IEEE Power Engineering Society

This article highlights the significance for US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) orders related to electric utilities, and explains their impact on the US electric utility industry. These orders are direct results of government-enacted laws and range from addressing issues of generator open access to transmission lines to the mitigation of restructuring electric utilities´ stranded costs. A brief history and legal foundation of FERC is given, as well as an outline of the major tenets of the orders, which include 888 for open access, 889 for the Open Access Same Time Information System (OASIS), and 2000 for regional transmission organizations (RTO). This article includes the progression of these orders and some of the consequences arising from them, as well as their connectivity to the major Acts of Congress related to electric utility regulation and business structures. The contents of this article reflect the essential knowledge required of utility managers regarding the US government´s utility regulatory system and the legal foundations that are shaping the development of electric utilities and the direction of management philosophies and practices.