U.S. Energy Law: Electricity
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What is FERC? [Source: U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)] |
Federal Power Commission (FPC)
In 1920, Congress established the Federal Power Commission (FPC) to coordinate hydroelectric projects under federal control. Under the joint administration of the Secretaries of War, Interior, and Agriculture, the FPC could only employ an Executive Secretary. All other personnel were borrowed from these administrating executive departments. This organizational structure resulted in conflicting mandates, making it difficult to produce a consistent energy policy.
In 1928, Congress voted to give the FPC funds to permanently hire their borrowed staff. Two years later, the Federal Power Act established a five-member, bipartisan commission to run the FPC. Through court decisions and the enactment of new laws, the mission of the FPC expanded.
Large backlogs of applications for natural gas permits, chronic brownouts in the 1960s and the OPEC embargo in the 1970s led to efforts to reorganize the FPC. In 1977, Congress reorganized the FPC as FERC.
Source: History of the FPC: 1929-1977, 1977 Ann. Rep. Fed. Power Comm'n 6-10 (1977). 
- Federal Power Commission Reports (1931 - 1977)
About FERC Documents
FERC regulates by issuing formal written orders relating to an entire industry or one or more specific companies.
- Orders are issued in proceedings that are assigned docket numbers by the Commission's Secretary.
- Formal orders may be the result of:
- Rulemaking proceedings
- Proceedings before an administrative law judge
- Proceedings initiated by a filing which will include comments or protests by intervenors
- Formal proceedings may be initiated by FERC or by individual companies.
Source:
James H. McGrew. FERC: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, at 247 (2d ed., 2009). 
FERC eLibrary
The FERC eLibrary 
contains documents submitted to and issued by FERC since 1981.
It is comprised of six "Libraries":
- Electric
- Gas
- Oil
- Hydro
- Rulemaking
- General
Documents usually fall into one or more of the Libraries (on the basis of the FERC regulatory programs):
- Library
- Category
- Classification
- Type
Within each Library, there are two categories of documents:
- Issuances
- Issuances are documents issued by the Commission, the Secretary of the Commission, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), or any other agency official with delegated authority. These documents originate within the Commission.
- Issuances are documents issued by the Commission, the Secretary of the Commission, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), or any other agency official with delegated authority. These documents originate within the Commission.
- Submittals
-
Submittals are a general category of documents and other materials addressed to the Commission officers or offices, filed with the Office of the Secretary, or otherwise delivered to the Commission.
-
Each category is divided into classifications, then segmented by type.
FERC eLibrary Search Help
- eLibrary FAQs
- eLibrary - Search Tips
- eLibrary: Using the General Search Form in the New eLibrary
- eLibrary Class/Type Information
- FERC Docket-Prefix List
Orders & Decisions
- FERC Orders & OpinionsAdministrative decisions designated for publication by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
- Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) IssuancesDocuments authored by an ALJ concerning the status or disposition of a proceeding over which the ALJ presides. There are three types of documents that are issued by an ALJ: orders; initial decisions; and reports to the Commission.
- FERC eLibraryThis database contains documents submitted to and issued by FERC since 1981, including Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) issuances.
Other FERC Issuances
Other documents issued by FERC and available through the FERC eLibrary include:
- Approved DesignationA rate document (tariff sheet, initial rate schedule and supplement, or service agreement) to which the Office of Energy Market Regulation (OEMR) has affixed a stamp that specifies the effective date, designation numbers, and docket number of the rate filing.
- CommentA document stating the views and recommendations of the Commission, usually in response to a request soliciting FERC analysis on a House or Senate bill that is pending legislation before a congressional committee, on an oversight activity by a congressional committee whose jurisdiction is related to FERC regulatory matters, or on pending actions or proposed procedures on the part of other federal or state agencies concerning matters that involve parallel or shared jurisdictional responsibilities with the Commission, such as EPA, or bureaus within the Department of the Interior & Army Corps of Engineers.
- Correspondence with ApplicantDocuments prepared by a FERC office and addressed to a utility, or other filing party which has submitted an application, request or report to be acted upon by the FERC office.
- Correspondence with Government AgencyLetters or other documents prepared by FERC and addressed to another federal or state government agency advising, notifying, or otherwise informing the receiving agency with respect to a matter related to FERC regulatory jurisdiction.
- Informational CorrespondenceA letter or other correspondence prepared by Commission staff and addressed to an external party other than a hydropower project applicant, licensee, exemptee, permittee or governmental agency, providing general information about the regulatory activities of the Commission.
- Informational LetterA letter or other correspondence prepared by Commission staff and addressed to an external party other than a utility or government agency, which provides general information about the regulatory activities of the Commission. Such correspondence is merely informational.
- MemoAn internal work paper document that is prepared by and addressed to FERC staff. It concerns the routing or transmittal of documents as work product or analyses and evaluation functions (including staff recommendations pertinent to Commission action in regulatory matters), or can be a summary of a telephone conversation with other FERC staff or an external party.
- NoticeA formal issuance by the Office of the Secretary or a FERC office communicating to the general public that an application, petition, request or compliance submittal has been filed with the Commission, or advising that a Commission action has been scheduled, or giving notice of a formal Commission action.
- Reports & StudiesPart of a class of documents that are prepared by Commission staff or by a consultant under contract with FERC and issued by the Commission on a topic or subject related to the Commission's regulatory responsibilities.
- Response to an InquiryLetters prepared by Commission staff and addressed to an external party, other than a utility or government agency, in response to an inquiry or request for information on a general subject or broad topic of energy regulation.
- TranscriptA verbatim record of a proceeding conducted by the Commission or a FERC office.
FERC Dockets
When a proceeding is initiated by FERC, a docket number is assigned to the proceeding.
FERC Docket-Prefix List provides a list of prefixes and definitions, and identifies the eLibrary Library where proceedings can be found.
Examples:
- CP18-65-000
- ER15-2680-007
CP = Type of proceeding - "Certificates for Pipelines"
ER = Type of proceeding - "Electric Rates"
To retrieve a filing from FERC eLibrary, it is helpful to have:
- Date of filing
- Docket number
- Party making the filing
Source: James H. McGrew. FERC: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, at 248 (2d ed., 2009). 