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ELECTRICITY
What are the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission's (FERC) responsibilities for regulating electricity?
- Approving rates for wholesale interstate electric power and transmission;
- Overseeing mergers;
- Reviewing rates set by the Bonneville Power Administration and federal power marketing administrations;
- Certifying cogenerators which use energy for both productions of electricity and industrial processes.
What FERC does not regulate
- The physical siting of electrical generation, transmission, or distribution facilities except for hydroelectric projects and under certain circumstances transmission lines; nor
- Regulation of activities of municipal power systems, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and most rural electric cooperatives.
Brief History of Electricity Regulation
The Commission acts under the legal authority of three different Federal Laws passed by Congress. They are:
FERC and Open Energy Markets
FERC issued a series of orders to create greater accessibility of electric generation resources. This restructured the electric utility market, moving the industry from the traditional franchised utility service to an open market where customers are not held to one service provider for power.
Additionally, new regional transmission organizations (RTO's) allow customers to purchase power from sellers outside their traditional electric utility service territory.
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