The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued its comprehensive notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) designed to move the wholesale electric industry to a more competitive marketplace. The order, Open Access Non-discriminatory Transmission Services by Public Utilities and Recovery of Stranded Costs by Public and Transmitting Utilities, weighs in at over 300 pages (Docket Nos. RM95-8-000 and RM94-7-001).
The NOPR requires all electric utilities to file open-access transmission tariffs available to all wholesale sellers and buyers of electricity. The service must be "comparable" to the service the utilities provide to themselves, and they must take service under the same tariffs. (The FERC said it believes 137 utilities will be required to open their lines; only 21 utilities currently maintain any form of open access.)