Washington, D.C. – Senate Energy & Natural Resources Chairman Pete V. Domenici today commended the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for its exceptional work in implementing the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Congress last year passed the most comprehensive energy bill in decades and President Bush signed it into law a year ago today.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT) modernized electricity law, seeking to improve reliability and encourage expansion of the power grid to meet the nation’s growing electricity needs. Congress also sought to expand natural gas supplies and stabilize prices by facilitating the appropriate siting of liquefied natural gas terminals.

Under EPACT, FERC is given the central role for implementing the electricity and LNG policies. The bill required 36 vital activities from FERC, including 13 rulemakings and the preparation of various reports, including reports on the California energy crisis, the Alaska natural gas pipeline and the transmission system monitoring.

Chairman Domenici’s statement:

“I want to congratulate FERC Chairman Joe Kelliher, his commission colleagues and the staff of FERC for their good work this past year. Congress gave FERC a very heavy lift in the energy bill and a lot of tough deadlines to meet.  I appreciate the hard work that FERC has done over the past year to help implement the many important policies set forth in the Energy Policy Act.”