Making Policy Through the Waiver of Regulations at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

This Article presents a case study of agency waiver procedures, based on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC's) regulations for qualifying power generation facilities under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA). After presenting a survey of the literature related to agency waivers and exceptions, FERC's waiver policy and process under PURPA is discussed. The Article proposes specific reforms to FERC's waiver procedures designed to encourage flexibility in the application of regulations to new power generation technologies, while also ensuring protection of the public interest, procedural values, and the statutory goals of PURPA.