Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, an independent regulatory agency within the Department of Energy:

• regulates the transmission of natural gas in interstate commerce;

• regulates the transmission of oil by pipeline in interstate commerce;

• regulates the transmission and wholesale sales of electricity in interstate commerce;

• licenses and inspects private, municipal and state hydroelectric projects; and

• oversees related environmental matters.

Public Access

A public reference room is available where the public can use FERC facilities for research. The Office of External Affairs provides information to the public and to county, state and federal governmental entities. There are several electronically accessible data processing services that can be accessed from which information can be derived. This includes a system called Remote Public Access (RPA). RPA is a mainframe application which the public and the government can use to access several automated applications on FERC's mainframe. In addition, an electronic bulletin board service provides information for other automation applications.

Updated January 21, 1996