Energy Policy Act (EPACT)

Comprehensive federal legislation enacted in 1992 that is resulting in fundamental changes in the electric utility industry by promoting competion in wholesale electricity markets. Title VII, the electricity title of the Act, made it easier for non-utility producers to participate in the electric generation market by exempting them from regulatory restrictions imposed by the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA). EPAct also authorized FERC to order utilities to provide access to their transmission lines to other utilities, non-utility producers, and other participants in the wholesale electricity market.