Why is FERC collapsing seven tariff collections into one?

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has asked the White House budget office to renew its main electric-tariff paperwork authority for three more years. At the same time it wants to fold seven separate reporting buckets into that single bucket.

The notice in plain language

FERC calls the package FERC-516. It covers the forms and schedules utilities file to change rates, terms, or conditions for wholesale electricity transmission. The Paperwork Reduction Act forces the agency to ask OMB for permission every three years. This time the request comes with a merger attached.

What gets merged

Seven distinct OMB control numbers will disappear into 1902-0096. They are FERC-516A for small-generator interconnection agreements, FERC-516E for NAESB business-practice standards, FERC-516H for the pro forma open-access transmission tariff, FERC-516J for project-area wage data, FERC-717 for OASIS real-time information networks, FERC-917 for transmission-facility communication protocols, and FERC-919 for market-based-rate authorizations. Each currently has its own expiration date scattered across 2026, 2027, and 2028.

Why the agency says it matters

The commission found that separate collections created duplicate burden estimates. Utilities were counted multiple times for the same tariff-filing workflow. Consolidation lets OMB see the real hour total in one place.

Administrative debt cleared

The notice also says two of the collections — 516E and 516J — were only temporary placeholders created because another item was pending for the main docket. That administrative debt is now being cleared. FERC-516H included a one-time update tied to rulemaking RM22-2-000. That filing revised the pro forma OATT schedule on reactive-power charges, the large-generator interconnection agreement, and the small-generator interconnection agreement. The work is done. The notice says the burden estimate for that specific filing will no longer be counted.

The comment window

Comments are due September 28, 2026. That is 31 days after the August 28 publication in the Federal Register at 91 FR 55564. They go to OMB through reginfo.gov and a copy goes to FERC at DataClearance@FERC.gov referencing docket IC26-27-000. The contact is Kayla Williams at (202) 502-6468.

What changes for a utility compliance team

The forms themselves do not change. The filing portals do not change. The only difference is that the paperwork renewal now covers everything under one OMB number with a single expiration date. If OMB approves, the next renewal will arrive in three years instead of tracking seven different deadlines.