Sponsors (2)
The bill increases consumer access to energy data and promotes interoperable innovation and efficiency programs, but does so at the cost of heightened privacy/security risks, implementation and compliance costs that may be passed to ratepayers, and potential legal and competitive frictions.
Households and small businesses gain easier access to real-time and historical electricity and gas usage and can authorize third-party apps to manage energy, enabling better bill management, potential cost savings, and new competitive energy services.
Explicitly defined retail energy data elements, open standards, and clarified grid-edge device/software definitions create consistent interoperability and reduce regulatory ambiguity for vendors and utilities, promoting interoperable innovation and reducing vendor lock-in.
Greater adoption of measured, performance-based efficiency and demand response programs can reduce overall energy use and improve grid reliability, benefiting consumers and system operators.
Consumers (households and small businesses) face increased privacy and security risk because the bill explicitly lists and facilitates sharing of customer-identifying, billing, and detailed meter data if strong protections and enforcement are not in place.
Utilities and grid operators will likely incur significant costs to upgrade meters, IT systems, and certification/compliance processes to meet data, timeliness, and availability requirements — costs that may be recovered from ratepayers.
Mandating standardized data access (e.g., Green Button) without clear consent and authorization rules risks disputes over third-party access and could weaken consumer control over their data.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Requires DOE and FERC to issue model data‑sharing standards and directs utilities to provide customers and authorized third parties machine‑readable retail electricity and natural gas usage and cost data, including at least 24 months history.
Introduced February 26, 2026 by Peter Welch · Last progress February 26, 2026
Creates a federal framework to expand consumer access to retail electric and natural gas usage and cost data. It defines key terms, allows State energy plans to promote competitive digital energy management tools, and directs the Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue model data‑sharing standards and policies (after stakeholder consultation) that require utilities to provide customers and authorized third parties machine‑readable usage and cost information, including at least 24 months of historical data and near real‑time data where practicable.