ERF - What's New

ERF System

What's New

October 15, 2010

(283 KB)

Notice of Electronic Regulatory Filing System Changes
The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin has implemented some minor enhancements to the Electronic Regulatory Filing (ERF) System. The main focus of these enhancements is to improve on the list of document types in the system. This involves adding new types as well as consolidating others. These changes include:

Document type "Docket Application" has been renamed "Application"
Document types "Draft EIS" and "Final EIS" have been combined into a single document type "Environmental Impact Statement"
Document types "Brief" and "Reply Brief" have been combined into a single document type "Brief/Reply"
Document types "Completeness Letter" and "Email" and "Letter Acknowledgement" have been merged into the already-existing document type "Correspondence"
Document type "Hearing Report" has been merged into a new document type "Report"
Document type "Tariff Acknowledgement" has been merged into the already-existing document type "Tariffs"
Document type "Contract" has been added

A list of definitions of document types has been created and it can be found here.

March 31, 2006
(23 KB)	Letter to all ERF users concerning use of redaction software for public versions of redacted confidential filings.

March 17, 2006

The Public Service Commission is upgrading to Adobe Acrobat 7.0 effective March 20. All PDF documents that are filed in the Electronic Regulatory Filing (ERF) System, regardless of what Acrobat version was used to create the document, will be converted to Acrobat 7.0 at the time that the "Received" stamp is applied.

When you file documents electronically with the Commission, you may continue to use the Acrobat version (or other PDF writer) that you are currently using.

When you access documents from the Electronic Regulatory Filing System, if you do not have version 7 of the Acrobat Reader installed on your machine, you may be given a warning such as:

This file appears to use a new format that this version of Acrobat does not support.

It may not open or display correctly. Adobe recommends that you upgrade to the latest version of our Acrobat products. Please visit our product site at http://www.adobe.com/acrobat.

If you continue and open the document using your older version of Adobe Reader, it is unlikely that you will experience any difficulty reading the document.

Acrobat Reader 7.0 has been rated for Windows XP as well as Windows 2000 SP4-SP2, and is available as a free download from Adobe. If you are operating under an older version of Windows, you can look here to find the most current version available for your platform.

More information: The existing program that the Public Service Commission uses to place the Received stamp on incoming documents does not support Adobe 7.0 documents, and the product that was used to implement this feature has been discontinued. Many users of the ERF system have begun filing documents in Adobe 7.0 format, and each of these documents causes the system to stop and requires manual intervention. In order to preserve the rapid turnaround between receipt of documents and making them available to the ERF website, it is essential that we implement a replacement stamping program that can support Adobe 7.0 documents. In making this conversion, we do not expect to implement any Adobe 7.0 features that would make documents unreadable to an earlier version of Adobe Reader.

November 18, 2005

The Commission staff has noticed that some ERF users may be experiencing difficulty with providing redacted public versions of confidential documents. We previously discussed some of this issue in our “What’s New?” section on the ERF web site on June 14, 2004 (see Point 2 on that date).

Effective on November 28, 2005, the screens used for filing of confidential information will be modified to require that a redacted public version of each confidential document be filed at the same time as the confidential version. The redacted public version will be linked in the database to the confidential version so that it can be more easily located.

The Commission staff is also investigating various redaction software tools that can better assure the security of redacted public documents. The Commission staff is planning to require that one of the commercially-available tools be used by all users for creating redacted public versions in the future. The Commission will implement automated procedures for redacted public versions of documents that will check for the use of the redaction software chosen and, if not found, the document will be rejected and the user will be required to re-file the document using the appropriate tool. Tools being considered are Redax by Appligent Software and RapidRedact from Onstream Systems, but the Commission staff is interested in hearing comments from users about other redaction tools they feel should be considered.

When a redaction tool has been selected, a reasonable time would be allowed for ERF users to purchase and implement the redaction software. After that period of time has passed, the Commission staff will notify users that all redacted documents will be required to use the selected tool on and after a date certain. It is expected that this can be accomplished over the next couple of months. Please note that this will affect only those users who need to file confidential documents.

Please provide any comments you may have about redacted versions of confidential documents and your suggestions for redaction software to the PSC’s Chief Information Officer, Paul Newman, at Paul.Newman@wisconsin.gov. Comments will be accepted until December 5, 2005.

September 13, 2004
(113 KB)	Instruction for how to file a CD that contains confidential material.

July 6, 2004
(39 KB)	ERF Statistics (January 2004 - June 2004)

June 14, 2004
1.	The PSC has revised the confidentiality request screen. Users submitting a confidential document must provide the company information that the request is filed on behalf of, and the filer's name and position with the company. The filer must also select the Wisconsin statute used to conclude that the record is confidential and explain how it is applicable.
2.	When preparing a public version of confidential documents, users should not simply make the confidential text white, as this does not sufficiently protect the information if the text is copied and pasted into a word processor. The confidential text should be deleted and appropriate place holders should be inserted into the document.

April 8, 2004
1.	The Commission has implemented the capability to add a time stamp indicating the date and time of receipt to each PDF document. See example here. Note that this applies only to PDF documents, not Excel spreadsheets. For now, this only applies to new documents; we are unsure at this time if we will be able to go back and apply similar stamps to previously-filed documents.
2.	In order to help preserve confidential treatment of PDF documents for which a Confidentiality Request has been filed, we are also applying a “CONFIDENTIAL” stamp to each page of the document. The example here demonstrates how this appears to Commission staff. Note that we are unable to similarly stamp Excel spreadsheets. If you are filing an Excel spreadsheet and requesting confidential treatment, you are requested to include the word “Confidential” in the header or footer of the document.

March 10, 2004
1.	The Electronic Regulatory Filing system was implemented on January 1, 2004. During 2004 all new cases except electric affiliated interest, gas construction and gas affiliated interest cases will be electronic. All documents for these cases will be filed, as PDF or Excel, using the ERF system. All confidential and non case filings should also be filed using the ERF system. All non case filings should include the utility number on the document. Starting January 2005, all new cases will be electronic.
2.	Users are requested to enter better (i.e., more descriptive) document descriptions. This will help us to speed up the acceptance of your filing. If a document is a part of a larger logical document (e.g., Attachment B to XYZ Document), please refer to the document in the description.
3.	There has been a change to the recommendation that each item in a filing should be filed as a separate document: Where appropriate and keeping in mind the maximum document size, users should group documents into logical units and combine those documents into a single filing. For example, a Brief with a cover letter and several attachments may all be combined into a single document. A confidential document and its corresponding Affidavit should be combined into a single document. A general guideline here is that if you would have stapled the pages together in filing a paper document, you can likewise combine them electronically into a single document. Note that Testimony and Exhibits still have to be separated out by individual and filed separately
4.	When entering document information on the upload screen, please remember to enter the document type. To facilitate this, the system has been changed so that the document type no longer defaults to "Brief"; rather, the field now states "Select Document Type."
5.	The ERF system now accepts Excel spreadsheets. For documents filed in Excel format, the user is not required to submit a redundant PDF version of the same content. However, if it is not a working spreadsheet (if all that is needed is the document image), then it should be filed in PDF format rather than Excel.
6.	If you are filing an Excel spreadsheet as a confidential filing, the first worksheet should be the Affidavit. To embed a PDF document in an Excel spreadsheet: Position the cursor in cell A1 (or wherever you wish to embed the spreadsheet) Click on Insert Object On the Object pop-up window, click on the Create from File tab Click the Browse button and select the PDF file, and click on Insert Click OK
7.	New guidelines have been formulated concerning signatures on documents. As long as you keep the originally signed document and can provide it upon request, the electronic document that you submit may contain an electronic indication that it has been signed using the following format: /s/John Q. Citizen This does not constitute an electronic signature; it merely indicates that the document has been signed and that it exists. Please see Legal Issues in the FAQs for further details. Finally, changes are in the works to reduce the confusion over individual users vs. corporate users. Existing users of the system will be contacted using the e-mail addresses on file as we attempt to consolidate the multiple accounts that have been created for many users.