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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 104 / Wednesday, June 2, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
additions to the following set of existing standards: 24
WEQ

Business practice standards
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Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Definition of Terms.
Open Access Same-Time Information System OASIS.
OASIS Standards and Communication Protocols S&CP.
OASIS S&CP Data Dictionaries.
Coordinate Interchange.
Transmission Loading Relief TLREastern Interconnection Business Practice Standards.
OASIS Implementation Guide.
Modeling.

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18. The specific NAESB standards that we are incorporating by reference in this final rule establish a set of business practice standards and communication protocols for the electric industry that will continue to enable industry members to achieve efficiencies by streamlining utility business and transactional processes and communication procedures. All of these standards, except for portions of the WEQ023 Modeling Business Practice Standards, update and replace standards that the Commission previously incorporated by reference in Order No.
676I.
19. As the Commission has explained in prior orders, NAESB approved the standards under its consensus procedures.25 Adoption of consensus standards is appropriate because the consensus process helps ensure the reasonableness of the standards by requiring that the standards draw support from a broad spectrum of all segments of the industry. Moreover, since the industry itself must conduct business under these standards, the Commissions regulations should reflect those standards that have the widest 24 See NAESB WEQ Version 003.3 Report, Transmittal at 3.
25 Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities, Order No. 676H, 79 FR 56939 Sept. 24, 2015, 148 FERC
61,205, at P 21, n.27 2014. WEQs procedures ensure that all industry members can have input into the development of a business practice standard, whether or not they are members of NAESB, and each standard it adopts is supported by a consensus of the seven industry segments:
Transmission, generation, marketer/brokers, distribution/load serving entities, end users, independent grid operators/planners, and technology services. Under the WEQ process, for a standard to be approved, it must receive a supermajority vote of 67 percent of the members of the WEQs Executive Committee with support from at least 40 percent of each of the seven industry segments. For final approval, 67 percent of the WEQs general membership must ratify the standards..

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possible support. In section 12d of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, Congress affirmatively requires federal agencies to use technical standards developed by voluntary consensus standards organizations, like NAESB, to carry out policy objectives or activities.26
B. Issues Raised by Commenters 20. Comments in response to the WEQ
Version 003.3 NOPR were filed by four commenters. Commenters expressed general support for the Commissions proposals,27 and no comments opposed the basic direction of the NOPR, although some commenters took issue with specific details of the NOPR
proposal. Specifically, commenters raised discrete concerns regarding the WEQ023 Business Practice Standards and the Commissions proposed regulatory text regarding nondiscriminatory ATC calculations.
Commenters also commented on whether the Commission should require industry to implement WEQ Version 003.2 prior to WEQ Version 003.3, or instead should cancel the implementation obligation of WEQ
Version 003.2 and require implementation of all accepted WEQ
Version 003.3 Business Practice Standards including WEQ 003.2
changes within 18 months. We will incorporate by reference into the Commissions regulations all of the WEQ Version 003.3 Standards and amend the regulatory text at 37.6b2i as described below. We will separately discuss each of the issues raised by commenters.
1. Changes to OASIS
a. Background 21. Order No. 890 requires transmission providers to post to OASIS
all circumstances and events contributing to the need for a firm service curtailment, specific services and customers curtailed including the transmission providers own retail loads, and the duration of the curtailment. 28 As the Commission explained in the NOPR, NAESB made additional modifications to the OASIS
suite of standards, as well as consistency changes to WEQ000
Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Definition of Terms Business Practice 26 Public Law 104113, 12d, 110 Stat. 775
1996, 15 U.S.C. 272 note 1997.
27 The ISO/RTO Council specifically endorsed the WEQ Version 003.3 NOPR proposal to incorporate by reference business practice standards necessary to effectuate the PFV enhanced congestion management process. ISO/RTO Council Comments at 2, 45.
28 Order No. 890, 118 FERC 61,119 at P 1627.

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Standards. NAESBs changes to the standards included modifications to existing templates and the creation of two new templates to provide the mechanism for transmission providers to post the required additional information regarding the curtailment of firm transmission service, including the curtailment of non-firm transmission service that preceded any firm transmission curtailments.
22. The information needed to meet the posting requirements is contained in two separate tools: The Interchange Distribution Calculator IDC tool for the Eastern Interconnection, managed by EIDSN, Inc., and the Enhanced Curtailment Calculator ECC tool for the Western Interconnection, managed by the California Independent System Operator. Although both the IDC and ECC tools produce information to be posted to OASIS in accordance with the standards, NAESB states that its members determined that the need for a mechanism to transfer data from the tools to OASIS should be addressed as part of any industry implementation rather than through standards modifications.
b. Comments 23. The ISO/RTO Council states that it supports an automated mechanism to transfer data from the IDC/ECC tools to the firm transmission curtailment templates.29 The ISO/RTO Council states that it currently is unclear whether firm curtailment information must be posted manually prior to the implementation of an automated data transfer mechanism.30 The ISO/RTO
Council contends that manually populating firm curtailment data into the templates is administratively burdensome and introduces the potential for human data entry error, and automated data transfer results in a more reliable, accurate and equitable posting process.31 The ISO/RTO
Council requests that the Commission clarify that manual postings will not be required as an interim means to achieve compliance while the automated data transfer mechanism is being developed per the implementation schedule for the WEQ Version 003.3 Standards.
c. Commission Determination 24. Because of the importance of posting information regarding firm curtailments, we will not delay implementation while industry develops a more automated data transfer mechanism. NAESB states that its 29 ISO/RTO

Council Comments at 13.

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