The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a long-awaited “sunset” rule on October 1.
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Back in April of this year, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14270, “Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting to Unleash American Energy.” That directive instructed major federal energy regulators—including the Department of Energy, the EPA, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)—to embed “sunset” clauses into existing rules. These provisions require that outdated regulations automatically expire unless affirmatively reauthorized.
The philosophy behind this approach is that regulations should not be immortal. They should be forced to justify their existence periodically, or quietly fade away. But despite the sweeping potential of Trump’s order, FERC has been the first and so far only energy regulator to actually act. That’s despite the executive order explicitly setting a September 30 deadline for agencies to finalize their sunset provisions.
On October 1, 2025, the Commission issued a direct final rule in the form of Order No. 914, which inserted conditional expiration dates into 53 of its existing rules. While somewhat modest in scope, this still marks one of the most significant “regulatory spring cleaning” events in the agency’s nearly 50-year history.
What the Rule Does
Under the new rule, the 53 targeted regulations will automatically expire one year after the rule’s effective date, unless FERC determines after public comment that any should be retained for up to five more years.
Regulations being repealed include obsolete filing requirements, such as mandates to provide paper copies of maps or for companies to include public notices in their filings that are formatted for publication in the Federal Register. In an era of digital filing, these are relics from a bygone administrative age. Other rules set for repeal duplicate existing rules or reference repealed statutes. For instance, numerous provisions exist under the Natural Gas Policy Act and the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act, both largely repealed decades ago.
These may be largely housekeeping items. Still, the scale of the action is not trivial. Typically, regulations are repealed one at a time, often through a long and costly rulemaking process. Here, FERC is retiring 53 in one stroke, a substantial productivity boost and a clear demonstration that regulatory streamlining need not move at a glacial pace.
FERC points to the direction provided by Executive Order 14270, and to its independent rulemaking authority under the Federal Power Act, the Natural Gas Act and the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act, as the legal basis for issuing the sunset rule. FERC is relying on an expedited “direct final rule” process endorsed by the Administrative Conference of the United States for noncontroversial regulatory updates.
FERC paired the direct final rule with a companion Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. That step ensures that if significant opposition arises during the commenting process, the agency can seamlessly shift into a more traditional rulemaking process without losing momentum for the reforms.
A Narrow Scope—and That Might Be the Point
Critics might note that FERC’s action was narrower than it could have been. Earlier internal drafts, according to reports, had floated a much longer list—potentially including high-profile rules like Order Nos. 888, 679, 1000, and 2023, which govern core aspects of transmission policy and electricity market structure. None of those made the final cut.
By limiting its focus to “outdated, seldomly used, or duplicative” provisions, FERC may be avoiding a potential political brawl. This may prove wise. A narrower scope increases the rule’s potential durability and legitimacy, minimizing opposition from utilities, environmentalists, and members of Congress who might otherwise fear a dismantling of major energy regulation frameworks.
Put differently, this may be a case where going small first makes it easier to go big later. By showing that the sky doesn’t fall when obsolete rules are cleared away, FERC is establishing precedent and process for larger reforms down the road.
Examples of What’s Being Sunset
Among the more notable items headed for retirement are:
18 C.F.R. § 2.21, concerning “Regional Transmission Groups,” which has been overtaken by the rise of regional transmission organizations and independent system operators.
18 C.F.R. § 2.25, relating to the ratemaking treatment of emissions allowances. This is a relic from the pre-market era before generation was deregulated.
18 C.F.R. § 287.101, tied to the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978, most of which was repealed nearly four decades ago.
18 C.F.R. § 157.218, requiring companies to report customer name changes annually, which is redundant since the same data are already captured under another section.
Individually, none of these rules has generated controversy. Collectively, however, they represent a significant tidying up of the legal landscape in electricity markets, removing clutter that complicates compliance and consumes agency resources.
What Comes Next
FERC’s “sunset rule” might not unleash torrents of new energy investment overnight, but it’s a proof of concept for how agencies can embrace continuous improvement going forward. Every rule should be periodically reexamined, not because regulation is inherently bad, but because regulatory inertia is.
Moreover, the process itself will yield benefits beyond the immediate repeals. In preparing Order No. 914, FERC had to review its regulations to determine which ones to include. Presumably, that review generated many more ideas about rules that could be candidates for future sunset actions.
With FERC’s example on the books, the big question now is whether other agencies will follow suit. The Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and Interior Department subagencies are all covered by the same executive order, yet none has thus-far issued a comparable rule.
For now, FERC deserves credit for being first out of the gate. In a system that typically rewards creating new rules rather than retiring old ones, Order No. 914 shows that regulatory reform can be proactive and deliberate. And perhaps most importantly, FERC’s new order demonstrates that sunsets are a practical tool for keeping the machinery of government from rusting in place.