FAQs

OE-417 Form Instructions:

The OE-417 Form Instructions covers who must submit OE-417 reports, responsibilities of organizations that do submit reports, when an OE-417 report should be submitted, and detailed information on each section of the OE-417 form. Additionally, you can find clarifying information for each checkbox and text entry field on the OE-417 form.

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1.3 MB

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1.19 MB

OE-417 E-Filing System Training guide:

The OE-417 E-Filing System Training Guide provides an overview of the OE-417 online features. You will find step-by-step instructions on how to register an account, submit OE-417 incident and disturbance reports, manage your organization's registered users and OE-417 submissions, and use the additional features available to registered users.

FAQs on User Registration/Account Management

Q. What should I do if I have not received a confirmation e-mail after completing the registration process and/or submitting electronic documents?

Prior to contacting the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER), please verify that your spam filters are not blocking e-mails from OE417@hq.doe.gov. If this is not the problem, please contact the OE-417 E-Filing Help Desk at OE417@hq.doe.gov.

Q. What are the required fields to register for an account?

Required fields for registration are:

First Name
Last Name
Phone Number
E-mail Address/Confirm Email Address
Password/Confirm Password
Point of Contact (Can be the same)
Three Security Questions and Answers
Organization Profile

Q. What is the POC for?

The POC information will appear on the submitted form. They will also receive the e-mail notifications related to the form after submissions.

Q. How do I select an organization?

The OE-417 E-Filing system already has a stored list of organization names. To find yours, start typing the name of your organization in the 'Organization Name' field. After the first three (3) letters are typed, an auto-complete list of names will appear. The only exception is if your organization name starts with "City of" as the list is very long. The more letters you type in, the narrower the list gets. Select your organization from the drop-down list. All other fields will be prepopulated.

Q. What if my organization name doesn't appear in the auto-complete list?

You may add your organization by selecting the checkbox, "Create New Organization." You should ONLY use this feature if your organization did not appear in the auto-complete list. You will be required to enter in an Address, City, State, and ZIP Code.

Q. What is the Organization Admin checkbox for?

Organization Admins manage members of the organization and forms submitted by members. Requesting to be an Organization Admin will send a notification to the System Administrator and they can approve or decline your request.

Q. What is the Default States and Counties field used for?

Use the provided pull-down menu under this field to select a default state and then click the 'Add State' button. Multiple default states can be added, and multiple counties for each state. New forms you create when logged in under the registered account will automatically populate with the information you had selected and saved for this field.

Q. How do I become a member of my Organization?

If there is already an Organization Admin for your organization, membership request into the organization will be automatically sent to the Organization Admin for approval. Once approved, you will be able to take advantage of a member's system privileges.

If there is no Organization Admin, then the System Administrator can approve your membership request.

Q. Why can't I log in?

If you are getting a message that says "incorrect password and/or username," verify your login and password and that your Caps Lock key is not on (your password is case sensitive). If you have forgotten your login or password, click the "Forgot Link or Password" link on the login screen.

Q. What should I do if I get a message saying my account is locked?

The system will lock a user's account after three failed login attempts. If you have locked your account, e-mail the Help Desk at OE417@hq.doe.gov to have it unlocked.

Q. How do I change my password? Can I update other information like my name, phone number, and e-mail address?

All information can be updated. You can change your password or any other user account information at any time by clicking on "My Account" on the left navigation panel once you are logged in. To change your password, click on the 'Change Password' button to bring up the 'Password' and 'Confirm Password' fields. After you update your information, make sure to then click 'Submit.'

Q. Can I check the status of my filing if I submitted a Form without registering an account and logging into the E-Filing system?

No. In order to be able to see past filings, you must create an account, log in, and submit a Form through your account. Users will be able to see all Forms they have submitted. For inquiries about filings without a redirected account, please contact OE417@hq.doe.gov.

Q. If I am seeing multiple instances of my organization in the system, is there a way to merge their details?

Yes, you can email a request to the help desk (OE417@hq.doe.gov) for a System Admin to initiate a merge between two or more organizations. All users associated with the selected organizations will be combined and then associated with the selected "new" organization, and will have the ability to view and edit all forms affected by the merge. All existing forms' organization details will not change and will remain as they were when submitted to DOE. The profiles of the users affected by the merge will be updated with the new organization details. The System Admin will select which organization in the system will replace all the other organizations for the merge.

Note: Once a merge has been completed, it CANNOT be undone.

FAQs on Submitting an OE-417 Form in the New System

Q. How can I enter a date/time on lines E & F?

To enter a date/time on lines E & F, click on the area to the right of 'Date/Time Incident Began' and a pop-up box will appear displaying a calendar. A user can select the date of the incident by clicking on the day with their mouse. To set the time, users will click and hold on the square next to 'Hour' or 'Minute' and, while still holding down the left mouse button, slide the box so that it moves to the right. Then the 'Hour' will increase up to 23 (based on the 24-hour clock) and the 'Minute' will increase up to 59. Click 'Done' and the pop-up box will disappear.

Note: The system will not let users input a date/time in the future. The sliding squares will only allow users to advance up to the current time.

Q. How will I know if I have successfully E-Filed an OE-417 Form?

After submission, the system will display a confirmation page. If you have registered in the system, you will also receive an e-mail receipt confirming a successful transmission. Additionally, in the user's OE-417 E-Filing Home Page, filings submitted within the last 30 days are visible or a user can click 'Search' on the left-hand bar to search their past filings. If additional verification is required, please contact OE417@hq.doe.gov.

Q. What fields are required to be filled out when completing an OE-417 Form?

Required fields for an Emergency Alert, Normal Report, System Report, or Update submission:
Criteria and Lines A-E, G, M, O, and Q

Required fields for a Final submission:
Criteria and Lines A-E, G, J-L, M, O, Q, and R

Q. What are the filing requirements for each Alert Status under Schedule 1 Criteria for Filing?

An Emergency Alert must be filed within one hour of the reported incident. A Normal Report must be filed within six hours of an incident. A System Report must be filed by the later of 24 hours after the recognition of the incident or by the end of the next business day. (Note: 4:00 pm local time will be considered the end of the business day.) If significant changes have occurred after filing the initial report, the form should be re-filed with the changes as an Update.

A Final Report form must be re-filed within 72 hours of the incident with the latest information, unless it was updated.

Q. Do I need to submit a new OE-417 Form when updating or finalizing an event?

No, you should not open a new submission in order to update or finalize an initial submission. Simply perform a search using the Event ID of the event submission. Then click the 'Update' icon next to the Form you wish to submit an Update or Final Submission for. This will open a Form with the previously submitted information already filled in. Select 'Update' or 'Final' in the Form and you will be able to make changes to it.

Please note that this feature only applies to users who have made submissions using a registered OE-417 account.

Q. How will I be notified if the OE determines my submission was filed incorrectly?

If your submission is filed incorrectly, you will receive an e-mail or phone notification of the problem and what action is required to correct the submission.

Q. What should I do if I realize I made a mistake after completing a submission?

If you file a document incorrectly, please go log into the system, locate the submission, click the 'Update' icon, make the correction, and resubmit the Form as an Update. For additional information or questions about a mistake in a report, please contact OE417@hq.doe.gov.

Q. Can form submissions be removed from the system?

Only the System Admin can withdraw a submission in the system. Since deletions are permanent, the System Admin is most likely to withdraw a form in cases where the OE-417 criteria are determined not to have been met, a form was mistakenly submitted, or other issues as appropriate. This way, there is a record of the form that remains in the system. Withdrawn forms will not appear in search results or public summaries. To search for withdrawn forms, check the box next to "Show Withdrawn Forms" in the form search criteria. After the System Admin has withdrawn a submission, an alert email will be sent out to the submitter and NERC (if they were copied) notifying them that the form had been withdrawn. If a form was filed and it is later determined that the OE-417 filing criteria were not met, or a form was mistakenly filed, please email OE417@hq.doe.gov.

Q. What if I need to submit a Form under another organization name or for states/counties different from those saved in my profile?

You can edit any prepopulated information directly on the Form for a particular submission, such as the 'B. Organization Name' and 'D. Geographic Area(s) Affected' fields, all without having to change the settings saved on your profile. Refer to Option 1 of Figure 5 above for how to update a saved submission.

Q. If I am seeing multiple instances of a form I had submitted into the system, is there a way to merge their details?

Yes, you can email a request to the help desk (OE417@hq.doe.gov) for the System Admin to initiate a merge between two or more form submissions identified in the system. You will need to provide the two or more Event IDs that need to be associated into a single event. No actual data nor the Event ID is changed in the submitted forms after events have been merged. The 'Associated ID' field is used to identify forms that have been merged into one. If a form has not been merged, the Associated ID will be blank or the same as the Event ID. The System Admin will select which Event ID will be used to identify all the merged forms unless you specify an Event ID.

Note: Once a merge has been completed, it CANNOT be undone.

New FAQs

Q. What alternate methods of communication are available to submit details for an electrical disturbance?

You can report via facsimile (fax), email, or telephone:

Fax: If you experience problems submitting via the online submission form, you may fax the form to the following facsimile number: (202) 586-8485.

Telephone: If you experience problems submitting via online, email, or fax, please call and report the information to the following telephone number: (202) 586-8100. This telephone number is staffed 24/7.

Email: If you experience problems submitting via the online submission form, you may email the form to: doehqeoc@hq.doe.gov.

If you have questions about the form, please email OE417@hq.doe.gov

Q. Where can I find publicly available information on OE-417 incidents?

All incidents filed in the OE-417 system are included in the annual summaries posted at our public homepage, https://www.oe.netl.doe.gov/oe417.aspx, in the right navigation under "Annual Summaries." The current year summary is updated on a monthly basis while summaries from past years can be found under the "Archives" link.

Q. Does my entity fulfill the North American Electric Reliability Corporation's (NERC) requirements under EOP-004 Reliability Standard reporting requirements by e-filing the incident in the OE-417 system as a System Report?

For NERC reporting entities registered in the United States; NERC has approved that the form OE-417 meets the submittal requirements established by the NERC EOP-004 reliability standard, if the reporting entity elects to submit the form to NERC. In the e-filing system, the reporting entity needs to select NERC as an authorized recipient. If filing the form via other means (e.g. email or facsimile), the reporting entity must indicate whether the form should be submitted to NERC using the check box at the end of the form.