Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA)

A federal statute enacted in 1978 to reduce dependence on oil and natural gas by promoting more efficient use of fossil fuels and greater use of renewable and cogeneration resources. PURPA required electric utilities to purchase power from Qualifying Facilities (QFs) at avoided cost and to provide non-discriminatory interconnection and transmission service for QF output. It was a foundational wholesale market reform that preceded FERC Order 888 open-access transmission and helped establish the competitive generation landscape that transmission providers now serve.

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