Modernization of reporting information and data under the Federal Power Act

(a) In general The Commission shall, by rule, modernize and standardize the manner in which information and data are reported, by transmitting utilities and Transmission Organizations, to the Commission under the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 972 et seq.) in accordance with this section. (b) Content of reports requirements In carrying out subsection (a), the Commission shall require the information and data that will be reported, as it applies to projects, existing assets, or systems owned or operated by a transmitting utility or Transmission Organization, to include the following: (1) Information and data relating to a project and the lifecycle of such project, including— (A) project milestones, including proposed, approved, and actual in-service dates; (B) project classification information, including whether the project represents new construction, an upgrade, or a rebuild of existing infrastructure; (C) major development history, including original construction and last major upgrade dates; (D) the location of any applicable project; (E) the project nameplate capacity, length, and voltage; and (F) an identification of the applicable planning process through which the applicable project originated. (2) The costs and economic justifications of a project, existing asset, or system owned or operated by a transmitting utility or Transmission Organization, as applicable, including— (A) original projected and actual final costs of all new projects; (B) original projected and actual final costs of renewals and replacements of project works; (C) original projected and actual maintenance and operations expenses of the projects and existing assets on a current-year and five-year rolling average basis; (D) cost allocation shares where applicable, including identification of entities responsible for shared investments in projects; (E) cost-benefit analyses of projects; (F) whether the project was subject to a competitive solicitation process and, if applicable, the outcome of that process; and (G) classification of the project based on benefits provided, under the relevant transmission planning framework. (3) The capital structure and the rate of return of a project, existing asset, or system owned or operated by a transmitting utility or Tranmission Organization, including— (A) the allowed return on equity, return on debt, and return on preferred stock; (B) the authorized or actual capital structure, including the percentage of debt, equity, and preferred stock used in ratemaking; (C) the resulting overall weighted average rate of return; (D) any Commission-approved incentive adders applied to the base return on equity, including rationale and duration; and (E) where applicable, information necessary to assess potential double leveraging effects arising from a holding company structure, as defined by the Commission. (4) For information and data relating to a system owned or operated by a transmitting utility or Transmission Organization, as applicable, congestion-related costs or the costs incurred by ratepayers, power supplies, or distribution customers as a result of transmission system constraints that prevent the dispatch of least-cost generation resources. (5) Technical and non-technical losses and inefficiencies. (6) A complete accounting of interconnection-related costs incurred by interconnection customers, transmitting utilities, or other entities, disaggregated by cost type and responsible party, including— (A) study fees; (B) milestones or reservation payments; (C) costs of local interconnection attachment facilities; (D) grid network upgrade costs; and (E) estimates of costs to a larger system. (7) The projected and actual capacity and load of a system owned or operated by a transmitting utility or Transmission Organization and the projected and actual amount of energy delivered by such system. (8) Information and data on the use of capital-efficient advanced technologies, including information on— (A) hourly usage; (B) the location of the technologies; and (C) the types of technologies deployed. (9) Any additional metric the Commission determines necessary to improve ratepayer affordability and understanding of the transmission sector. (c) Content of interconnection reports In carrying out subsection (a), the Commission shall require a transmitting utility or Transmission Organization to report, no less than quarterly, to the Commission information and data on interconnection queues and details relating to interconnection study models used. (d) Format of reports (1) In general Pursuant to subsection (a), the Commission shall ensure the completeness, accuracy, and accessibility of information and data reported to the Commission under the Federal Power Act, as the Commission determines necessary, by— (A) establishing standardized reporting requirements that specify standards for describing and recording such information and data, and, if the Commission determines appropriate, providing templates or other tools to reduce administrative burden; (B) providing a format for such information and data to be submitted in a manner that is fully searchable and machine-readable; (C) requiring any form filed by a transmitting utility or a Transmission Organization contains no blank cells, unless clearly marked as exempt pursuant to paragraph (2); (D) requiring any projections required under subsection (a) are defined, including key assumptions, methodologies, and any other information that could influence the result of the projection; and (E) requiring the information and data reported under this section are made available to the public through a single, user-friendly web interface that allows users to search, filter, and download the data in a machine-readable format. (2) Exemption (A) In general A transmitting utility or a Transmission Organization may request an exemption from a requirement under paragraph (1) if such transmitting utility or Transmission Organization submits to the Commission a written statement explaining why such an exemption is needed. (B) Determination The Commission may approve the request for an exemption if the Commission determines that the exemption is justified based on the written statement submitted under subparagraph (A). (e) FERC Form No. 1 (1) In general Not later than 1 year after the date on which the Commission issues a rule under subsection (a), the Commission shall review covered forms. (2) Completeness Upon reviewing covered forms under paragraph (1), if the Commission determines that a covered form is incomplete, the Commission shall require the relevant transmitting utility or Transmission Organization to file a revised FERC Form No. 1 in a manner that complies with the requirements of subsection (d) and the requirements under section 141.1 of title 18, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulations). (3) Covered form defined In this subsection, the term covered form means a FERC Form No. 1 filed with the Commission by a transmitting utility or Transmission Organization during the 5-year period immediately preceding the date of enactment of this Act. (4) Modernization and centralization of FERC Form No. 1 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission, in collaboration with the Administrator, shall make all historical and future FERC Form No. 1 filings publicly available through the centralized data repository established under section 3.