FERC Issues COVID-19 Response to Address Filing Deadlines and Conferences

In an effort to ensure Americans have access to reliable energy during this unprecedented time, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) has identified a COVID-19 point of contact and instituted additional procedures to make sure regulated entities can quickly and efficiently receive guidance to assist them in pandemic preparations and operations. Among the action taken, FERC’s Office of the Secretary has extended the deadline for certain non-statutory filings (i.e., compliance filings, responses to deficiency letters and comments to rulemakings) and identified procedures for entities to seek extensions for other deadlines.

Similarly, FERC’s Office of Enforcement has postponed all previously scheduled audit site visits and investigative testimony deadlines and has announced that it will expeditiously act on other extension and waiver requests. In addition, Technical Conferences scheduled through May 2020 will be conducted via conference call or WebEx or be postponed and a determination on how and when Administrative Hearings will be conducted will be made on a case-specific basis as their start dates approach. Inquiries related to COVID-19 issues can be emailed to PandemicLiaison@FERC.gov.

For information on additional steps that FERC and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) have taken to ensure the reliability of the electric grid, click here.