Form 1 - Electric Utility Annual Report

Viewer Instructions and Download

Note: This also applies to Form 1–F and Form–3Q - Comprehensive Quarterly Financial and Operating Report

Before downloading the Viewer Application, please print and read this page of instructions!

You will save yourself a lot of time by referring to this page first, before contacting FERC with problem issues. Most problems will involve Internet communication issues which are addressed below. Of course, we make mistakes - and need to fix things on the server or with the software, so we do not mind emails, questions, and suggestions.

Downloading and Viewing the Form 1 Database

The public version of the Form 1 database is available for partial or complete download to client sites and may be viewed with the Form 1 Database Viewer (Form 1 Viewer). The Viewer will permit the selection, viewing and printing of individual or all Form 1 or 1-F annual submissions for 1994 through the last filing year and quarterly (3Q) filings submitted in the past.

The resulting Form 1 Database downloaded to the local client may be manipulated for specific reporting or analysis needs using Microsoft Visual FoxPro (VFP) or commercially available reporting software such as Crystal Reports or others that support the VFP database container structure. Learn how to connect to a Visual FoxPro Database through Microsoft Access to access the Form 1 database.

Depending on your browser, you can either download the installation file, or run the installation from within your browser. In any event, the downloaded file is named Form1ViewerInstall.exe and can be considered the Installation Disk for the Viewer Application. You must execute this file under local Administration account to install the Viewer Application. Follow the instructions given during the installation process. It will be easier for us to help you with problems if you use the default directory/folder names for the software. The default for the viewer is C:\FERC\Form1Viewer. The user’s local regular account should be assigned as full read/write access into this folder. The software should be installed on the workstation. The database may be installed or copied on a network for multiple user access

Once the application is installed on the client PC, it is accessed through the Start\Programs\FERC menu. There are two sub-items under FERC\Form1View heading named Form 1 Data Download and Form 1 Data Viewer. You must first use the Form 1 Data Download application to obtain the database.

Within the download application, you should select the companies you are interested in and the filing year. (You select multiple companies by highlighting them on the displayed list. To highlight multiple companies, use the standard Windows selection technique of ctrl key/left mouse click.) You have a checkbox option of selecting all respondents (Form 1 Filers) for a particular filing year.

The download process may take a few minutes, depending on your connection speed and the number of companies requested. When requesting one or more companies, the server extracts the requested companies from our database and creates a small database with just the requested companies. This database is compressed, sent via Internet to your PC, and decompressed. All this takes some time. So, give it a few minutes before you think something is wrong.

The more companies you select, the longer it will take to get the data. If you want many companies, it may be quicker to download the entire database for the year instead of selecting individual companies.

When you use the Viewer, click on Company Selected to obtain a drop down list of companies downloaded to your PC. Then, select the company you wish to view.

The downloaded information is not cumulative. When you download a new selection, the previously downloaded data is replaced by the new download. (Of course, you can always copy or download it to another directory if you wish to retain it.)

As an alternative, you can download a compressed (zipped) copy of the database for particular years. If you want the most current information, you might visit this site just to check the dates on the files. When the date changes, we have probably added more respondents, or made other corrections to the database. If you have problems with this, contact your computer support personnel.

Download Problems

You should not experience much trouble downloading and installing the Viewer application on your workstation. However, the component of the viewer that provides the Listing of Available Companies - and downloads the database may not work properly with your workstation or network configuration. In the event that you cannot download data, it is suggested that you download the entire database for the specific year you desire. The downloaded file should be unzipped into the appropriate folder. Then, start the Viewer and use Options/Change DB Location to point to the database folder.

Download Problems - Potential Solutions

The Form 1 Viewer uses HTTP (to get the list of respondents), FTP Receive (to check for and deliver Form 1 updates). These common Internet Communication Protocols may be blocked by your Internet Firewall for security reasons. This will require intervention by your computer or network support personnel.

The easiest and most effective solution is to ask your Firewall Administrator to install a rule in the Firewall permitting HTTP Send/Receive and FTP Send/Receive from the DNS eforms1.ferc.gov. This presents a minimal or non-existent security risk since all communication requests are issued by the Client (your workstation). The FERC Forms Server does not "push" unsolicited information to your workstation. Therefore, in creating this rule in your Firewall, do not permit unsolicited incoming data. Also, the IT personnel can try to “whitelist” from firewall the DNS and everyone that is accessing FERC Database if FTP is blocked at your company IT.

Problem Reporting and Assistance

If you have any problems with downloading or using the viewer application, please send an email describing the problem to ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov.

In order to help in diagnosing a problem, please attach the file F1view.log to your email. If you don’t attach it, we will send you a reply email asking for it. So, it just saves time for all of us if you do it first off. This file is found in the Form 1 Viewer installation folder (C:\FERC\Form1Viewer by default).