This paper presents a new load frequency control (LFC) design using the model predictive control (MPC) technique in a multi-area power system. The MPC technique has been designed such that the effect of the uncertainty due to governor and turbine parameters variation and load disturbance is reduced. Each local area controller is designed independently such that stability of the overall closed-loop system is guaranteed. A frequency response model of multi-area power system is introduced, and physical constraints of the governors and turbines are considered. The model was employed in the MPC structures. Digital simulations for both two and three-area power systems are provided to validate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. The results show that, with the proposed MPC technique, the overall closed-loop system performance demonstrated robustness in the face of uncertainties due to governors and turbines parameters variation and loads disturbances. A performance comparison between the proposed controller and a classical integral control scheme is carried out confirming the superiority of the proposed MPC technique. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.