In an earlier blog article, we described a method for submitting a tariff filing to FERC’s eTariff sandbox, which is helpful for users who don’t have TariffShark Hammerhead.  We also posted a screencast that shows how TariffShark Hammerhead has built-in FERC sandbox submission.  The purpose of this article is to help you diagnose why your computer may not be able to successfully submit a filing to FERC’s eTariff sandbox.

FERC’s eTariff sandbox is an FTP server.  FTP is an acronym for File Transfer Protocol, which provides a means for sending and receiving files over the Internet.  Some organizations have configured their corporate networks to block FTP, which also blocks the FERC eTariff sandbox.  In addition, some desktop computers are configured to run a software firewall.  A software firewall could also be blocking FTP.

When we are asked to diagnose problems sending files to FERC’s eTariff sandbox, we try to isolate the root cause.  One trick is to eliminate as many layers of software as possible, which we do by following this handy guide:

Use Windows command prompt to connect to FERC’s eTariff sandbox [click to enlarge]

If a user is able to connect to FERC’s eTariff sandbox using the procedure above, then the problem is not one of blocked access and we will continue to dig deeper.

If you have questions about using FERC’s eTariff sandbox or run into problems trying to submit a filing to the sandbox, we’d love to hear from you.  Please comment below or contact TariffShark Support.

• FERC
• How To