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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 158 / Thursday, August 19, 2021 / Notices marketing expense. Can you identify whats the cause of that in terms of SEPAs marketing expense?
Oral Response: Not at this time, but if you would email that question in, I
could look into the details, but I dont have any detailed information for SEPAs expense right now. We can supplement the record later on with that response.
Oral Comment: Commenter 2 I think if you look at form Exhibit 9, thats where we seebetween 2019 and 2020, we had aits a pretty good jump there.
Now, that could be a function of SEPAs expenses increasing because of remote work obligations, so there anticipate theres a logical explanation there.
Oral Response: Yes. I justI dont have the detailed breakdown of SEPAs expenses to tell you what area that would be in. But I will answer for the record.
Oral Comment: Commenter 2 the other thing that I think we would note from a customer perspective is that we continue to monitor the amount of expense that is allocated as the joint O&M expense, and that continues to be a little bit of a concern in terms of whether costs are appropriately accounted for, for purposes of what hydropower should be bearing. We know that SEPA has been devoting a lot of energy to trying to make sure that the Corps is properly accounting for these expenses, so we support SEPAs efforts in this regard.
Oral Response: And we fully continue those efforts and hopefully we will accomplish some savings for the customers.
Combined Unanswered Oral Comments from Forum: And then looking at the SEPA marketing expense, we note that theres a 13 percent increase between 2019 to 2020. If you compare 2019 to 2021, you have a 15
percent increase in SEPA marketing expense. Can you identify whats the cause of that in terms of SEPAs marketing expense?
Response for the Record Submitted to Customers May 24, 2021: The change in SEPA marketing expense between Fiscal Years 2019 and 2020 is $18,000 for the Woodruff System. SEPA has identified just over $17,100 of the $18,000 as attributable to increases in Salaries, Benefits and Outside Contract Services.
The increases are due to the transition of SEPAs Power System Dispatchers pay plan from the General Schedule to an Administratively Determined plan and a pay raise to the General Schedule federal employees. The cost of a survey for the Administratively Determined pay plan was charged to Outside Contract Services along with the annual
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financial audit and a cleaning service contract.
The change between Fiscal Years 2019 and 2021 of 15 percent is attributable to the 13 percent increase in Fiscal Year 2020 and the projected expense for Fiscal Year 2021 being calculated by using the federal budgetary inflation factor of 2 percent for future years.
Written Comment: The SeFPC
supports the rate as proposed by the Southeastern Power Administration SEPA.
While we believe that the rate fully captures costs associated with hydropower production, we nonetheless encourage SEPA to work with the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers Corps to ensure that joint operation and maintenance expenses do not include costs that should be assigned solely to project purposes unrelated to hydropower production. SEPAs continued diligence in working with the Corps will help ensure that rates remain as low as possible consistent with sound business principles.
Response: Southeastern continues to work with preference customers and the Corps to review operation and maintenance actual costs and estimates to ensure accuracy of cost assignment and projections to establish the lowest possible rates consistent with sound business principles within the meaning of Section 5 of the Flood Control Act of 1944.
Discussion System Repayment An examination of the Southeastern revised system power repayment study, prepared in March of 2021 for the Jim Woodruff Project, shows that with the proposed rates, all system power costs are paid within the appropriate repayment period and meet the cost recovery criteria set forth in DOE Order RA 6120.2. The Administrator of Southeastern Power Administration has certified that the rates are consistent with applicable law and that they are the lowest possible rates to customers consistent with sound business principles.
Legal Authority By Delegation Order No. 00037.00B, effective November 19, 2016, the Secretary of Energy delegated to the Administrator, Southeastern Power Administration the authority to develop power and transmission rates, to the Deputy Secretary of Energy the authority to confirm, approve, and place such rates into effect on an interim basis, and to the Federal Energy
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Regulatory Commission FERC the authority to confirm, approve, and place into effect on a final basis, or to disapprove, rates developed by the Administrator under the delegation. By Delegation Order No. S1DELS42021, effective February 25, 2021, the Acting Secretary of Energy also delegated the authority to confirm, approve, and place such rates into effect on an interim basis to the Under Secretary for Science and Energy. By Redelegation Order No. S4
DELOE12021, effective March 25, 2021, the Acting Under Secretary for Science and Energy redelegated the authority to confirm, approve, and place such rates into effect on an interim basis to the Assistant Secretary for Electricity.
By Redelegation Order No. 00002.10
03, effective July 8, 2020, the Assistant Secretary for Electricity further redelegated the authority to confirm, approve, and place such rates into effect on an interim basis to the Administrator, Southeastern Power Administration. This last redelegation, despite predating the February 2021
delegation and the March 2021
redelegation, remains valid. This rate is confirmed, approved, and placed into effect on an interim basis by the Administrator, Southeastern Power Administration, pursuant to the authority delegated in Redelegation Order No. 00002.1003.
Environmental Impact Southeastern has reviewed the possible environmental impacts of the rate adjustment under consideration and has concluded that, because the adjusted rates would not significantly affect the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, the proposed action is not a major Federal action for which preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement is required.
Determination Under Executive Order 12866
Southeastern has an exemption from centralized regulatory review under Executive Order 12866; accordingly, no clearance of this notice by the Office of Management and Budget is required.
Availability of Information Information regarding these rates, including studies, and other supporting materials, is available for public review in the offices of Southeastern Power Administration, 1166 Athens Tech Road, Elberton, Georgia 306356711.
Order In view of the foregoing and pursuant to the authority redelegated to me by the
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