The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is an independent, five-member commission within the U.S. Department of Energy. The Commission was created in October 1977 as a part of the Federal government's mammoth effort to restructure and reorganize its energy program. The Commission was assigned many of the functions earlier assigned to the Federal Power Commission (FPC).

The Federal Power Commission had existed since 1920 when it was created to license and regulate hydroelectric power plants situated on interstate streams and rivers. Over the next half century, the Power Commission was assigned more and more responsibility for the management of United States energy reserves. In the Public Utilities Holding Company Act of 1935, for example, Congress gave to the Commission responsibility for setting rates for the wholesale pricing of electricity shipped across state lines. FPC's mission was expanded even further in the 1935 Natural Gas Act...