Universiti Tenaga Nasional commenced operation in 1976 as Institut Latihan Sultan Ahmad Shah (ILSAS), which served for many years as the corporate training center for Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and its predecessor, the National Electricity Board. In 1994, ILSAS was transformed into an institute of higher learning and renamed Institut Kejuruteraan Teknologi Tenaga Nasional (IKATAN). It offered academic programmes in engineering and business management at undergraduate and graduate levels through twinning links with local and foreign universities (Indiana-University, Purdue University Indianapolis, US for Engineering). In 1997, IKATAN was upgraded to Universiti Tenaga Nasional.