Public Service Commission

Filing Rules Adopted

(3) On all applications, petitions and complaints, and in any instance in which the Commission initiates an action, notice shall be given to the persons or corporations interested in or affected by said action at least thirty (30) days before any hearing that may be scheduled; provided, however, that the notification provisions of this subpart shall not apply to any emergency action that the Commission may need to take in the interest of safeguarding the public health, safety and welfare or any action in which the parties do not object to proceeding on a more expedited basis.

1. Unless otherwise directed by the Commission or one of its hearing officers in a written order, the testimony of any witness who testifies as an expert or about matters of a technical nature must be pre-filed in its Executive Secretary’s Office at least ten (10) days prior to the commencement of the hearing date, along with any exhibits in support thereof. In the event that the tenth day before the hearing falls on a weekend or state holiday, said testimony and accompanying exhibits shall be pre-filed on the next working day.Lay witnesses or witnesses whose testimony is not of a technical nature may present their testimony verbally, in writing, or in affidavit form at the hearing.             
2. All testimony pre-filed with the Commission shall conform with the filing requirements set forth in Rule 515-2-1-.04(4) and must also be served on all parties of record and the Consumers’ Utility Counsel Division of the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs.                                                                                                                                                                         

(4) In addition to filing an original document with the Commission, a party also shall file an appropriate number of copies. The exact number of copies that a party must file shall be determined by the type of document, as specified on the Official Filing Schedule adopted by the Commission. Once adopted, this schedule may be modified from time to time by order of the Commission.

1. Unless otherwise expressly excepted by the Commission in its Official Filing Schedule, in addition to any other requirement set forth in Rule 515-2-1-.04, a party shall file contemporaneously with an original and the appropriate number of copies, if any, of a document an electronic version of its filing, along with any exhibits attendant thereto. If, for reasons beyond a party’s control, any portion of a document cannot be filed electronically, the party making the filing shall include in the place of the unavailable item in its electronic filing a statement that the item in question is not available electronically and the reason(s) for its unavailability. All electronic filings shall be made using the type of software specified by the Commission in its Official Filing Schedule and shall not contain more than four (4) files, including attachments. In the event that a textual, substantive or other type of discrepancy exists between the original hard copy of the document and the electronic version filed, the contents of the original hard copy of the filing shall control. 

2. Any party to a contested matter that lacks the technical ability to make an electronic filing with the Commission as required by (4)(a) of this rule may file a petition seeking an exemption from meeting this requirement. Any such petition that may be made pursuant to this rule shall conform with all of the filing requirements of this rule, except that it need not be accompanied by an electronic version of the petition filed. The decision whether to grant such a petition shall be made on a case-by-case basis by the Chairman of the Commission in accordance with Rule 515-1-1-.01.

3. Any filing made pursuant to Rule 515-22-1-.04 must be received by the Commission’s Executive Secretary Office no later than 4:00 p.m. if it is to be date stamped as having been received that calendar day. Limited exceptions to the 4:00 p.m. filing deadline requirement may be made by the Executive Secretary’s Office for good cause shown. Nothing set forth in this rule shall prevent a party from petitioning the Commission to obtain an exception to the filing deadline in the event that the Executive Secretary does not grant a request that a late filing be accepted nor shall this rule be interpreted to contradict the express provisions of O.C.G.A. § 50-13-23.

(5.)  Each electric, natural gas, telephone, telegraph and radio common carrier utility company must also file with the   Commission concurrently with their general rate increase applications and other exhibits two (2) copies of Minimum Filing Requirements (MFRs). The MFRs shall be in format and content as prescribed by the Commission for each different type utility, and as contained in form-numbered MFR-books as described below in this paragraph. Each utility company desiring an exemption and/or a deviation from the prescribed filing must notify the Commission and receive approval of such exemptions and/or deviations from the Commission prior to the filing of its next application for a general rate increase after this Rule shall have been issued. Blank schedules of the MFRs to be completed by the utility companies will be furnished by the Commission to the companies upon their written request.