On July 17th, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) finalized its proposed XBRL reporting taxonomy. FERC announced it would adopt a structured data approach to its regulatory reporting system on June 20, 2019. In addition to the taxonomy, the agency has adopted protocols, an implementation guide, and other supporting documents, all of which are available on FERC’s
eCollection website.
Currently energy and public utility companies transmit filings containing required information to FERC using a software application called Virtual FoxPro. Microsoft, which developed Virtual FoxProx, announced it would no longer continue to support this application. Therefore, in April 2015, FERC elected to pursue an XML-based approach to modernizing its filing standards. Following the decision to adopt XBRL as that XML-based standard, FERC made several drafts of the taxonomy and related documents available for review. FERC also conducted a technical conference to provide the public and other stakeholders with an opportunity for comment on the taxonomy. The implementation schedule was also discussed, along with other issues concerning XBRL adoption.
With the taxonomy finalized, the following compliance schedule has been released:
| Date: |
Form/Filers: |
| November 29, 2021 |
FERC Form No. 3-Q (electric) for Major Electric Utilities, Licensees, and Others
FERC Form No. 3-Q (natural gas) for Major Natural Gas Companies |
| December 9, 2021 |
FERC Form No. 3-Q (electric) for Non-major Public Utilities and Licensees
FERC Form No. 3-Q (natural gas) for Non-major Natural Gas Companies
FERC Form No. 6-Q for Oil Pipeline Companies |
| April 18, 2022 |
2021 FERC Form Nos. 1 and 1-F
2021 FERC Form Nos. 2 and 2-A
2021 FERC Form No. 6 |
| May 1, 2022 |
2021 FERC Form No. 60* |
* Note that because May, 1 2022 falls on a weekend, filers will be allowed to submit their filings by May 2, 2022.
FERC anticipates there may be further technical updates to the taxonomy and the submission system. The FERC Taxonomy Guide, FERC Yeti Taxonomy Viewer Guide, and Yeti review tool are available at the eForms Refresh website at: https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/ferc-online/filing-forms/eforms-refresh.
Sources:
Revisions to the Filing Process for Commission Forms (ferc.gov)
FERC Acts to Modernize Process for Filing Commission Forms (ferc.gov)
FERC Online: eForms Refresh (ferc.gov)
