Natural Gas - Electric Coordination
The natural gas and electricity industries provide a service that is critical to health and safety in this nation. Yet recent events have illustrated why the interdependence of these industries merits careful attention. In short, this nation must ensure that outages and reliability problems are not the result of the lack of coordination between the electricity and gas industries. Read More

Smart Grid
To help achieve the modernization of the Nation's electric transmission system FERC is now focusing on Smart Grid. Smart Grid advancements will apply digital technologies to the grid, and enable real-time coordination of information from both generation supply resources and demand side resources, thus bringing new efficiencies to the electric system while at the same time helping to ensure reliability of the system. Read More

Demand Response
Effective demand response can help reduce electric price volatility, mitigate generation market power, and enhance reliability. As required by the Section 1252(e)(3) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005) FERC is now required to report annually on Demand Response and Advanced Metering. Read More

Integration of Renewables
The use of renewable energy resources to generate electricity has the potential to be a cost-effective means not only to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also to diversify the fuels used to generate electricity. The Commission will continue to pursue market reforms to allow all resources, including renewable energy resources, to compete in jurisdictional markets on a level playing field. Read More

Order No. 1000 - Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation
Order No. 1000 is a Final Rule that reforms the Commission’s electric transmission planning and cost allocation requirements for public utility transmission providers. The rule builds on the reforms of Order No. 890 and corrects remaining deficiencies with respect to transmission planning processes and cost allocation methods. Read More

Electric Reliability
The Commission has inaugurated Docket No. RM04-2-000 in the wake of the August 14, 2003, regional blackout and Congressional consideration of power-grid reliability legislation. Read More

Increasing Efficiency through Improved Software
The Commission is identifying opportunities to enhance operational efficiency in jurisdictional markets by encouraging public utilities, particularly RTOs and ISOs, to deploy new modeling software and optimize their market operations. Read More

Electric Competition
National policy for many years has been, and continues to be, to foster competition in wholesale power markets. The Commission’s core responsibility is to “guard the consumer from exploitation by non-competitive electric power companies.” The Commission has always used the following two general approaches to meet this responsibility 1) Regulation and 2) Competition. Learn what the Commission is doing to foster competition. Read More

RTO/ISO
The Commission would like to advance the formation of Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs). The regulations would require that each public utility that owns, operates, or controls facilities for the transmission of electric energy in interstate commerce make certain filings with respect to forming and participating in an RTO. Read More

Generator Interconnection
The Commission is facilitating a working group with various interests in the electric industry in an attempt to develop standardized interconnection agreement and procedures that would provide interconnection service. Read More

Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT) Reform
The Commission proposes to remedy undue discrimination by increasing the clarity and transparency in the rules applicable to planning and use of the transmission system, and to address ambiguities and the lack of sufficient detail in several important areas of the pro forma OATT. Read More

Transmission Investment
The Commission has established rules to bolster investment in the nation's transmission infrastructure, and to promote electric power reliability and lower costs for consumers, by reducing transmission congestion. The rule identifies specific incentives the Commission would allow based on a case-by-case analysis of individual transmission proposals. Read More

Transmission Line Siting
The Energy Policy Act provides for federal backstop siting authority of certain electric transmission facilities in order to increase transmission capacity and maintain system reliability. Upon the designation by the Secretary of the Department of Energy of national interest electric transmission corridors experiencing electric transmission capacity constraints or congestion that adversely affects consumers, the Commission may issue permits to construct or modify electric transmission facilities if the Commission finds certain facts. Read More

Addressing the 2000–2001 Western Energy Crisis
The Commission is focusing on energy markets, transactions and market behavior in the Western Region of the United States. Read More

Joint Boards
The Commission is holding joint boards on a regional basis to study the issue of security constrained economic dispatch for the various market regions, to consider issues relevant to what constitutes "security constrained economic dispatch" and how such a mode of operating affects or enhances the reliability and affordability of service, and to make recommendations to the Commission. The Commission will submit a report to Congress regarding the recommendations of the joint boards on or before August 7, 2006. Read More