This paper presents a new approach using evolutionary programming for solving the economic dispatch (ED) problem of generators when some/all of the units have prohibited operating zones. In this method, additional constraints such as spinning reserve requirements and ramp-rate limits are also considered besides taking into account network losses. The proposed method is implemented for solving a few example dispatch problems. The results obtained by this new approach are compared with those obtained using traditional methods. The study results have shown that the approach developed is feasible and efficient.