The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Summary
Created by the Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977, FERC ran on a $520 million FY2025 appropriation and 1,539 full-time staff -- $1.52 per U.S. resident, though the money comes from fees on the industries it regulates, not taxes -- to police wholesale power and gas markets and enforce the mandatory grid-reliability standards Congress created after the 2003 blackout.
What is this organization?
What does it do?
FERC regulates the interstate wholesale sale and transmission of electricity and natural gas, oil-pipeline transportation, and the siting of interstate gas pipelines, LNG terminals, and non-federal hydropower -- not retail rates, power-plant construction, or nuclear plants, which stay with states or other agencies⧉. In FY2024 it acted on 6,694 electric, 1,329 natural-gas, and 1,073 oil rate filings -- 9,096 in all -- and its field staff perform more than 1,000 inspections a year of jurisdictional hydroelectric facilities and LNG terminals.
What does it cost to run — money and people?
FERC draws no general tax revenue: Congress appropriated $520,000,000 for FY2025, but under the Federal Power Act and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986, the Commission recovers that entire amount through annual charges and filing fees billed to the industries it regulates, leaving a net appropriation of zero. It ran on 1,539 full-time-equivalent staff in FY2025, across 13 offices based mostly in Washington. Against the Census Bureau's 341.8 million Vintage 2025 population estimate⧉, that's $1.52 per U.S. resident.
View data as table
| Electric | 6,694 |
|---|---|
| Natural gas | 1,329 |
| Oil pipeline | 1,073 |
Why is it good for society?
Before the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Federal Power Act gave FERC jurisdiction over wholesale rates but no authority to regulate grid reliability⧉. The August 14, 2003 blackout cut power to about 50 million customers from New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey west to Michigan, and Ohio north to Ontario. EPAct 2005's Section 1211 responded by letting FERC certify an electric reliability organization that develops and enforces reliability standards for the bulk-power system and can penalize any owner or operator that violates a FERC-approved standard⧉. Voluntary guidelines didn't stop an overloaded Ohio line from cascading into a nine-jurisdiction blackout; FERC's mandatory, penalty-backed standards are built to.
- FERC's entire FY2025 budget ($520M) flows from fees and annual charges billed to the electric, gas, and oil companies it regulates, not general taxes -- the Treasury nets the appropriation to $0, so the $1.52/resident figure is a jurisdiction-wide accounting average, not a bill any resident is charged.
- The FY2026 request cuts staffing from 1,539 to 1,474 (-65) even as FERC says core permitting and inspection workload holds steady -- a bet on efficiency, not a workload decline, and not yet a fully enacted FY2026 figure at time of writing.
Your handles.* Get help commenting on or intervening in a FERC proceeding through the Office of Public Participation. Report suspected market manipulation, fraud, or a tariff violation through the Enforcement Hotline (anonymous option available). Request Commission records through FERC's FOIA process.
Sources(6) ▾
- Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives (U.S. Code), 42 U.S.C. § 7171 — Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Establishment and Administration) (1977-08-04) — Official U.S. Code codification of the Department of Energy Organization Act provision (Pub. L. 95-91, Title IV, Sec. 401, Aug. 4, 1977, 91 Stat. 582) that establishes FERC as an independent regulatory commission within and sets commissioner terms and party-balance rules. uscode.house.gov
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission FY 2026 Congressional Justification (2025-06-20) — FERC's own FY2026 budget submission to Congress, filed by Chairman Mark C. Christie June 20, 2025 -- carries the FY2025 ENACTED appropriation and figures (the most recent enacted budget year at time of writing), the FY2024 actual rate-filing workload table, the full-cost-recovery funding mechanism, and identity/mission language. ferc.gov
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission FY 2025 Congressional Justification (2024-03-11) — Prior-year FERC congressional justification -- source for the Commission's own organization-chart description (five commissioners, ~1,500 staff, 13 offices, primarily Washington-based). ferc.gov · original document
- Congressional Research Service, Energy Policy Act of 2005, P.L. 109-58: Electricity Provisions (RL33248) (2006-02-08) — Nonpartisan analysis of EPAct 2005 Title XII/Section 1211 -- states directly that before the Act, FERC had 'no authority... to regulate reliability' and that NERC's pre-2005 reliability guidelines carried no enforcement authority; describes the mandatory, penalty-backed ERO regime the Act created. everycrsreport.com · original document
- U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity, August 2003 Blackout (2020-01-01) — 's own record of the August 14, 2003 blackout: about 50 million customers affected across New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio, and Ontario -- the event that prompted mandatory reliability standards. energy.gov
- U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Population Growth Slows Due to Historic Decline in Net International Migration (Vintage 2025 national population estimates) (2026-01-27) — Census Bureau's own Vintage 2025 national population estimate (341.8 million as of July 1, 2025) -- the per-resident denominator for this entry's cost-per-person KPI (same document already sealed for the series' Federal Reserve entry; independently re-verified here via its Wayback capture). census.gov · original document
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FERC is an independent, five-member regulatory commission that Congress created inside the Department of Energy when it passed the Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 7171. Commissioners serve staggered five-year terms, and no more than three of the five may belong to the same political party. It also administers older statutes Congress assigned it: the Federal Power Act, originally enacted over 100 years ago, the Natural Gas Act, and the Interstate Commerce Act.