In 1989 the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) joined the US Department of Energy (DOE) in an assessment of longer-term research and development needs for future electric power system operation. The effort produced a progressively sharper vision of a future power system in which enhanced control and operation are the primary means for serving new customer demands, in an environment where increased competition, a wider range of services and vendors, and much narrower operating margins all contribute to increased system efficiencies and capacity. Technology and infrastructure for real time access to wide area dynamic information were identified as critical path elements in realizing that vision. In 1995 the DOE accordingly launched the Wide Area Measurement System (WAMS) Project jointly with the two Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) to address these issues in a practical operating environment--the western North America power system. The Project draws upon many years of PMA effort and related collaboration among the western utilities, plus an expanding infrastructure that includes regionally involved contractors, universities, and National Laboratories plus linkages to the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). The WAMS project also brings added focus and resources to the evolving Western System Dynamic Information Network, or WesDINet. This is a collective response of the Western Systems Coordinating Council (WSCC) member utilities to their shared needs for direct information about power system characteristics, model fidelity, and operational performance. The WAMS project is a key source of the technology and backbone communications needed to make WesDINet a well integrated, cost effective enterprise network demonstrating the role of dynamic information technology in the emerging utility environment.