HR7697-119

In Committee

International AI Energy Grid Modernization Strategy Act

119th Congress Introduced Feb 25, 2026

Summary

What This Bill Does

The International AI Energy Grid Modernization Strategy Act requires the Secretary of State, working with other federal agencies, to develop and implement a worldwide strategy for research, development, and deployment of artificial-intelligence technologies that modernize electrical grids.

The strategy must build partnerships with allied and partner countries, universities, and private firms; accelerate testing and deployment for reliability, resilience, cyber defense, and integration of renewable and distributed energy; expand access in developing and disaster-prone regions; support AI, cybersecurity, and smart-grid workforce training; and coordinate DHS, Energy, Commerce, and other agencies.

State may support international research, demonstrations, validation, pilot projects, public-private commercialization, technical assistance, education, and workforce development. It must seek cooperative agreements for joint research, technology transfer, capacity building, and deployment. Agreements may involve only research that does not require classified information or military-specific AI systems and must comply with the Export Administration Regulations, International Traffic in Arms Regulations, and other applicable export controls.

Beginning within 540 days, State must report annually for five years to the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees. Reports cover partners, countries, research, demonstrations, deployed technologies, pilot security and performance, cybersecurity capabilities, training counts, renewable integration, agreements, challenges, recommendations, and available grid-resilience metrics.

The findings and sense of Congress describe aging grids, rising demand, climate risks, cyber threats, potential AI uses, and desired cooperation with the International Energy Agency and International Renewable Energy Agency. They do not independently appropriate funds.

Who Benefits and How

Allied and partner-country utilities gain access to joint research, pilots, and technical assistance. Developing and disaster-prone regions gain priority access to modernization tools. Universities and AI-grid firms may receive research or demonstration opportunities. Energy workers receive training in AI, cybersecurity, and smart-grid operations. Renewable and distributed-energy developers may benefit from improved grid integration. Congress receives annual implementation and resilience metrics.

Who Bears the Burden and How

State Department strategy, program, agreement, and reporting staff must coordinate a multi-agency international portfolio. DHS, Energy, and Commerce personnel must contribute technical, security, and trade expertise. Project participants must document outcomes and comply with export controls. Research requiring classified information or military-specific AI is excluded. Technology exporters and foreign partners must navigate EAR and ITAR restrictions. No dedicated appropriation is provided, so supporting programs must rely on otherwise available authority and resources.

Key Provisions

  • Requires a comprehensive international AI-grid strategy.
  • Supports research partnerships, demonstrations, and pilot projects.
  • Promotes grid reliability, resilience, cybersecurity, and renewable integration.
  • Expands technical assistance in developing and vulnerable regions.
  • Supports AI, cybersecurity, and smart-grid workforce training.
  • Seeks cooperative agreements with allied and partner countries.
  • Excludes classified and military-specific AI research from agreements.
  • Requires compliance with EAR, ITAR, and other export controls.
  • Mandates annual reports for five years beginning within 540 days.

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

Directs the State Department to develop and implement an international strategy, programs, pilots, training, public-private partnerships, and export-controlled agreements for AI-enabled electrical-grid modernization, then report annually for five years beginning 540 days after enactment.

Key Policy Areas

Artificial Intelligence, Electrical Grid Modernization, International Energy Cooperation, Grid Cybersecurity, Clean Energy Integration, Export Controls

Primary Purpose

Directs the State Department to develop and implement an international strategy, programs, pilots, training, public-private partnerships, and export-controlled agreements for AI-enabled electrical-grid modernization, then report annually for five years beginning 540 days after enactment.

Policy Domains

Artificial Intelligence Electrical Grid Modernization International Energy Cooperation Grid Cybersecurity Clean Energy Integration Export Controls

Section 3 international strategy, programs, and agreements

Identified Gains
  • Allied-country electrical utilities
  • Partner-country electrical utilities
  • Developing regions modernizing electrical grids
  • Disaster-prone regions improving grid resilience
  • Universities researching AI-grid systems
  • AI grid-management companies
  • Smart-grid workforce trainees
  • Renewable-energy developers
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
Renewable-energy developers:
AI grid-management companies:
Smart-grid workforce trainees:
Allied-country electrical utilities:
Partner-country electrical utilities:
Universities researching AI-grid systems:
Developing regions modernizing electrical grids:
Disaster-prone regions improving grid resilience:
Identified Costs
  • State Department energy-strategy staff
  • Energy Department grid-technology staff
  • DHS grid-cybersecurity staff
  • Commerce Department export-control staff
  • AI-grid project compliance staff
  • Technology exporters seeking cooperative agreements
  • Projects requiring classified information
  • Projects using military-specific AI systems
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
DHS grid-cybersecurity staff:
AI-grid project compliance staff:
State Department energy-strategy staff:
Energy Department grid-technology staff:
Commerce Department export-control staff:
Projects requiring classified information:
Projects using military-specific AI systems:
Technology exporters seeking cooperative agreements:

Section 4 five-year reporting cycle

Identified Gains
  • House Foreign Affairs Committee
  • Senate Foreign Relations Committee
  • International grid-program evaluators
  • Countries comparing pilot outcomes
  • Grid operators comparing resilience metrics
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
House Foreign Affairs Committee:
Countries comparing pilot outcomes:
Senate Foreign Relations Committee:
International grid-program evaluators:
Grid operators comparing resilience metrics:
Identified Costs
  • State Department congressional-reporting staff
  • AI-grid pilot data staff
  • International training-program administrators
  • Federal cooperative-agreement staff
  • Foreign partners supplying resilience metrics
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
AI-grid pilot data staff:
Federal cooperative-agreement staff:
Foreign partners supplying resilience metrics:
International training-program administrators:
State Department congressional-reporting staff:

Legislative Progress

In Committee
Introduced Committee Passed
Feb 25, 2026

Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Feb 25, 2026

Introduced in House

Feb 25, 2026

Mr. Hernández (for himself, Mr. Liccardo, and Mrs. Grijalva) introduced …

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Government
7 mentions across 2 clauses
+2 positive -4 negative ~1 mixed

Commerce Department export-control staff, Energy Department grid-technology staff, Foreign partners supplying resilience metrics

Positive-direction: House Foreign Affairs Committee, Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Negative-direction: Commerce Department export-control staff, Energy Department grid-technology staff, State Department congressional-reporting staff, State Department energy-strategy staff

Utilities
3 mentions across 2 clauses
+3 positive

Allied-country electrical utilities, Grid operators comparing resilience metrics, Partner-country electrical utilities

Technology
3 mentions across 2 clauses
+1 positive -1 negative ~1 mixed

AI grid-management companies, AI-grid pilot data staff, Technology exporters seeking cooperative agreements

Positive-direction: AI grid-management companies

Negative-direction: AI-grid pilot data staff

Education
2 mentions across 2 clauses
+1 positive -1 negative

International training-program administrators, Universities researching AI-grid systems

Positive-direction: Universities researching AI-grid systems

Negative-direction: International training-program administrators

Rural Communities
2 mentions across 1 clause
+2 positive

Developing regions modernizing electrical grids, Disaster-prone regions improving grid resilience

Energy
1 mention across 1 clause
+1 positive

International grid-program evaluators

Labor
1 mention across 1 clause
+1 positive

Smart-grid workforce trainees

Renewable Energy
1 mention across 1 clause
+1 positive

Renewable-energy developers

4/4
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Artificial Intelligence Electrical Grid Modernization International Energy Cooperation Export Controls
Actor Mappings
"leader"
→ Secretary of State
"partner"
→ Allied or partner country
"recipient"
→ Developing or disaster-vulnerable region
"researcher"
→ Academic or private-sector grid-technology participant
"coordinator"
→ Relevant federal department or agency
Domains
Congressional Oversight Grid Resilience Metrics International Energy Cooperation
Actor Mappings
"reporter"
→ Secretary of State
"recipient"
→ House Foreign Affairs or Senate Foreign Relations Committee
"data_provider"
→ Federal or program partner conducting strategy activities

Note: {'scope_ids': ['international_ai_grid_strategy'], 'description': 'The strategy promotes international technology transfer and deployment but limits cooperative agreements to nonclassified, non-military-specific research that complies with EAR, ITAR, and other export controls.'}

Key Definitions

Terms defined in this bill

2 terms
"AI-enabled grid technology" §ai_grid_technology

Artificial-intelligence tools for monitoring, predictive analytics, anomaly or intrusion detection, autonomous restoration, reliability, resilience, or distributed-energy integration.

"cooperative grid-modernization agreement" §eligible_agreement

An agreement with an allied or partner country that advances the strategy, avoids research requiring classified or military-specific AI access, and complies with United States export controls.

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.

Learn more about our methodology