To amend the Small Business Act to make disaster loans available for damages caused by prolonged power outages, and for other purposes.

This bill lets the Small Business Administration treat long power outages as disasters. That means more places can qualify for SBA disaster loans when the power is out for days and causes major losses.

Loan dollars could be used to buy backup power and energy systems—like generators, solar panels, wind turbines, microgrids, fuel cells, and batteries—and to replace food and drinks that spoiled during the outage.

• Who is affected: Small businesses in areas hit by a long power outage; the outage must affect at least 25 homes or businesses in a county or smaller local area.
• What changes: Long power outages would count as disasters for SBA loans, and loan funds could pay for backup energy gear and spoiled food and drinks.
• How an outage qualifies:
  • For property damage loans: the power loss must cause each of at least 25 homes or businesses in the area to have uninsured damage equal to 40% or more of the property’s value.
  • For other disaster loans: at least 25 homes or businesses in the area must lose power for 48 hours or more.