Three decisions. The price you pay on your monthly residential bill. A wholesale power sale that crosses a state line. A reliability standard the bulk transmission system must follow. Before you read on, assign each one to FERC, NERC, or your state PUC. Most people get at least one wrong, and the reason is that they have never been shown where the line is.
The line sits roughly at the retail meter, and it is the single fact that sorts almost every regulatory question you will face. Above the meter is the wholesale and interstate world: power being bought, sold, and moved long distances at high voltage. That side is federal. Below the meter is your retail service and the local distribution system. That side is state.
On the federal side, two bodies split the work. FERC regulates wholesale power sales and interstate transmission, including the rates for moving power across state lines. NERC writes the mandatory reliability standards for the bulk power system, the high-voltage network of roughly 100 kV and up. NERC does not govern the distribution system, and it does not set anyone’s bill. FERC approves NERC’s standards and enforces them, but NERC is the author.
On the state side, the public utility commission sets the retail rates and oversees the distribution system for an investor-owned utility. That last qualifier matters. The state PUC does not rate-regulate every utility in its borders. Municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives are typically self-governed, a muni by its city council and a co-op by its elected member board, rather than rate-regulated by the state PUC. So the answer to “who regulates this utility” depends first on what kind of utility it is.
So sort the three opening decisions by which side of the retail meter each one lives on. Your monthly bill is retail, below the meter, so it goes to the state PUC. The cross-state wholesale sale is above the meter and interstate, so it goes to FERC. The bulk-system reliability standard is the high-voltage network, so it goes to NERC. Find the meter first, then ask whether the question is about rates, wholesale, or reliability, and the jurisdiction falls out.
Rate cases, cost-allocation fights, and FERC/NERC jurisdiction shifts move procurement timelines as much as any supply constraint. The Feeder tracks the regulatory and market signals that reset lead times, free, every week.