The bill improves the impartiality of state utility regulation by temporarily restricting post‑employment lobbying and paid work by former commissioners, but does so while reducing earnings for those former officials and imposing compliance and administrative costs on utilities and state agencies.
State utility regulators and electric customers benefit from more impartial rate and grid decisions because former state utility commissioners are barred for two years from lobbying or providing paid services related to their former commission, reducing conflicts of interest.
Former state utility commissioners who rely on industry consulting or advocacy income will face a two-year ban on such work for their former commission, reducing their short-term earning opportunities.
Utilities and their legal or consulting counsel may incur increased legal, compliance, or advisory costs while adjusting to restrictions on hiring or using former commissioners for certain work.
State regulatory agencies must devote staff time and hold proceedings within 1–2 years to establish and apply the new standard for each utility, creating additional administrative burdens and costs for state and local governments.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal two-year ban on former state utility regulators lobbying or providing paid services before the same state regulatory authority and requires states to consider the standard on set deadlines.
Prohibits a former member of a State utility regulatory authority from lobbying, appearing before, or providing paid services in matters before that same State regulatory authority for two years after leaving office, and adds that prohibition as a new federal standard under PURPA. Requires each State regulatory authority, with respect to each electric utility it regulates, to begin consideration of that two-year post-employment restriction within 1 year of enactment and to complete its consideration and determination within 2 years, with limited exceptions for States that already acted or recently debated a comparable rule.
Introduced January 22, 2026 by Josh Harder · Last progress January 22, 2026