Energy Industry September 2008 Updates

New FERC Tariffs to Be Filed Electronically

Last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a rule that requires all new tariffs, tariff revisions, and rate-change applications to be filed electronically by public utilities, oil pipelines, natural gas pipelines, and power administrators. The filings must be made in accordance with standards jointly developed by the North American Energy Standards Board and representatives from the Association of Oil Pipe Lines. FERC will begin implementing this rule in April 2010 pursuant to a six-month staggered schedule. Thereafter, FERC will no longer accept tariff filings submitted on paper. Existing tariffs do not need to be re-filed electronically at this time, but must be when they are revised.