Sponsors (13)
The bill strengthens FERC's enforcement authority to deter market manipulation and improve price integrity, but raises compliance and legal risks for firms and could cause short-term market disruptions and higher administrative costs that may be passed on to consumers and taxpayers.
Consumers and taxpayers: wholesale electricity and natural gas prices are likely to become more reliable and less prone to manipulation because false reporting to price-reporters is criminalized and enforcement tools are expanded.
Utilities, trading firms, and grid operators: FERC gains clearer authority to bar bad actors from buying/selling electricity and transmission products and to pursue corporate entities (not just individuals), increasing accountability and strengthening market stability.
Market participants that follow the rules: stronger criminal and civil enforcement creates a more level playing field by deterring fraudulent reporting and other manipulative behavior.
Utilities and trading firms: higher compliance risk and the possibility of being banned from markets could raise operating costs, reduce participation, and increase prices passed on to consumers.
Firms that supply market data and reporters: criminalizing certain reports to private price-reporters may chill legitimate information sharing and create legal exposure for firms that provide market data.
Taxpayers and consumers: removing major market participants or restricting trading to enforce rules could temporarily disrupt trading liquidity or supply chains, leading to short-term price spikes or reliability issues.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Gives FERC authority to ban persons from electricity and natural gas markets for violations and creates a criminal false-reporting offense for natural gas price data.
Official title: To amend the Federal Power Act and the Natural Gas Act with respect to the enforcement of certain provisions, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 21, 2026 by Janice D. Schakowsky · Last progress April 21, 2026
Adds new enforcement tools for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) over electricity and natural gas markets and makes it a criminal offense to willfully submit false price or transport data to a price-reporting agency. The bill lets FERC prohibit or suspend any person who breaks specific market rules from buying, selling, or providing transmission services for electricity or natural gas, and it creates a false-reporting offense tied to price data used for natural gas markets. The changes amend the Federal Power Act and Natural Gas Act to widen remedies (including temporary or permanent bans from market participation) and add a statutory criminal prohibition on knowingly falsifying reports to price-reporters with intent to fraudulently affect compiled natural gas data. Conforming edits replace limited references to “individual” with broader “person” to allow enforcement against entities as well as individuals.