The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is a federal agency that regulates the wholesale and interstate transmission of gas, oil, and electricity, keeps tabs on the energy industry’s infrastructural systems and approves non-federal hydropower projects in the United States.
FERC Form 2 is used by natural gas companies and operators to submit yearly financial and operational reports to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Although it’s a non-confidential, public-use filing, it’s mandatory under the provisions of Sections 10(a), 16, and 18 of the Natural Gas Act, and parts 260.1 and 260.300 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Who uses FERC Form 2?
A company’s filing requirements are determined by its operating scale— namely, how much gas they’ve transported, stored, sold, or transacted in the previous three calendar years. Here’s a brief breakdown of what filing requirements look like, depending on a company’s size:
- Natural gas companies who transported or stored more than 50 million dekatherms in each of the previous three years are required to file Form 2 and 3-Q;
- Operators who process less than the aforementioned threshold but have sold, transported, or stored gas in volumes of more than 200 thousand dekatherms in each of the previous three calendar years are required to submit FERC Form 2-A & 3-Q;
- Newly established natural gas operators need to determine whether to file Forms 2, 3-Q, and 2-A based on their projected volume for the year.
If a natural gas operator has been operating for less than three years, they’re expected to file anyway, using their projected volume for the particular year in question as a benchmark—
What is in FERC Form 2 data?
FERC uses Form 2 to collect information such as:
- Balance sheet reports that state the filing company's assets, liabilities, and shareholder equity
- Income statements showing the company’s revenues, expenses, and profits (or losses) for the filing period under consideration
- A statement of retained earnings that shows how much of the company’s income it has retained over the past year, along with details about the dividends paid out to the company’s stockholders
- Cash flow statements that summarize the amount of cash and cash equivalents entering and leaving the company, such as any amounts spent on gas shipments, salaries, pensions, consulting fees, equipment, insurance, supervision, uncollectible accounts, etc.
- Volume (measured in dekatherms) and cash value of the gas used in operating the company’s pipelines and the volume of gas pipelines transported.
- Depreciation, depletion, and amortization of plants and types of equipment such as storage, compressions, and pipelines
- Regulatory commission expenses, i.e., any funds spent on meeting regulatory obligations, fines, settling formal cases, etc
In practice, a Form 2 filing contains details of a gas operator’s operating finances, assets, liabilities, taxes, etc. are extensively covered by FERC’s Form 2 and its follow-ons, i.e., 2-A & 3-Q.
HData’s FERC Reporting Solutions
HData helps energy operators, utilities, and transporters to simplify regulatory reporting. Whether you’re a gas transporter, an interstate utility, or pipeline operator, our platform helps you:
- Convert your spreadsheets to XBRL format or build them natively on our platform
- Interact with data easily, detect errors, and compare figures year-to-year
- Collaborate with your team and share comments and highlights in your live reports
- Export your reports as a PDF or Powerpoint, or download it for custom analysis, and
- File FERC reports in one click
HData offers a single source of truth where you can aggregate your financial and operational data, refine it, eliminate errors, and stay compliant with accurate and timely filings. Learn how we simplify compliance with a single platform where you can manage all the data you need to always pass regulatory checks.