Electricity Supply: Regulating Utility Holding Companies in a Changing Electric Industry

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the adequacy of consumer and investor protection in the electric utility industry, focusing on: (1) recent changes within the electric utility industry involving holding companies; (2) the effect of those changes on the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) administration of the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA) of 1935; and (3) the relationship between SEC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and state regulators in protecting consumer and investor interests in the changing industry.