Sponsors (2)
The bill improves consumer privacy and transparency for electric usage data and provides strong monetary remedies, but does so at the cost of higher utility compliance liabilities, potential indirect costs to ratepayers, uneven coverage across utilities, and more complex enforcement processes.
Electric customers (all residential and commercial electric consumers) get stronger privacy protections: utilities are barred from selling or monetizing smart‑meter consumption data except for narrowly specified operational uses.
Electric consumers gain a meaningful financial remedy for violations: the FTC can require bill credits equal to three times the revenue a utility earned from unlawful data use, increasing deterrence and compensation.
The bill creates a federal baseline privacy-and-security standard and transparency requirement (annual FTC reporting) while preserving stronger state laws, giving consumers clearer minimum protections and more visibility into what data utilities collect and share.
Covered utilities will face higher compliance, security, and reporting costs — plus potential treble-credit liabilities — which could lead to higher utility operating expenses, reduced investment, or indirect costs passed to ratepayers.
Some consumers may get weaker or uneven protections because certain smaller or foreign‑owned state‑regulated utilities are excluded or treated differently, creating a patchwork of privacy protections across jurisdictions and customer groups.
FTC enforcement alongside parallel state attorney‑general actions creates procedural complexity and could delay remedies while federal actions are pending, slowing relief for harmed consumers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Limits utilities from monetizing smart‑meter consumption data to specified operational uses and requires annual FTC reporting, with FTC enforcement and treble‑revenue consumer credits for violations.
Official title: To limit the use by certain State regulated electric utilities of certain data relating to the use of electric energy by electric consumers, and for other purposes.
Introduced September 3, 2026 by Josh Riley · Last progress September 3, 2026
Prohibits covered electric utilities from using, selling, or otherwise monetizing consumers’ smart‑meter “personal consumption data” except for specified operational uses (billing, outage management, grid reliability, regulatory compliance, and consumer‑authorized demand response). Requires covered utilities to file an annual disclosure report with the Federal Trade Commission listing what consumption data they collect, how they use it, and any third‑party sharing. Gives the FTC authority to enforce the prohibition as an unfair or deceptive practice, to set security and retention standards, to consult with FERC, and to obtain penalties and remedies including consumer credits equal to three times revenue attributable to unlawful monetization. Preserves state attorneys general parens patriae enforcement with notice and coordination rules and confirms the statute is a federal privacy baseline that does not preempt stronger state laws.