Richard O'Neill Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Over the last ten years there has been a renewed interest in the solving the optimal power flow (OPF) problem including unit commitment. Also, optimal topology problem has gain considerable interest. In this presentation, we describe the applications of the OPF and optimal topology problem. Currently, due to difficulty in solving the full problem in the time allocated, the full model cannot be solved, but approximate models are employed. We examine better approximations is ‘solve’ these problems in the allotted time. We examine the progress of the last ten years and the progress needed for the near and more distant future