ELCON formally the Electricity Consumers Resource Council is the national association representing large industrial users of electricity. It was created in 1976 as the federal government began to address electricity issues, and industrial users realized that they could advocate policy more effectively by forming a united front. At the same time, these industrial users hoped to create a technical resource for useful data and information that could be shared by member companies. ELCON is the only such national organization that provides timely legislative, regulatory, engineering, and legal analysis of important energy and environmental policies. Since 1976, ELCON, at the direction of its member companies, has focused on federal and state policies that affect the price, availability and reliability of electricity service. ELCON does this by playing an active role in a variety of arenas. It is the only national association representing industrial electricity users interacting with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on a regular basis. ELCON is also active in the legislative process, working with Members of Congress and their staffs promoting policies consistent with its objectives. And ELCON is the only national association representing manufacturers working with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) the organization charged with developing reliability standards for the interstate electricity grid with ELCON staff and member companies serving on numerous NERC committees. Finally, ELCON monitors and responds to evolving policies by the US Environmental Protection Agency to restructure the US power sector. ELCON works closely with the US Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) to help mitigate the adverse consequences of climate policies on energy-intensive and trade-exposed industries.