Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725S); Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. RD26-8-000] Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725S); Comment Request AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of information collection and request for comments. SUMMARY: In compliance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) is soliciting public comment on the currently approved information collection, FERC-725S (OMB Control No. 1902-0270), Emergency Preparedness and Operations (EOP) Reliability Standards. DATES: Comments on the collections of information are due October 26, 2026. ADDRESSES: Please submit comments via email to DataClearance@FERC.gov . You must specify Docket No. (RD26-8-000) and the FERC Information Collection number (FERC-725S) in your email. If you are unable to file electronically, comments may be filed by USPS mail or by hand (including courier) delivery: • Mail via U.S. Postal Service only, addressed to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426. • Hand (including courier) delivery to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:   Title: FERC-725S, Emergency Preparedness and Operations (EOP) Reliability Standards. OMB Control No.: 1902-0270. Type of Request: Approval of the FERC-725S information collection requirements with changes to the current reporting requirements. Type of Respondents: Draft Reliability Standard EOP-004-5 improves upon the existing Reliability Standard EOP-004-4 by ensuring timely reporting by industry to the North America Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) through the reporting of events involving Inverter Based-Resources (IBRs). Changes were made to Attachment 1 for an unexpected loss of generation within a Balancing Authority Area from IBR(s) in a period of 30 seconds or less following a disturbance. Additionally, a new classification for generator owner category 2 and generator operator category 2 will now be applicable to potential reporting of events and will be included in estimates for EOP-004 going forward. For providing accurate reporting of events to NERC's event analysis group to review the impact on the reliability of the bulk electric system, staff estimates that for EOP-004-5, fifty percent of the applicable entities will have an annual reporting burden, and this is captured in the associated table below. Estimate of Annual Burden   1 and cost : 2 The Commission estimates the annual public reporting burden for the information collection as: 1  The Commission defines burden as the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. For further explanation of what is included in the information collection burden, refer to 5 Code of Federal Regulations 1320.3. 2  The estimated hourly cost (salary plus benefits) is a combination of the following categories from the BLS website, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics—source for hourly wages: 75% of the average of an Electrical Engineer (17-2071) $92.32/hr., × .75 = $69.24 ($69.24/hour); and 25% of an Information and Record Clerk (43-4199) $56.60/hr., $56.60 × .25 = $14.15 ($14.15/hour), for a total ($69.24/hour + $14.15/hour = $83.39/hour). FERC-725S [EOP-004-5 Event Reporting] Reliability standard and associated requirement Number of respondents  3   4   5 Annual number of responses per respondent Total number of responses Average burden & cost per response Total annual burden & total annual cost Cost per respondent ($)   (1) (2) (1) * (2) = (3) (4) (3) * (4) = (5) rounded (5) ÷ (1) Annual review and record retention for EOP-004-5 49 (BA) 170 (GO) 1 1 49 170 4 hrs. $333.56 8 hrs. $667.12 196 hrs. $16,344 1,360 hrs. $113,410 $333.56 667.12   89 (GOP) 1 89 8 hrs. $667.12 712 hrs. $59,374 667.12 Total EOP-004-5 308 2,268 hrs.; $189,128 Comments: Comments are invited on: (1) whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden and cost of the collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information collection; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. 3  The number of respondents is based on NERC compliance registration information as of July 21, 2026. 4  The number of respondents for GOs and GOP has increased with registration of applicable Category 2 resources which came into effect May 2026. 5  For EOP-004-5 it is estimated that fifty percent of applicable entities will have an annual reporting burden and values in the table reflect that consideration (rounded up). Dated: August 20, 2026. Carlos D. Clay, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. 2026-17318 Filed 8-24-26; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6717-01-P