There is widespread recognition continued reliance on voluntary standards runs the risk of reliability problems. The Energy Policy Act and Order 888 did not eliminate all barriers to an open transmission system. As a result, the transmission grid is not open to the same degree, and is operated by different sets of rules. These differences limit access to the transmission system and impede competition. States cannot regulate the transmission system, as the grid is not only interstate but international.
Federal legislation is needed to ensure one set of rules governs the transmission system.
The Constitution bars States from regulating interstate commerce, and that power is reserved to Congress. Reciprocity is regulation of interstate commerce, and any reciprocity rule should be a Federal rule, not a power granted to States, local governments, and corporations. Reciprocity can encourage U.S. electric utilities in closed States to open their markets, by requiring electric suppliers that want to make retail sales in open States to open their distribution systems. The Constitution bars States from regulating foreign commerce, and that power is reserved to Congress. Reciprocity can improve access by U.S. electric suppliers to retail markets in Canada and Mexico, by requiring utilities in those countries that want to make retail sales in the U.S. to open their distribution systems.