Frontlines

Is FERC the rightful heir?

The possibility that energy legislation drafted last year won't pass in 2004 has created a power vacuum. Who now is czar of electric utility reliability? Language in the proposed bill would have answered that question. But when Congress demurred, did that imply an endorsement of the ?

"We think it's neat that no one's in charge," Congress might just as well have said. Or, perhaps our lawmakers intended a different message: "Nobody makes a move till we say. Don't call us, we'll call you."

For better or for worse, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) stepped into the void in late December when it directed its staff to develop an order requiring transmission system operators to report violations of the industry's power-grid reliability standards. "The pending order marks the first step in the commission's exploration of its authority under existing law to assure power grid reliability in the aftermath of an Aug. 14, 2003, blackout that affected millions in the U.S. and Canada," FERC said.

But FERC's actions have drawn criticism from several quarters in the industry that don't believe FERC has the legal authority to enforce reliability, and that it is too soon for the regulator to begin assuming a role Congress has not given it.