Form 549B Index of Customers

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of the Secretary

Instruction Manual
Form 549B, Index of Customers
Form Approved
OMB No. 1902-0169
OMB Authorization Expiration Date:

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GENERAL INFORMATION
1. Purpose of data collection
Under the authority of the Natural Gas Act (15 USC 717), the Commission
promulgated 18 CFR § 284.13(c); which states that each calendar quarter an
interstate pipeline must file with the Commission an index of all of its firm
transportation and storage customers under contract as of the first day of the
calendar quarter. The pipeline must also post an electronic format of this
information on its internet web site. The instructions herein will provide the
format for the electronic dissemination of the data on the respondent's web site
in a downloadable file, as well as for the electronic file submitted to the
Commission.
2. Who must file
Each interstate pipeline regulated by the Commission that provides firm
transportation or storage service under Subparts B or G of Part 284 of the
Commission's regulations must file this information.
3. How / What to submit
The preferred method of submittal is electronic submission via eFiling.
Information for eFiling can be found at: http://www.ferc.gov/docsfiling/efiling.asp
You may submit your data file on diskette or compact disk. Please add the
respondent's name, as well as the name of the electronic file on the media label.
The diskette or CD must be accompanied by a cover letter stating the content of
the electronic filing. The cover letter must also include the subscription provided
in 18 CFR § 385.2005(a). All data submitted will be considered non-confidential
and will be made available to the public upon request. There is no paper format
required for this data.
When filing a revision, be sure the report date, original/revised filing indicator,
and the filename accurately reflect that the file is a revision.
4. When to submit
The web site posting date and Commission filing date for this information is the
first business day after the start of each calendar quarter. The first day of the
calendar quarters are January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1 of each year.

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5. Where to submit a paper filing
eFiling is the preferred method for submitting this filing. However; if you must
submit in paper and media; address the filing to:
Form 549B
Office of the Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20426
Hand deliveries can be made to:
Office of the Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Room 1-A
888 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20426
Interested persons may obtain information on the reporting requirements by
contacting the following: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First
Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426, [Attention: Information Clearance Officer,
Office of the Executive Director, email: [email protected], phone: (202)
502-8663, fax: (202) 273-0873] Please send comments concerning the
collections of information and the associated burden estimate(s), to the contact
listed above and to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of
Management and Budget, Washington, D.C. 20503 [Attention: Desk Officer for
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, phone (202) 395-0710, fax: (202)
395-7285]. Due to security concerns, comments should be sent electronically to
the following e-mail address: [email protected]. Please reference
the OMB control numbers identified above in your submission.
You shall not be penalized for failure to respond to this collection of information
unless the collection of information displays a valid OMB control number.

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File Format Information
1. The information required for this filing must be recorded in a "TAB" delimited
format with the data ordered as specified in the Electronic Filing Format
section of these instructions. The file and the media must be Windows
compatible. An example of a "TAB" delimited file adhering to the prescribed
electronic filing formats is also provided. There are two important
instructions regarding "TAB" delimited files:
a) It is imperative the respondent realizes that the "TAB" characters are
as important as the actual data coded onto the record. Without the
correct "TAB" characters on the record to locate and distinguish data
fields, the file cannot be processed. The respondent must be careful
not to use a software program to create the “TAB” delimited records
which converts the “TAB” characters into equivalent space characters
(ASCII 0-decimal of 00 – hexadecimal).
b) If a data item is not applicable, the data item must be omitted, but the
associated "TAB" character for that item must be recorded on the
record. For example, let's assume a record consists of four data items:
company name, report year, beginning balance, and ending balance.
Further, assume that the beginning balance field is to be left blank.
Then, the structure of the reported record would be as follows:
XYZ Natural Gas Company2011123456
The double "TAB" characters denote a blank entry for the beginning
balance data item in this record.
c) You must add a hard return to the end of each line of data.
2. Each logical record should be terminated by a carriage return (CR)
character (ASCII character – 13 decimal, 0D – hexadecimal and line feed
(LF) character (ASCII character 10 – decimal, 0A – hexadecimal).
3. All information required to be filed should be recorded in one file. The
naming convention for this file is: "ICNNNNNNYYMM.TAB", where "I" is
the file name indicator used for the Index of Customers filing, "CNNNNNN"
is the seven-character FERC pipeline code for the respondent (see item
7.A. for information on the Pipeline ID), and "YYMM" is the two digit year
and the two digit beginning month for each quarterly submittal. If it is
necessary to submit revised reports, the file names should be
"ICNNNNNNYYMM.TA1", "ICNNNNNNYYMM.TA2", etc., where ".TA1"
indicates the first revision, ".TA2" the second revision, etc. For any
revised reports, "YYMM" must refer to the year and beginning month of

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the quarter to which the revisions apply. The file name should be
included in the transmittal letter accompanying the respondent's filing.
4. The definitions, instructions, and record type formats for this electronic
filing specify explicitly the data items to be reported and the sequence for
recording each data item.
5. All fields must adhere to the following conventions for coding data on the
electronic filing:
A. In accordance with 18 CFR § 284.4, all quantities must be
reported in MMBtu. If the Commission has granted the
respondent a waiver of this regulation, and the respondent
reports data in Mcf, report these volumes measured at 14.73
psia and 60 degrees Fahrenheit rounded to the nearest Mcf.
B. Do not include commas in reporting any numeric value.
6. Footnotes. Footnotes may be used to submit additional information about
any data item(s) included in this report. A "Footnote" record is provided
for this purpose.
7. Source of Codes.
A. Company ID - Use the FERC seven-character code for the respondent's
company. An updated list of seven-character company codes is
provided on the Commission’s web site at http://www.ferc.gov/
industries/gas/gen-info/reg-fil.asp.
B. If your pipeline is not listed, obtain a Company ID at the Company
Registration, located at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/companyreg.asp.
C. Rate Schedule - Report the respondent's own designation for the rate
schedule being reported. This rate schedule name must be entered
exactly as it is reported in the FERC Forms Nos. 2 (or 2-A) as approved
in Order No. 581.
D. Shipper ID - Use the unique Data Universal Numbering System (D-UN-S®) Number assigned by the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation and
accepted by the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) as
the common code for the shipper.
E. Point Identification Code - Use the North American Energy Standards
Board’s Location (LOC) data element as defined at NAESB WGQ
Standard No. 0.4.4.

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Index of Customers
Electronic Filing Guide
Data Type
Header Record
Enter only one
Header Record
per filing.

Item
ID

Item

a
b
c

Record identifier
Pipeline name b
Company ID
Report date

d

Original/Revised indicator

e

First day of calendar quarter

f

Unit of measurement for
transportation MDQ
Unit of measurement for
storage MDQ
Contact person & phone
number
Footnote ID

g
h
i

Format or Value
H
char
char
mm/dd/yyyy

Max
Length
1
255
7
10

Instructions

char

1

mm/dd/yyyy

10

char

1

char

1

char

50

Enter full name of contact person and
telephone number including area code

char

50

Enter up to 10 Footnote Id’s separated by /.
Refer to the item footnoted in the first
position of the Footnote Id (e.g., b10
indicates footnote 10 applies to item b. Use
x if footnote applies to entire record, e.g.,
x10).

Use an “H” to identify the header record.
Enter the full legal name.
Enter the 7 character FERC company ID.
Enter the date the pipeline expects to file
this report with the Commission using the
format provided.
Enter “O” if original filing or “R” if revised
filing.
Enter the date of the first day of the
calendar quarter in the format provided.
Enter “B” for MMBtu, T for Dth and F for
Mcf.
Enter “B” for MMBtu, T for Dth and F for
Mcf.

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Index of Customers
Electronic Filing Guide
Data Type
Detail Record
Enter one Detail
record for each
combination of
shipper / rate
schedule /
contract.

Item
ID

Item
Record identifier

Format or Value
D

Max
Length
1

char
num
Y or N

75
17
1

j
ya
yb

Shipper name
Shipper ID
Shipper Affiliation Indicator

k

Rate Schedule

char

30

yc

Contract Number

char

30

l

Contract Effective Date

mm/dd/yyyy

10

m

Contract Primary Term
Expiration Date

mm/dd/yyyy

10

Instructions
Enter “D” to identify each record of detailed
information.
Enter the full legal name.
Enter the D-U-N-S number.
Enter Y if the shipper is an affiliate of the
pipeline, otherwise enter N.
Enter precisely as reported in FERC Forms 2
or 2A, as approved in Order No. 581.
Enter the respondents own designation for
the contract or agreement.
Enter using the format provided making
sure to include a four digit year.
Enter the expiration date of the primary
term of the contract using the format
provided making sure to include a four digit
year.

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n

Detail Record (continued)
Days Until Next Possible
num
Contract Expiration

5

yd

Negotiated Rates Indicator

Y or N

1

o

For Transportation, Max Daily
Quantity
For Storage, max Daily
Quantity

num

15

num

15

Enter quantity in units specified in item g.
Enter the largest quantity of natural gas the
pipeline is obligated to store for the shipper
under the contract.

Footnote ID

char

50

Enter up to 10 Footnote Id’s separated by /.
Refer to the item footnoted in the first
position of the Footnote Id (e.g., b10
indicates footnote 10 applies to item b. Use
x if footnote applies to entire record, e.g.,
x10).

p

q

If Contract Primary Term Expiration Date
has passed and contract continues under an
"evergreen" or "roll-over" provision, as
defined in Order No. 636 (III FERC Statutes
and Regulations ¶ 30,939 at 30,445), enter
number of days in the rollover or evergreen
period. (E.g., if contract continues on
monthly basis, enter 31; if annual, enter
365; if unknown or non-specific, leave
blank, but include pertinent contract
expiration information in a footnote).
Enter Y if contract includes negotiated
rates, otherwise enter N.
Enter quantity in units specified in item f.

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Index of Customers
Electronic Filing Guide
Data Type

Item
Item
ID
Agent Record
Record identifier

Enter as many
Agent records as
necessary to
report any and all
Agents or Asset
Managers that
manage the
Shipper's
transportation
and/or storage
quantity reported
in each Detail
record.

ye
yf
yg

Agent or Asset Manager Name
Agent or Asset Manager
Affiliation Identifier
Footnote ID

Format or Value
A

Max
Length
1

char
Y or N

75
1

char

50

Instructions
Enter “A” to identify each record of detailed
information.
Enter the full legal name.
Enter "Y" or "N" if affiliated with the
pipeline.
Enter up to 10 Footnote Id’s separated by /.
Refer to the item footnoted in the first
position of the Footnote Id (e.g., b10
indicates footnote 10 applies to item b. Use
x if footnote applies to entire record, e.g.,
x10).

NOTE: The AGENT record(s) should be reported immediately following the DETAILS record to which it applies. See the
sample tab delimited file structure shown at the end of these formats for the correct ordering of the records within the
electronic file.

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Index of Customers
Electronic Filing Guide
Data Type
Point Record
Enter as many Point
records as
necessary to
provide complete
information about
each primary
receipt and delivery
point, zone or
segment for the
transportation
and/or storage
quantity reported in
each Detail record.

Item
ID
yh

Item
Record identifier
Point Identifier Code

Format or Value
P

Max
Length
1

char

2

yi

Point Name

char

35

yj

char

2

yk

Point identification Code
Qualifier
Point identification Code

char

17

yl
ym

Zone Name
For trans. max daily quantity

char
num

20
15

Instructions
Enter “P” to identify each record of detailed
information.
These codes are from the NAESB Business
Practice Standards Manual relating to the
Capacity Release - Firm Transportation and
Storage - Award Notice (Award Download),

N1 Record.
M2 - Receipt Point
MQ - Delivery Point
MV - Mainline
S8 - Pipeline Segment defined by 2
Point records (second of 2
Point records)
S9 - Pipeline Segment defined by 1
Point record (or first of 2
Point records)
SB - Storage Area
IJ - Injection Point
WR - Withdrawal Point

Enter the Location Name (LOC Name) of
the point or facility.
Enter 95 whenever item yk is the
Transmission Service Provider’s Location
(LOC).
Enter the Transmission Service Provider’s
Location (LOC).
Enter the zone name for the point reported.
Enter quantity in units specified in item f.

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yn
yo

Point Record (continued)
For storage, max daily quantity
num
Footnote Id
char

15
50

Enter quantity in units specified in item g.
Enter up to 10 Footnote Id’s separated by/.
Refer to the item footnoted in the first
position of the Footnote Id e.g., yj7
indicates footnote 7 applies to item yj. Use
x if footnote applies to entire record, e.g.,
x7).

Note: The Point records which pertain to the quantity reported in a specific Details record should immediately follow any Agent record(s)
applicable to that Details record. If there are no Agent records applicable to a Details record then the Point records will immediately follow the
Details record. See the sample tab delimited file structure shown at the end of these formats for the correct ordering of the records within the
electronic file.

Index of Customers
Electronic Filing Guide
Data Type

Item
Item
ID
Footnote Record
Footnote Block
Identifier
Enter one Footnote
R
Footnote Number

Format or Value

s

record for each 255
character segment of a
footnote.

Footnote Text

F

Max
Length
1

Num

3

Char

255

Instructions
Enter F to identify each footnote
record.
Enter the footnote number correspondence
to any Footnote Id’s referenced in the other
records. The footnote Number is that part
of the Footnote Id without the Item Id
character. E.g., if a Footnote Id entered on
the Header record is “el”, then the Footnote
Number to report in this field is “1”
Separate the text of a single footnote into
segments of up to 255 characters each.
Enter the same Footnote Number for each
segment of a single footnote. It is not
necessary to use all 255 characters. You
may have several lines of 80 characters for
a single footnote. Neither is it necessary to
pad a line to the 255th character.

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