FERC Proposes Tweaks to Utility Financial Filing Rules
Published Date: 6/24/2026
Proposed Rule
Summary
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is updating financial reporting rules for public utilities, pipeline companies, and service firms. They’re fixing instructions, cutting some quarterly form parts, and letting small oil pipelines skip certain reports to save time and hassle. Comments on these changes are due by late August 2026, aiming to make filing easier without extra costs.
Analyzed Economic Effects
6 provisions identified: 6 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Electric Utilities: Big Cut to Quarterly Schedules
The Commission proposes to delete 17 of 24 schedules from the electric FERC Form No. 3-Q, which the notice estimates would produce about a 70% reduction in burden for electric filers. The document shows an estimated average annual cost per electric respondent of $14,994 under current burdens.
Small Oil Pipelines Exempted from Quarterly Filing
The rule would exempt oil pipeline companies with annual jurisdictional operating revenues below $500,000 that do not file an annual FERC Form No. 6 from filing the quarterly FERC Form No. 6-Q. The Commission estimates this exemption would reduce the number of quarterly Form 6-Q respondents by 7.
Natural Gas Filers: Smaller Schedule Removal
The Commission proposes to delete 3 of 19 schedules from the gas FERC Form No. 3-Q, which the notice estimates would produce about a 15% reduction in burden for gas filers. The proposal addresses gas-specific schedule instructions and clarifications.
Oil Pipelines: Quarterly Schedule Reductions
The Commission proposes to delete 3 of 11 schedules from the oil FERC Form No. 6-Q, an estimated 27% reduction in burden per oil pipeline respondent. The notice includes an estimated average annual compliance cost per Form 6-Q respondent of $33,354 under current burdens.
CPA Certification Changes and eForms Requirement
The Commission proposes removing the required prescriptive pro forma language from CPA attestations for FERC Form Nos. 1 and 1-F and shifting to a principles-based attestation. It also proposes that CPA Certification Statements be appended to the filer’s financial form in the eForms portal rather than being separately eFiled or mailed.
No Need to File Annual Stockholder Reports
The Commission proposes to remove the requirement in the Financial Forms' general instructions that jurisdictional entities file their Annual Report to Stockholders, noting those reports are publicly available and relevant information may instead be included in the annual financial forms.
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Key Dates
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