The House Energy and Commerce Committee on June 25 held a full committee markup, approving thirteen bills related to electric reliability including H.R. 3616, the Reliable Power Act, which would give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission a formal role in determining, and mitigating, the potential reliability impacts of federal regulations. APPA supports H.R. 3616.
Most bills were passed with either entirely or primarily Republican support. Only H.R. 3657, which would direct FERC to report annually to Congress on the status of pending hydropower relicensing applications, was sponsored by a Democrat and received unanimous support during passage.
Democratic committee members raised concerns that the bills under consideration would prioritize coal and gas over renewable energy projects.
Democrats also raised concerns and offered amendments related to staff and budget cuts at FERC and the Department of Energy (DOE) and highlighted the proposed changes to energy tax credits included in the House-passed reconciliation bill, H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Having passed the Energy and Commerce Committee, the bills now await further consideration by the full House. Given the strong support from Republicans, the bills are likely to pass the House if considered.
Here are details on the bills and votes:
H.R. 3616, Reliable Power Act (Rep. Balderson)
• Passed (28 – 23)
• Would require federal agencies to seek FERC’s comments on electric reliability impacts of major actions whenever the North American Electric Reliability Corporation finds that the bulk-power system is at risk.
H.R. 1047, Guaranteeing Reliability through the Interconnection of Dispatchable Power (GRID Power) Act (Rep. Balderson)
• Passed (28 – 23)
• Would require FERC to reform the interconnection queue process to allow transmission providers to prioritize dispatchable power.
H.R. 3632, Power Plant Reliability Act of 2025(Rep. Griffith)
• Passed (25 – 21)
• Would require generating facilities to provide five-year advance notice for retiring electrical generating units and FERC to issue orders if any public utility interstate service is likely to become inadequate within five years.
H.R. 3638, Electric Supply Chain Act (Rep. Latta)
• Passed (33 – 16)
• Would require DOE to prepare periodic assessments and submit reports on the supply chain for the generation and transmission of electricity.
H.R. 3157, State Energy Accountability Act (Rep. Langworthy)
• Passed (27 – 20)
• Would impose a new “must consider” requirement, under PURPA section 111(d), on state public utility commissions, but not non-regulated electric utilities, including public power utilities. Specifically, it would require state regulatory authorities that implement an “intermittent energy policy” to consider conducting and making public an evaluation of the policy’s impact on reliability, including during extreme weather, and affordability, among other impacts.
• APPA advocated for public power utilities to be exempt from this new “must consider” requirement under H.R. 3157.
H.R. 3628, State Planning for Reliability and Affordability Act (Rep. Evans)
• Passed (25 – 23)
• Would impose a new “must consider” requirement, under PURPA section 111(d), on state public utility commissions and regulated electric utilities, but not on non-regulated utilities. Specifically, it would require regulated utilities to establish sufficient “reliable” generation facilities to ensure the availability of electric energy over a 10-year period as part of integrated resource planning.
• APPA advocated for public power utilities to be exempt from this new “must consider” requirement under H.R. 3628.
H.R. 3657, Hydropower Relicensing Transparency Act (Rep. Schrier)
• Passed (47 – 0)
• A bipartisan amendment was adopted to add new hydropower projects, as opposed to only existing relicensing projects, to the report.
• Would direct FERC to submit a report to Congress annually on the status of ongoing hydropower relicensing applications.
H.R. 3015, National Coal Council Reestablishment Act (Rep. Rulli)
• Passed (25 – 20)
• Would reestablish the National Coal Council in the Department of Energy to provide advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Energy on matters related to coal and the coal industry.
H.R. 3617, Securing America’s Critical Minerals Supply Act (Rep. James)
• Passed (23 – 21)
• Would require DOE to conduct ongoing assessments of critical energy resource supply chains.
H.R. 3109, Researching Efficient Federal Improvements for Necessary Energy Refining (REFINER) Act (Rep. Latta)
• Passed (28 – 20)
• Would require DOE to issue a report on the role of petrochemical refineries to national security.
H.R. 3062, Promoting Cross-border Energy Infrastructure Act (Rep. Fedorchak)
• Passed (28-23)
• Would establish new procedures to authorize international border-crossing facilities for the import and export of oil and natural gas and the transmission of electricity.
H.R. 1949, Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2025 (Rep. Pfluger)
• Passed (26-23)
• Would give FERC the exclusive authority to approve or deny natural gas export applications.
H.R. 3668, Improving Interagency Coordination for Pipeline Reviews Act (Rep. Hudson)
• Passed (15 – 11)
• Would makes changes, including designating FERC as the lead federal agency, for National Environmental Protection Act authorizations under the Natural Gas Act.
