A construction method for power system transient energy function is studied in the paper, which is simple and universal, and can unify the forms of some current energy functions. A transient energy function including the induction motor model is derived using the method. The unintegrable term is dealt with to get an approximate energy function. Simulations in a 3-bus system and in the WSCC 4-generator system verify the validity of the proposed energy function. The function can be applied to direct transient stability analysis of multi-machine large power systems and provides a tool for analysis of the interaction between the generator angle stability and the load voltage stability.power system stability, transient stability, energy function, direct method, induction motor There are two types of methods for power system transient stability analysis: the time domain approach and the direct method [1,2] . The time domain approach is applicable to detailed power system models, so it is dominant in transient stability analysis of power systems. However, it has the disadvantage of intensive time consumption. The direct method is based on the second method of Lyapunov and LaSalle's invariance principle. Early researches of the direct method focused on developing Lyapunov functions for power systems with different approaches. In the end of 1970s, Athay, Kakimoto et al. [3,4] proposed the concept of transient energy function. They developed a transient energy function that could better reflect the physical characteristics of practical power systems from the viewpoint of system energy, and promoted the development of the direct method. The transient energy function is a possible Lyapunov function but loosens the constraint of being positive definite [5] . Compared with the time domain approach, the direct method based on transient energy functions has the advantage of speed and can provide information regarding the degree of stability. So it is suitable for on-line applications. However, one of the disadvantages of the direct method is that the model used is excessively simple. Construction of