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House passes Reliable Power Act to give FERC new review role over rules affecting grid reliability
Summary
The House debated and passed HR 36 16 (Reliable Power Act), a bill requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and reliability organizations to review proposed agency rules for potential adverse effects on bulk power reliability; Democrats criticized the measure as a polluter shield and warned it could politicize FERC.
The House debated HR 36 16, the Reliable Power Act, which would require the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and FERC to assess whether proposed federal regulations by other agencies would threaten bulk power reliability and, when NERC/FERC identify significant risks, return rulemaking to those agencies for additional review. Sponsors said the bill responds to an emerging reliability risk from rapid retirements of baseload generation and the need for interagency coordination.
Opponents said the bill would elevate FERC above other expert agencies, politicize technical review, and give industry actors new levers to block environmental or public‑health protections. FERC officials testified in committee that the agency lacks capacity to second‑guess every other agency's rulemaking; Democrats said the bill would hinder clean energy deployment and raise prices. The House proceeded to a recorded vote and the transcript records passage on the floor.
