The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is an independent agency that regulates the inter-state transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil.

In February of 1999, FERC established the neutral Dispute Resolution Service (DRS) to champion the use of ADR in the energy industry and work through its own conflicts with this system. Currently, with FERC expanding its jurisdiction and new developments both within the energy field and ADR, the DRS hopes to expand and institutionalize the use of ADR activities int he field of energy conflict prevention and resolution. This project seeks to help FERC’s DRS in this endeavor.

Our work

Step 1: Research the electric, hydroelectric, and natural gas industries to gain understanding into the energy field environment and its needs, as well as past use of ADR.

Step 2: Create and conduct surveys and follow-up interviews with select energy companies in order to gain better understanding into the current obstacles and possible entry points for ADR proccesses.

Step 3: Analzye results using a relevant methodology and produce a report based on this analysis, identifying all key areas of the study.

Final Product

A background case-study of ADR use in the energy field, survey and interview questions, analyses of methodology and results, and a final report on possibilities for institutionalizing ADR processes in the energy industry, as appropriate.