Wildfire Grid Resiliency Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Wildfire Grid Resiliency Act creates a Department of Energy demonstration program called the Resilience Accelerator Demonstration Program. The Energy Secretary, acting through the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response, must make awards to National Laboratories for projects demonstrating innovative technologies that improve electric grid resilience with respect to wildfires. The bill specifically names technologies for monitoring vegetation management and technologies that enhance the safety of first responders responding to electric grid emergencies. It defines National Laboratory by reference to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, uses the existing federal definition of resilience, and authorizes $10,000,000 for each fiscal year from 2026 through 2029.
Who Benefits and How
National Laboratories benefit from a dedicated award program for wildfire grid resilience technology demonstrations. Electric utilities in wildfire regions benefit if lab demonstrations produce vegetation monitoring or emergency-response tools they can adopt. First responders benefit from technology demonstrations aimed at improving safety during electric grid emergencies. Communities near wildfire-prone grid infrastructure benefit if resilience technologies reduce outage, fire, or emergency-response risk.
Who Bears the Burden and How
DOE CESER staff must administer the Resilience Accelerator Demonstration Program and select National Laboratory projects. National Laboratory project teams must demonstrate technologies rather than merely study wildfire resilience concepts. Federal taxpayers bear the cost of the $10,000,000 annual authorization from fiscal years 2026 through 2029. Grid operators may need to evaluate whether demonstrated technologies can integrate with real utility systems.
Key Provisions
- Creates the Resilience Accelerator Demonstration Program at DOE.
- Authorizes awards to National Laboratories for wildfire-focused electric grid resilience demonstrations.
- Provides examples covering vegetation management monitoring and first responder safety.
- Authorizes $10,000,000 per year for fiscal years 2026 through 2029.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates a DOE Resilience Accelerator Demonstration Program awarding National Laboratories $10,000,000 per year for wildfire-focused electric grid resilience technology demonstrations.
Key Policy Areas
Energy, Wildfire, Research, Grid Resilience
Primary Purpose
Creates a DOE Resilience Accelerator Demonstration Program awarding National Laboratories $10,000,000 per year for wildfire-focused electric grid resilience technology demonstrations.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- National Laboratories
- Electric utilities in wildfire regions
- First responders
- Communities near wildfire-prone grid infrastructure
Identified Costs
- DOE CESER staff
- National Laboratory project teams
- Federal taxpayers
- Grid operators
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMrs. Torres of California introduced the following bill; which was …
Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
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