The anthrax-laced mail hoaxes in Washington, DC have quickened the progress being made at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on electronic filing of documents.

Currently, only about 37% of the documents submitted by regulated energy companies at the Commission can be done so electronically, but this is expected to increase to about 85% next week as FERC expands the arena of documents that can be filed in this manner.

FERC staff said Wednesday that within the “next day or two” it will issue a notice that will identify the types of additional “qualified documents” that it will accept through electronic means, such as requests for rehearing and comments on settlements. Currently, the “qualified documents” are mostly limited to interventions, protests and comments (see Daily GPI, Oct. 31).

The volume of documents that are being filed electronically at FERC has grown significantly during the past year, according to staff. It estimated that more than 2,000 electronic filings were made at the Commission during October, compared to about 1,000 last June.

Mail delivery to FERC, which was halted on Oct. 17, has been resumed, but at a much lower volume, staff reported to the Commission during its regular meeting Wednesday. The U.S. Postal Service continues to retain some of the mail that was processed through the Brentwood mail facility in the District for cleansing, noted staff, but it did not know what portion of that mail was addressed to the Commission.

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