The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is amending its regulations to update the accounting and financial reporting requirements for asset retirement obligations under its Uniform Systems of Accounts for public utilities and licensees, natural gas and oil pipeline companies. The Commission is establishing uniform accounting and financial reporting for the recognition and measurement of liabilities arising from retirement and decommissioning obligations of tangible long-lived assets, and related costs. More specifically, the Commission is adding new balance sheet accounts to record the liability and the related asset, new income statement accounts to record the accretion of the liability and the depreciation of the related asset, adding and revising as necessary the definitions, general and plant instructions contained in the Uniform Systems of Accounts. The Commission is also revising the following Annual Reports: FERC Form Nos. 1, 1-F, 2, 2-A, and 6 to include the new accounts contained in the Final Rule. Finally, the Commission is revising its rate filing requirements to address the above-mentioned changes. An important objective of the rule is to provide sound and uniform accounting and financial reporting for the above types of transactions and events. The new accounts and changes to the FERC Forms will add visibility, completeness and consistency of the accounting and reporting of liabilities for asset retirement obligations and the related asset retirement costs, the accretion expense on the liability and the depreciation expense on the capitalized asset retirement costs.