The House Energy & Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy on June 5 held a markup to consider thirteen bills. One of the bills passed by the subcommittee was the Reliable Power Act, which is supported by the American Public Power Association.
H.R. 3616, the Reliable Power Act, would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to review federal agency actions that are likely to have significant negative impacts on the reliability and adequacy of the bulk-power system.
“APPA appreciates your work on this legislation and your efforts to support grid reliability and resource adequacy,” it said in a June 4 letter to Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH), the bill’s sponsor.
“APPA supports efforts in Congress to provide FERC with a formal role in determining the potential reliability impacts of federal regulations. Further, APPA believes that, should FERC determine a proposed regulation would adversely impact the reliable operation of the bulk-power system, the issuing agency should be required to make necessary modifications,” the letter said.
“Given the critical responsibility of FERC to assist electric customers in obtaining reliable, safe, secure, and economically efficient energy services at a reasonable cost, APPA believes FERC must have the appropriate authority to determine and mitigate significant reliability impacts of major regulations. This would allow electric utilities, including public power utilities, to comply with such regulations without adversely affecting regional or local electric system reliability.”
APPA said it believes it appropriate for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), which has years of experience conducting long-term reliability assessments, to initially assess whether the bulk-power system is at risk of being unable to supply future energy demands before FERC can exercise authority to review regulations.
“APPA appreciates that the Reliable Power Act provides NERC with appropriate flexibility in conducting the long-term reliability assessment, so it can continue to improve its techniques, analysis, and solutions as the needs of the grid evolve.”
APPA also advocated for public power utilities to be exempt from the new “must consider” requirements proposed by H.R. 3157 and H.R. 3628, both of which were modified from the discussion draft form to exclude public power utilities and were passed by the subcommittee.
APPA said it is appreciative of Representatives Nick Langworthy (R-NY) and Gabe Evans (R-CO) for recognizing that the “must consider” requirements would impose a regulatory burden on public power utilities and exempting them from these requirements.
Democratic committee members offered several amendments, all of which did not pass. The amendments related to permitting changes included in the House-passed reconciliation bill, requiring the Department of Energy (DOE) and FERC to certify they have the staff and resources to fulfill requirements in the underlying bills.
Broadly, Democrats raised concerns about staffing and budget cuts at DOE and FERC, as well as changes to energy tax credits, in the House reconciliation bill.
Other Bills Voted on by Subcommittee
The subcommittee also took action on the following pieces of legislation:
H.R. 1047, Guaranteeing Reliability through the Interconnection of Dispatchable Power (GRID Power) Act (Rep. Balderson)
• Passed (16 – 14)
• 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 (15 – 14)
• 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 by Voice Vote
• Would require DOE to prepare periodic assessments and submit reports on the supply chain for the generation and transmission of electricity.
H.R. 3657, Hydropower Relicensing Transparency Act (Rep. Schrier)
• Passed by Voice Vote
• 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 (15 – 13)
• 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 by Voice Vote
• 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 by Voice Vote
• 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 (16 – 13)
• 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 (15 - 13)
• 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 (NEPA) authorizations under the Natural Gas Act.
