FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION 

Leonard Tao 

Chief FOIA Officer 

CHIEF FOIA OFFICER REPORT 

March 2011 
 

I. Steps Taken to Apply the Presumption of Openness

1. Describe the steps your agency has taken to ensure that the 

presumption of openness is being applied to all decisions involving the FOIA. 

a. Describe how the President’s FOIA Memorandum and the Attorney 

General’s FOIA Guidelines have been publicized throughout your 

agency. 

FOIA training now includes detailed discussions regarding the 

Presidents FOIA Memorandum and the Attorney General’s FOIA 

Guidelines. These documents are also included in the FOIA 

training handouts. A copy of this material is also posted on the 

FERC webpage. 

b. What training has been attended and/or conducted on the new FOIA 

Guidelines? 

During FY2009 the Chief FOIA Officer implemented mandatory 

training for all FERC employees to emphasize the important role 

of each employee in the FOIA process. This training also 

provided detailed discussions regarding the new FOIA 

guidelines. 

During FY2010 FERC provided training to new employees and 

offered refresher training to various program offices. All staff 

have also been strongly encouraged to contact the FOIA 

professionals if they have additional FOIA concerns. 

c. How has your agency created or modified your internal guidance to 

reflect the presumption of openness? 

The focus during the review process now emphasizes that 

documents that pose no reasonable expectation of 

foreseeable harm be considered for release or at a minimum 

partial release. 
 

d. To what extent has your agency made discretionary releases of 

otherwise exempt information? 

During FY2010 four full discretionary releases and one partial 

discretionary release was made to requesters. 

e. What exemptions would have covered the information that was 

released as a matter of discretion? 

Exemption 5

f. How does your agency review records to determine whether 

discretionary releases are possible? 

When a request is received that may implicate Exemption 5, 

the FOIA officer communicates with program offices within the 

agency to determine whether a discretionary release may be 

undertaken in accordance with guidelines set forth in the 

Attorney General’s memorandum dated March 2009. 

g. Describe any other initiatives undertaken by your agency to ensure 

that the presumption of openness is being applied. 

FERC personnel receive continuous training as to how to 

properly respond to FOIA requests in an effort to maximize 

compliance with the law. 

2. Report the extent to which the numbers of requests where records have 

been released in full and the numbers of requests where records have been 

released in part has changed from those numbers as reported in your 

previous year's Annual FOIA Report. 

A comparison of the statistics in FERC’s FY2009 and FY2010 Annual 

FOIA reports reflect that 21% of the requests in FY2010 were fully 

granted. This is a 1% increase in the number of requests that were 

fully granted in FY2009. In FY2010 33% of requests were partially 

granted. This represents a 9% increase over the number of requests 

that were partially granted in FY2009. 
 

The Commission continues to strive towards being more transparent 

and making as many releases as possible. This includes our focused 

efforts to evaluate documents that contain Exemption 5 material 

and also take the age of the material into consideration when 

rendering a determination regarding the release of documents.

Breakdown of disclosures: full and partial grant 

 FULL PARTIAL 

FY2010 25 38 

FY2009 23 27 

FY2008 39 21 

II. Steps Taken to Ensure that Your Agency has an Effective System In Place 

for Responding to Requests 

As the Attorney General emphasized in his FOIA Guidelines, "[a]pplication 

of the proper disclosure standard is only one part of ensuring transparency. 

Open Government requires not just a presumption of disclosure, but also an 

effective system for responding to FOIA requests." 

Describe how the President’s FOIA Memorandum and the Attorney General’s 

FOIA Guidelines have been publicized throughout your agency. Do FOIA 

professionals within your agency have sufficient IT support? 

a. Do FOIA professionals within your agency have sufficient IT 

support? 

Yes. The FOIA professionals have always had access to IT 

professionals. However, during FY2010 a specific IT professional 

was assigned to work directly with the FOIA professionals to 

gain an overall understanding of the dynamics of the FOIA 

process, to enhance technical support and assist with new 

FOIA software issues. 

b. Describe how your agency’s FOIA professionals interact with 

 your Open Government Team. 
 

The FOIA professionals and Open Government team expect to 

enhance their efforts to be more interactive by conducting 

routine briefings. 

c. Describe the steps your agency has taken to assess whether 

adequate staffing is being devoted to responding to FOIA requests. 

We have reviewed the overall functionality of the FOIA 

program and determined that we currently have adequate 

staffing to successfully carry out the necessary tasks in a timely 

manner. However, we will continue to monitor this situation 

and make adjustments as necessary. 

d. Describe any other steps your agency has undertaken to ensure that 

your FOIA system operates efficiently and effectively. 

Weekly reports are reviewed to monitor the FOIA process. 

Staff reassignments are made as necessary to accommodate 

FOIA timelines that may conflict with other workload of Staff. 

III. Steps Taken To Increase Proactive Disclosures

a. Has your agency added new material to your agency website since 

last year? 

In an effort to increase proactive disclosures FERC has posted 

many documents of interest on the FERC webpage. The list 

below is a partial listing of material that has been posted since 

October 1, 2009. 

December 24, 2009 - Chairman Wellinghoff and John Norris statements on U.S. 

Senate vote confirming Mr. Norris' nomination to FERC

December 17, 2009 - Chairman Wellinghoff's statement on enforcement issues 

Read More 

November 19, 2009 - Items E-1: Chairman Wellinghoff's statement on notice of 

cancellation of Entergy Arkansas and Entergy Mississippi's participation in the 

Entergy System agreement Read More 

November 19, 2009 - Items G-3, G-4, G-5: Chairman Wellinghoff's statement on 
 

natural gas pipeline rate investigations Read More 

November 4, 2009 - E&ETV video of Chairman Wellinghoff at Environmental 

Law Institute panel on future energy policy Watch video | Transcript

October 15, 2009 - Chairman Wellinghoff's statement on The Strategic Plan Read 

More 

October 7, 2009 - Chairman Wellinghoff gives keynote speech at the CAISO 

Stakeholder Symposium Event Details | Presentation

October 1, 2009 - Chairman Wellinghoff speaks at the EEI 2009 EEI Legal 

Conference Event Details | Speech

December 17, 2009 

Item M-1 and M-2: FERC makes enforcement process transparent, accessible to 

public News Release | Chairman's Statement | Commissioner's Statement: Kelly's, 

Moeller's and Spitzer's | Decision M-1 | Policy Statement M-2

 » Visit our Enforcement section 

December 17, 2009 

Item A-3: FERC 2010 enforcement priorities include fraud, market manipulation, 

reliability News Release | Chairman's Statement | Commissioner's Statement: 

Kelly's, Moeller's and Spitzer's | Staff Report

 » Visit our Enforcement section 

December 17, 2009 

Item E-4: FERC approves First Smart Grid proposal using new Policy News 

Release | Decision

 » Visit our Smart Grid site 

November 19, 2009 

Items G-3, G-4, G-5: FERC launches investigations into pipeline rates News 

Release | Chairman's Statement | Chairman's Statement | Decisions: G-3 , G-4

and G-5

November 19, 2009 

Item E-1: FERC accepts system exit plan for Entergy's Arkansas, Mississippi 

companies News Release | Chairman's Statement | Decision
 

November 19, 2009 

Item C-2: FERC OKs Florida Gas expansion project to serve state's power 

generation demand News Release | Certificate

 » Visit our Gas Pipelines section 

October 15, 2009 

Items E-3 & E-4: FERC confirms reliability jurisdiction over Federal agencies, 

approves NERC budget News Release | Decisions: E-3 and E-4

 » Visit our Electric Reliability section 

October 8, 2009 

FERC approves settlement, $25 million fine for FPL's 2008 Blackout News 

Release | Decision

 b. What types of records have been posted? 

Notification of new FERC initiatives, Orders, Rulemakings, 

pertinent meetings and technical conferences, speeches, 

news releases. 

c. Give examples of the types of records your agency now posts that 

used to be available only by making a FOIA request for them. 

There have been no major changes in the types of records that 

are reflected on the FERC webpage. However, FERC will add 

additional types of records that may be identified in the future 

as items of interest to the public. 

d. What system do you have in place to routinely identify records that 

are appropriate for posting? 

One system includes reviewing FOIA requests to identify the 

types of material that is most frequently sought by requesters 

and determining if this information can be made available 

proactively. 

 e. How do you utilize social media in disseminating information?

 
 

FERC routinely posts pertinent information regarding 

Commission meetings, technical conferences, and other 

meeting that may be of interest to the public on Face book, 

Twitter and RSS News feed. 

 http://www.facebook.com/FERC.gov

 http://twitter.com/ferc

 http://www.ferc.gov/help/rss.asp

f. Describe any other steps taken to increase proactive disclosures at 

your agency. 

The FERC webpage was recently redesigned to provide 

additional descriptive information and tips on how to obtain a 

wide range of materials that are readily available for users. The 

FERC e-library is a database that provides a listing of all filings 

and submittals for proceedings. It provides access to over two 

million documents with over 10 million pages that have been 

archived over more than 20 years. It contains electronic 

versions of documents issued by FERC from 1989 to present, 

microfilm of documents for 1981 to 1995, native files 

electronically submitted from November 2000 to present. 

Members of the public can instantaneously access public 

material in the e-library. http://www.ferc.gov/docsfiling/elibrary.asp

The FERC webpage includes grouping by various industries, 

new releases, Policy Statements, Memorandums of 

Understanding, Staff reports, Federal Statutes, Major Orders and 

Regulations, settlements, and court cases. http://www.ferc.gov

Members of the public may also register and sign up for 

eSubscription to receive real time notification of issuances, 

filings, news releases and correspondence in docketed 

proceedings at FERC. http://www.ferc.gov/docsfiling/esubscription.as
 

IV. Steps Taken To Greater Utilize Technology

1. Electronic receipt of FOIA requests: 

 

a. What proportion of the components within your agency which 

receive FOIA requests have the capability to receive such 

requests electronically? 

FERC is comprised of one FOIA component and has the 

ability to receive FOIA requests electronically. 

b. To what extent have you increased the number of components 

doing so since the filing of your last Chief FOIA Officer Report? 

N/A 

c. What methods does your agency use to receive requests 

electronically? 

 FERC Webpage: www.ferc.gov 

 E-mail: FOIA-CEII@ferc.gov

2. Electronic tracking of FOIA requests: 

a. What proportion of components within your agency which receive 

FOIA requests have the capability to track such requests 

electronically? 

FERC is comprised of one FOIA component and has the 

ability to track FOIA requests electronically. 

b. To what extent have you increased the number of components 

doing so since the filing of your last Chief FOIA Officer Report? 

N/A 

c. What methods does your agency use to track requests 

electronically? 

A non FOIA processing system is currently being used to 

track requests. 
 

Electronic processing of FOIA requests: 

d. What proportion of components within your agency which receive 

FOIA requests have the capability to process such requests 

electronically? 

FERC is comprised of one FOIA component and has the 

ability to process portions of FOIA requests electronically. 

e. To what extent have you increased the number of components 

doing so since the filing of your last Chief FOIA Officer Report? 

N/A 

f. What methods does your agency use to process requests 

electronically? 

Adobe PDF is used for electronic redactions. All requesters 

who have provided a valid e-mail address are provided 

electronic response letters as well as responsive material, 

when possible. 

3. Electronic preparation of your Annual FOIA Report: 

a. What type of technology does your agency use to prepare your 

agency Annual FOIA Report, i.e., specify whether the technology 

is FOIA-specific or a generic data-processing system. 

FERC is currently using a non FOIA processing system to 

prepare the Annual FOIA Report. 

b. If you are not satisfied with your existing system to prepare your 

Annual FOIA Report, describe the steps you have taken to 

increase your use of technology for next year. 

FERC recently acquired commercial FOIA software, and 

expects to fully utilize this new software to prepare 

subsequent FOIA Annual Reports. We also expect to use this 

software to simultaneously add postings of responsive 
 

documents to the webpage when it is saved into the 

SharePoint component of this software. 

V. Steps Taken to Reduce Backlogs and Improve Timeliness in Responding to 

Requests

1. If your agency has a backlog, report here whether that backlog is 

decreasing. That reduction should be measured in two ways. First, report 

whether the number of backlogged requests and backlogged administrative 

appeals that remain pending at the end of the fiscal year decreased or 

increased, and by how many, when compared with last fiscal year. Second, 

report whether your agency closed in Fiscal Year 2010 the ten oldest of those 

pending requests and appeals from Fiscal Year 2009, and if not, report how 

many of them your agency did close. 

FERC has no backlog. 

There is one pending request that was reflected as one of the ten 

oldest pending requests. 

2. If there has not been a reduction in the backlog as measured by either 

of these metrics, describe why that has occurred. In doing so, answer the 

following questions and then include any other additional explanation: 

a. Is the backlog increase a result of an increase in the number of 

incoming requests or appeals? 

N/A 

b. Is the backlog increase caused by a loss of staff? 

N/A

c. Is the backlog increase caused by an increase in the complexity of 

the requests received? 

N/A 

d. What other causes, if any, contributed to the increase in backlog? 

N/A 
 

3. Describe the steps your agency is taking to reduce any backlogs and to 

improve timeliness in responding to requests and administrative appeals. In 

doing so answer the following questions and then also include any other 

steps being taken to improve timeliness. 

a. Does your agency routinely set goals and monitor the progress of 

your FOIA caseload? 

Yes. Weekly reports are reviewed to monitor the progress of 

FOIA requests. The main objective is to complete processing 

of requests within the statutory timeline of twenty days, as 

possible. 

b. Has your agency increased its FOIA staffing? 

No. 

c. Has your agency made IT improvements to increase timeliness? 

N/A 

d. Has your agency Chief FOIA Officer been involved in overseeing 

your agency’s capacity to process requests? 

Yes. The Chief FOIA Officer participates in daily briefings 

regarding the status of FOIA requests and the FOIA program 

in its entirety. 

Spotlight on Success

Out of all the activities undertaken by your agency in this last year to 

increase transparency, describe here one success story that you would like to 

highlight as emblematic of your efforts. 

Through implementation of the new FOIA software system, FERC will 

be able to more effectively and nimbly respond to citizens’ FOIA 

requests so that FERC may maximize an already high level of 

compliance with the law.