Because of the significance of the undertaking, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week extended the deadline for the energy industry to submit comments on what makes up “critical energy infrastructure” — an exercise that could considerably limit public access in the future to information about natural gas, electric, crude oil and hydroelectric facilities.

In seeking the extension to March 25, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, Edison Electric Institute, the National Hydropower Association and the Alliance of Energy Suppliers said FERC “has posed a series of very important questions relating to the confidentiality of and limitations on the disclosure of certain information about energy facilities” in an attempt to protect the nation’s infrastructure from attacks by terrorists or others bent on destruction [RM02-4].

The Commission is seeking the industry comments as part of a notice of inquiry (NOI) that it issued in late January. The NOI followed an October order in which FERC pulled certain sensitive information on power transmission, generation and gas pipelines from its web site and public reference room.

While a number of federal agencies withdrew sensitive information from the public domain following Sept. 11, FERC is the only one that is looking to broaden the amount of data to be withheld from the public.

The Commission’s actions have raised a number of red flags among public-access proponents, who fear the agency may make all energy infrastructure information classified and, therefore, inaccessible even under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

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