HR3616-119

What This Bill Does

The Reliable Power Act amends section 215 of the Federal Power Act. The electric reliability organization must include an annual long-term assessment of whether the bulk-power system has enough generation resources to maintain reliability, including analysis of resource mix, transmission development, electricity demand trends, normal-weather and extreme-weather shortfall risk, and whether additional generation resources are needed. If the ERO finds the bulk-power system is at risk of generation inadequacy, it must publicly notify FERC. FERC then must notify the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and any other appropriate cabinet agency. Once notified, covered agencies must send covered rules that directly affect bulk-power generation resources to FERC for review and comment before finalization. FERC, consulting with the ERO and transmission organizations, may recommend modifications to avoid significant negative reliability impacts. The agency head must respond in writing and may not finalize the rule until FERC finds it is unlikely to significantly harm the bulk-power system's ability to supply adequate electric energy.

Who Benefits and How

Electric utilities, merchant power generators, coal-fired power plant owners, natural gas power plant owners, nuclear plant owners, regional transmission organizations, grid reliability planners, state utility regulators, large industrial electricity customers, and consumers worried about blackouts benefit because the bill creates a formal reliability finding, requires FERC review of generation-affecting rules, and can delay or modify federal regulations that FERC finds would significantly harm electric supply adequacy.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The electric reliability organization, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff, Environmental Protection Agency rule writers, Department of Energy officials, other cabinet agencies issuing generation-related rules, Office of Management and Budget reviewers, renewable-energy developers, environmental organizations, decarbonization policy offices, and agency heads bear burdens because the bill requires annual assessments, public generation-inadequacy notices, extra interagency review, written responses to FERC comments, publication of comments and responses, and a reliability finding before covered rules can be finalized.

Key Provisions

• Requires annual long-term assessments of bulk-power-system generation adequacy.
• Requires the ERO to publicly notify FERC when the bulk-power system is at risk of generation inadequacy.
• Requires FERC to notify DOE, EPA, and other appropriate cabinet agencies after an inadequacy notice.
• Requires covered agency actions affecting generation resources to be submitted to FERC for review and comment.
• Bars finalization until the agency responds to FERC and FERC finds the action is unlikely to significantly harm reliability.