Sponsors (4)
The bill boosts transparency and planning for hydropower licensing—helping governments, tribes, and grid operators—but does so at a modest cost to taxpayers and with a risk that public disclosures could trigger litigation or negotiation delays.
Consumers and electric grid operators will get clearer timelines for new and renewed hydropower projects, improving planning for generation and reliability.
State and local governments — and Congress — will receive annual, detailed FERC transparency on stalled hydropower licensing, enabling oversight of delays and promoting faster decision‑making.
Tribes, states, and municipalities will gain clearer visibility into actions required of agencies and licensees, helping them track progress on license applications that affect their resources.
Taxpayers will face increased administrative costs because FERC (and possibly other agencies) must prepare and maintain detailed annual reports.
Public reporting could reveal sensitive project details that spur litigation or complicate negotiations, potentially delaying projects and increasing conflict for tribes, states, and local governments.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires FERC to send Congress a detailed report within 180 days and annually on hydropower licenses pending at least three years, with disaggregated status and stakeholder actions.
Requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to send Congress a detailed report within 180 days of enactment and every year after on specified hydropower licensing applications that have been pending at least three years. The report must list notices, docket numbers, application status, anticipated issuance dates, upcoming proceedings, and actions taken or required by applicants, agencies, tribes, states, and other stakeholders, and must separate information for new/subsequent licenses and original licenses under different Federal Power Act provisions. The goal is to provide Congress and the public clearer, disaggregated information about long-pending hydropower licensing processes to improve oversight and transparency of licensing timelines and stakeholder actions.
Official title: To amend the Federal Power Act to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to annually submit to Congress a report on the status of ongoing hydropower relicensing applications.
Introduced May 29, 2025 by Kim Schrier · Last progress September 25, 2026