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TO:Interested Industry Parties

FROM: Caroline Trum, NAESB Deputy Director

RE:WEQ/WGQ FERC Forms Subcommittee Meeting Draft Minutes – November 13, 2015

DATE:December 1, 2015

WHOLESALE ELECTRIC AND WHOLESALE GAS QUADRANTS

FERC Forms Subcommittee Meeting

Conference Call

November 13, 2015 – 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM Central

DRAFTMINUTES

1.Welcome and Administrative Items

Mr. Spanglerwelcomed the participants to the meeting. Ms. Trum provided the antitrust guidelines reminder. Mr. Spangler reviewed the agenda with the participants. Ms. Van Pelt moved, seconded by Ms. Davis, to adopt the draft agenda as final. The motion passed a simple majority vote without opposition.

The participants reviewed the draft minutes from the September 1, 2015 meeting as redlined by Ms. Davis. One additional modification was made for grammatical purposes. Ms. Davis moved, seconded by Mr. Skiba, to adopt the draft minutes as redlined by Ms. Davis and further revised during the meeting as final. The motion passed a simple majority vote without opposition. The final minutes for the meeting are available at the following link:

The participants reviewed the draft minutes from the September 14, 2015 meeting as redlined by Ms. Davis. It was decided to postpone the approval of the draft minutes until the next meeting so that additional redlined modifications could be submitted by Mr. Bartholomot.

Mr. Bartholomot asked a question regarding the NAESB voting procedures. Ms. Trum stated that the voting procedures can be found in the NAESB Operating Practices. She explained that subcommittee participation is open to any interested party regardless of membership status, and all subcommittee participants may vote. Mr. Brooks asked if a balanced vote may be requested at any time. Ms. Trum confirmed that any participant can ask for a balanced vote on a motion. Ms. Davis asked if non-member participants can vote within the subcommittee. Ms. Trum responded that all subcommittee participants, regardless of membership status, can vote on subcommittee motions.

2.Review Finalized Preliminary Topics Work Paper and Conceptual Process Flow

Mr. Brooks reviewed the Finalized Preliminary Topics Work Paper. The participants discussed the topics highlighted as corresponding with steps in the conceptual process flow.

In regards to Issue 3.1, Mr. Collins stated that the opinion of FERC staff is that there should be form specific schemas so that a change in one form would not impact the schemas for the other forms. He stated that there is support for leveraging commonalities across the forms but that there appears to not be as many commonalities between the forms as originally assumed. Mr. Goldenberg stated that a generic schema utilized for all forms does not appear to be feasible given the differences in the forms. The participants revised the work paper to reflect the preference for form specific schemas and the use of commonalities where applicable.

Mr. Bartholomot noted an error in the process flow with the use of a “double arrow” from filer to FERC in the top row. Mr. Brooks confirmed the “double arrow” was inadvertent and stated that he would correct the error.

For Issue 3.3, Mr. Brooks proposed the use of the “Garden of Eden” style of XML schema development. Mr. Collins stated that at this time, FERC staff does not have a preference on the XML format but that could change as FERC staff works to complete the field analysis on the forms. Mr. Bartholomot stated that he has heard concerns that the “Garden of Eden” style is difficult to read and understand. The participants reviewed the XML Design Pattern Reference included in the work paper for the first meeting of the subcommittee. Ms. Van Pelt stated that flexibility in design is usually more important than readability, as all XML design patterns can be hard to read for humans. The participants agreed to tentatively propose the “Garden of Eden” style pending further analysis by FERC staff.

Mr. Stoev stated that versioning will have an impact on how the XML is designed and should be included as part of the work paper. Mr. Brooks agreed that there will need to be coordination to ensure the versioning between the standards, data dictionary, and schemas are aligned. Mr. Goldenberg stated that for e-Tariff, there are specific versions of the XML schema but that FERC also maintains a separate list of filing codes that are identified through active and inactive dates. He stated that for the FERC Forms, if there is to be a new data element added, it will likely have to go through a rulemaking procedure which will probably necessitate a new version of the schema.

Mr. Brooks stated that for Issues 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3, the subcommittee had previously indicated a preference for validations but that the details of these issues cannot be addressed until the subcommittee begins to substantively address the forms and data fields. Mr. Collins stated that FERC staff would also like validations to be included in the XML schemas.

Mr. Kravis stated that the Commission should provide a validation service so that application level validations are only performed by the Commission and can be done at any time during the preparation of the form. He stated that this validation should be a business-to-business (B2B) exchange so that it happens in real time and the user application can then interpret the feedback in a machine readable format to identify the data that needs to be corrected. Mr. Goldenberg stated that there will be initial testing made available to filers but that it would require a large resource commitment to have a continuous validation process by FERC. The FERC Chief Information Officer (CIO) previously considered this issue for e-Tariff but could not commit the necessary resources for real-time validation. Mr. Brooks stated that he would modify the process flow to identify the place where the pre-validation, if available, would occur.

Mr. Brooks asked, related to Issue 5.2, if the Commission is expecting an encrypted and signed document so that the form can be verified as authentic and unaltered. Mr. Collins responded that FERC staff is still discussing the issue and the answer could be dependent upon the chosen data transport method. Mr. Brooks stated that encryption and authentication will not impact XML schema development but will affect the amount of work it takes to build the application software.

Mr. Collins stated that Commission staff has not yet made decisions regarding the content of the validation/error messages or a message delivery mechanism and encouraged subcommittee input on both topics. Mr. Bartholomot stated that the more specific an error message is, the easier it is for the filer to identify and correct mistakes.

3.Discuss Documentation Regarding Company Identifying Information

Mr. Spangler stated that FERC staff had provided a work paper listing the company identifying information currently collected in the various forms. FERC staff has indicated that it will likely be using the FERC Company Identifier (CID) process to obtain this information in the future but would like the subcommittee to perform a comparison between the information currently collected in the forms and the information collected via the CID process to determine if there are any gaps.

Mr. Collins stated that this process is currently used for e-Tariff and Electric Quarterly Reporting (EQR). Mr. Goldenberg explained that under this system, companies can assign the right to file on their behalf to individual(s) or another company. Each individual has to be registered with the FERC and is assigned a username and password.

The participants reviewed the work paper. Mr. Spangler noted that the contact information included in the forms is also collected via the CID process but that there is other information that is not, including officer titles, the physical address where the books are kept, and the date of company registration. Mr. Collins and Mr. Goldenberg agreed that FERC staff should evaluate the ancillary fields currently included in the company identification section of the forms to determine if this information will need to be captured in the XML schemas.

4.Discuss Development of Data Dictionary and XML Schema Design

The participants discussed potential design for the data dictionary. Ms. Alvarez suggested modeling the data dictionary on the one used for EQR. Mr. Stoev stated that the EQR uses a major/minor numerical numbering system for versions and expressed a preference for this format over a date based versioning format.

Mr. Goldenberg asked if there could be instances in which the data dictionary was modified by the XML schema was not. Mr. Spangler responded that a change to the data dictionary will necessitate a change to the XML schema; however, a change to the XML schema does not always necessitate a change to the data dictionary.

Ms. Alvarez suggested the subcommittee develop form-specific data dictionaries. Mr. Collins agreed, noting that if there was only a single data dictionary for all forms, any change in the data dictionary for a single form could require modifications to the XML schemas for all forms.

There was discussion on how the various data dictionaries and XML schemas should be organized. Ms. Van Pelt suggested creating one new suite of standards that would contain a comprehensive guide of the overarching principles but have separate sections for each of the forms that would contain the forms specific information. Mr. Bartholomot asked if this would still allow for FERC to make needed modifications to the schemas or data dictionaries. Ms. Trum responded that NAESB has processes to respond to Commission rulemaking procedures or other, more minor changes effectuated by the Commission. Ms. Davis stated that for e-Tariff, NAESB has a made modifications to the documents via the NAESB Minor Correction Process for minor changes made by the Commission, such as filing types. Mr. Goldenberg stated that the Commission plans to post the any data dictionaries and implementation guide(s) for the forms on its website in a manner similar to the way the e-Tariff documents are posted. He explained that for modifications to the XML schemas or data dictionaries, the Commission would likely involve NAESB in the process.

5.Discuss Future Assignments, if any

Action Items

  1. Mr. Brooks will modify the process flow as discussed during the meeting.
  2. Mr. Brooks asked for any participant to submit work papers regarding the potential version formatting that could be utilized for the XML schemas and data dictionaries.
  3. Mr. Collins will work with other FERC staff to assess the company identification information to determine the fields that should be included in the XML.
  4. NAESB will work with the subcommittee co-chairs to schedule the next meeting.

6.Next Steps and Meetings

Mr. Collins stated that during the previous meeting, the subcommittee had briefly discussed the manner in which FERC would make the data from the forms available to the public. After internal discussions, the Commission would like input from the subcommittee regarding the best manner to provide this information to the public.

The NAESB office will send out an agenda for the next meeting once scheduled.

7.Adjourn

The meeting adjourned at 1:41 PM Central on a motion by Ms. Davis, seconded by Ms. Van Pelt

8.Attendance*

First Name / Last Name / Organization / Quadrant / Segment
Marianne / Alvarez / Exelon Group / WGQ / Services
Rick / Avila / Kinder Morgan / WGQ / Pipeline
Henri / Bartholomot / Edison Electric Institute / N/A / N/A
Gina / Bellott / Entergy / WGQ / End User
Jonathan / Booe / NAESB / N/A / N/A
Dick / Brooks / ISO-New England / WEQ / IGO
John / Collins / FERC / N/A / N/A
David / Crabtree / TECO / WEQ / Distribution
Dale / Davis / Williams / WGQ / Pipeline
Doug / Field / Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline / WGQ / Pipeline
Renee / Feeney / Systrends / RMQ / Retail Gas Market
Fiodor / Filzow / Eversource Energy / WEQ / Transmission Owner
Nicole / Given / Association of Oil Pipe Lines / N/A / N/A
Nicholas / Gladd / FERC / N/A / N/A
Michael / Goldenberg / FERC / N/A / N/A
Tom / Gwilliam / Iroquois Gas Transmission System / WGQ / Pipeline
Lori / Hamilton / Avista Corporation / WEQ / Technology/Services
Cynthia / Henry / El Paso Electric / WEQ / Transmission
Jason / Johnson / American Electric Power Service Corporation / WEQ / IGO
Gary / Kravis / Links Technology / WEQ / Technology/Services
Thanoj / Kumar / Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP / WGQ / Pipeline
Elizabeth / Mallett / NAESB / N/A / N/A
Scott / Mangene / Equitrans LP / WGQ / Pipeline
Steve / McCord / Columbia Gas Transmission / WGQ / Pipeline
Megan / Miller / Spectra Energy / WGQ / Pipeline
Sunil / Mysore / Latitude Technologies / WGQ / Services
Joshua / Phillips / Southwest Power Pool / WEQ / IGO
Eric / Raible / LG&E and KU Energy LLC / WEQ / Transmission Owner
Jenny / Reetz / Integrys Energy Group / RMQ / Retail Gas Market
Ed / Skiba / MISO / WEQ / IGO
Leigh / Spangler / Latitude Technologies / WGQ / Services
Kathy / Thornton / Enbridge (U.S.) Inc. / WGQ / Pipeline
Caroline / Trum / NAESB / N/A / N/A
Peri / Ulrey / Natural Gas Supply Association / WGQ / Producers
Kim / Van Pelt / Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP / WGQ / Pipeline

*Please note that attendees that did not provide their name are not included in the attendance list above. If you did attend this meeting and are not listed, please contact the NAESB office, and we will update this record.

WEQ/WGQ FERC Forms Subcommittee Draft Meeting Minutes –November 13, 2015

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