
at the facility, number and type of customers, maximum contract amount
by customer, deliveries by customer, environmental information, and
electric generator information as confidential. EIA stated in its
survey instructions that it would protect the information to the extent
that it satisfied the criteria for exemption under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552, the Department of Energy (DOE)
regulations, 10 CFR 1004.11 implementing the FOIA, and the Trade
Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. 1905.
After 1997, the industry became deregulated and many plants
previously categorized as ``utility plants'' were divested by
utilities, and moved into the ``nonutility'' sector as independent
power producers. Those facilities were accustomed to EIA's publicly
disclosing information that was collected on Form EIA-867. On January
13, 1998, EIA published a Federal Register Notice (Volume 63, Number 8)
to solicit comments on what electric power data should be treated as
non-confidential and be available for dissemination in company-specific
form and what electric power data should be treated as confidential by
EIA and not disclosed in identifiable form. Based on the comments
received from the electric power producers and data users, EIA made the
decision to treat the information collected on Form EIA-867 as public
information and began releasing plant-level electric power production
and consumption data from its Web site beginning with data collected
from January 1, 1998.
II. Current Actions
The Form EIA-867 survey was discontinued December 31, 1998, and the
data elements were merged into Form EIA-860. Beginning with the
collection of 1998 data on January 1, 1999, these data elements are
treated as public information. EIA now proposes to treat all data
submitted on Form EIA-867 from 1989 through 1997 data as public
information and release it on EIA's Web site.
III. Request for Comments
Past respondents to Form EIA-867 and other interested parties
should comment on the actions discussed in item II. Comments submitted
in response to this notice will be considered before EIA changes the
disclosure status.
Statutory Authority: Section 13(b) of the Federal Energy
Administration Act of 1974, Public Law 93-275, codified at 15 U.S.C.
772(b).
Issued in Washington, DC, July 21, 2010.
Stephanie Brown,
Director, Statistics and Methods Group, Energy Information
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-18356 Filed 7-26-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P