Electronic Filings/Demo of FERC home page and search functions might be a 
good topic for one of our staff meetings.  Nancy Bagot could present in 
person or via Video Conference.   Also, I gathered the Koch and Dominion 
materials regarding standards of conduct in electric proceedings.   I'd be 
happy to present but I also thought Tony would be a good choice as it would 
help him get up to speed on the Marketing Affiliate Rule.  Let's discuss.  
thanks, Maria
---------------------- Forwarded by Maria Pavlou/ET&S/Enron on 11/01/2000 
10:38 AM ---------------------------


Nancy Bagot
10/31/2000 02:02 PM
To: Shelley Corman/ET&S/Enron@ENRON, Dari Dornan/ET&S/Enron@ENRON, Glen 
Hass/ET&S/Enron@ENRON, Bambi Heckerman/NPNG/Enron@ENRON, Robert 
Kilmer/FGT/Enron@ENRON, Frazier King/FGT/Enron@ENRON, Ray 
Neppl/NPNG/Enron@ENRON, Maria Pavlou/ET&S/Enron@ENRON, Janet 
Place/NPNG/Enron@ENRON, Michele Winckowski/ET&S/Enron@ENRON, Mary Kay 
Miller/ET&S/Enron@ENRON, Donna Fulton/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Sarah 
Novosel/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Michael Van Norden/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Janet 
Butler/ET&S/Enron@ENRON
cc:  

Subject: IT news from FERC

On Friday I attended an industry luncheon with Fernanda Young, FERC's Chief 
Information Officer.  She discussed some of the electronic filing and 
research changes coming to FERC.  The crux of the discussion is that within a 
few years (by 2003), FERC's internet website will include a searchable 
database that functions very much like Lexus/Nexus (except for the exorbitant 
fees).

For electronic filing, the first step begins tomorrow with comments (without 
service lists) being filed electronically.  Filers do not have to duplicate 
with a paper copy.  All filings, which can be received by FERC in almost any 
format, will be converted to Adobe Acrobat (.pdf files) by FERC for viewing 
online and available within minutes of being received.   The electronic PDF 
version will be the official copy for pagination citations.  The next round 
of filings to be accepted electronically will include interventions and 
protests.  Coming on line further down the road are documents with extensive 
service lists, as Fernanda is intent on cleaning up those lists of duplicate 
or "stale" names, companies and parties before going forward with electronic 
service of parties.  That process could be very involved, since each party 
will have to be contacted with a chance to respond before being removed or 
changed from a service list.

Another sticking point with major filings is the issue of electronic 
signatures, which is a security issue rather than a legal issue.  Electronic 
signatures demand the highest level of security and will be very costly to 
implement.  Fernanda believes that encryption offers sufficient security and 
she will urge the Commission to make an initial recommendation that does not 
include electronic filing.  This will be discussed with industry through a 
series of informal outreach sessions over the next few months; Fernanda 
expects some pushback on electronic signatures from some industry members, 
especially attorneys and law firms.

As for internet access and research capabilities, the FERC homepage will be 
revamped to include better design and more accessible information for 
non-FERC watchers (ie, the general public).  RIMS and CIPS will eventually be 
combined into one database that will be searchable (by words contained in a 
document's Abstract) and easy to use for researching and printing documents.  
All documents will be in PDF format.  The timeline for these changes is 
relatively short, with the full transition of the database and electronic 
filing requirements completed by 2003.