Sponsor
Haley Stevens
Representative · D-MI
Representative · D-MI
The bill provides one year of protection from residential electricity price increases and ties DOE aid to rate and pay conditions to restrain costs, but those conditions could limit emergency funding access, shift regulatory authority toward the federal government, and risk higher costs or service problems later.
Households (renters and homeowners) are protected from automatic residential electricity price increases for one year after enactment.
Utilities that keep rates at Jan 1, 2026 levels remain eligible for DOE financial assistance, supporting continuity of service and enabling potential infrastructure investment that benefits customers.
Taxpayers and ratepayers may benefit because conditioning assistance on compensation creates an incentive for utilities to limit executive pay when raising residential rates during the subsequent two years.
Utilities that need emergency funds but are required to freeze rates may be unable to obtain DOE assistance, risking delayed repairs, degraded service, or higher long‑term costs for customers.
Consumers (renters and homeowners) could face higher electricity rates after the assistance period ends if utilities lose funding now and later pass increased costs to customers.
State governments and utilities could face regulatory conflicts because conditioning federal assistance on rate and compensation rules shifts leverage from state regulators to the Department of Energy.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Conditions DOE financial assistance on state‑regulated investor‑owned utilities not raising residential rates above Jan 1, 2026 levels or meeting executive‑pay reduction rules.
Official title: To establish requirements for when the Secretary of Energy may provide financial assistance to regulated investor owned electric utilities, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 12, 2026 by Haley Stevens · Last progress March 12, 2026
Prohibits the Secretary of Energy from giving federal financial assistance to state‑regulated, investor‑owned electric utilities that increase residential electricity rates above their January 1, 2026 levels for specified time windows after enactment. For the first year after enactment, any utility that charges residential customers more than the Jan 1, 2026 rate is ineligible for and will lose federal assistance. For the following two years, utilities that raise rates are similarly ineligible unless they cut the total compensation of their five highest‑paid employees by twice the percentage‑point increase in rates, cap those five employees’ pay at their Jan 1, 2026 amounts, and submit a report documenting compensation changes; failure to comply terminates assistance.