Grid Research and Development Act

Bill Number

H.R. 6177

Origin Chamber

House

Congress

119th Congress, Session 1

Policy Area

Energy

Status

Introduced

Latest Action

2025-11-20: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Last Updated

2026-02-04T04:26:31Z

AI-Generated Summary

Purpose of the Legislation

The Grid Research and Development Act (H.R. 6177) aims to update and unify how energy companies report information about power transmission projects and systems to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). This includes standardizing data collection, creating public access tools, and supporting research to improve the efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and reliability of the U.S. electric grid. The goal is to help reduce costs for consumers (ratepayers) while promoting better planning for grid expansion and renewable energy integration.

Key Provisions

• Modernized Reporting Requirements (Section 2): FERC must issue rules requiring transmitting utilities (companies that send electricity over long distances) and Transmission Organizations (groups that manage grid operations, like regional operators) to submit standardized data under the Federal Power Act. This data covers:
• Project details, such as timelines, locations, capacities, and planning origins.
• Costs and economic justifications, including projected vs. actual expenses, maintenance, cost-sharing, and benefit analyses.
• Financial structures, like returns on investments and capital breakdowns.
• System performance metrics, such as congestion costs (delays or extra expenses from grid limits), energy losses, interconnection costs (fees for connecting new generators or loads), capacity, and use of advanced technologies (e.g., smart grid tools).
• Additional metrics FERC deems useful for affordability.
• Quarterly reports on interconnection queues (lists of projects waiting to connect to the grid) and study models.
• Reporting Format and Accessibility: Data must be complete, accurate, searchable, and in machine-readable formats (easy for computers to process). FERC will provide templates to ease filing, require a public website for searching and downloading data, and allow exemptions if justified. Within one year, FERC reviews recent FERC Form No. 1 filings (annual reports by major utilities) for completeness and mandates revisions. Within two years, all historical and future Form No. 1 data will be centralized publicly.
• Centralized Data Repository (Section 3): FERC, working with the Energy Information Administration (EIA, part of the Department of Energy that collects energy data), must build and maintain a public online repository. It includes data from various FERC forms (e.g., annual and quarterly reports) and new submissions. EIA will create data standards (schemas and metadata—labels describing the data), user tools for filtering and analysis, and features like APIs (tools for developers to access data) and visualizations. The repository ensures security for sensitive critical energy information (e.g., anonymizing data to prevent security risks) while standardizing formats across utilities.
• Grid Research and Analytics (Section 4): The Secretary of Energy (head of the Department of Energy, or DOE), with FERC, must conduct and publish reports on:
• Drivers of rising costs (e.g., delays, regional differences in cost-sharing).
• Benefits to ratepayers (e.g., better reliability, lower emissions, grid resilience).
• Ways to improve affordability (e.g., performance-based rules, alternative tech like grid-enhancing devices).
• Future grid scenarios, inefficiencies in interconnections, and opportunities from advanced tech (e.g., dynamic line ratings to use existing lines more efficiently).
• DOE, via National Laboratories, must develop an "Interconnection Data Dashboard"—a public online tool showing real-time queue data, timelines, costs, trends, and filters (e.g., by region or project type). It includes visualizations, exports, and annual reports on queue performance, delays, and recommendations, while protecting sensitive data.
• Definitions (Section 5): Clarifies terms like "Commission" (FERC), "Administrator" (EIA head), "Secretary" (DOE head), "project" (transmission infrastructure initiatives), and borrows definitions from the Federal Power Act for utilities and organizations.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Expands the Federal Power Act by mandating new, detailed reporting categories (e.g., interconnection costs, advanced tech usage) not previously required, shifting from ad-hoc to standardized, quarterly submissions.
• Introduces a centralized public repository and dashboard, which do not currently exist, consolidating scattered FERC forms into one accessible system.
• Requires FERC to review and revise FERC Form No. 1 for completeness and machine-readability, potentially updating regulations under 18 CFR 141.1.
• Adds research mandates for DOE and FERC, including periodic reports and a dashboard, to analyze grid costs and efficiencies—building on but going beyond existing data collection without the public analytics focus.

Potential Impacts

• Government Agencies: FERC gains enhanced oversight tools for regulating utilities, but faces initial workload for rulemaking and repository setup. DOE and EIA will lead research and data management, collaborating with National Labs, potentially improving policy decisions on grid modernization. No direct international impacts, as the focus is domestic energy infrastructure.
• Citizens/Ratepayers: Increases transparency into grid costs and projects, empowering consumers to understand and potentially challenge high electricity rates. Could lead to lower costs through better planning, faster renewable connections, and efficiency gains (e.g., avoiding unnecessary builds).
• International Relations: Minimal; indirectly supports U.S. energy security and clean energy goals, which could align with global climate efforts but has no foreign policy provisions.

Main Stakeholders Affected

• Transmitting Utilities and Transmission Organizations: Primary reporters; must adapt to new standardized filing processes, potentially increasing administrative efforts but reducing inconsistencies.
• Government Entities: FERC (regulation and rulemaking), DOE (research and dashboard), EIA (data standards), and National Labs (technical development).
• Ratepayers and Consumers: Benefit from public data on costs and efficiencies, aiding advocacy for affordable energy.
• Developers, Researchers, and Regulators: Gain access to dashboards and APIs for analyzing queues, trends, and innovations, speeding up renewable projects and policy improvements.
• Interconnection Customers (e.g., solar/wind developers): Improved queue transparency could reduce delays and costs for connecting new energy sources.

Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications

• Legal: Strengthens FERC's authority under the Federal Power Act to collect and standardize data, potentially enabling stricter enforcement on cost transparency and anti-competitive practices. Exemptions and security provisions balance compliance with practicality and national security (e.g., protecting critical infrastructure info under CEII guidelines).
• Constitutional: Promotes First Amendment values through public access to government-held data, enhancing transparency without infringing on privacy (via anonymization). Aligns with administrative law by requiring rulemaking and public interfaces.
• Political: Supports bipartisan goals of grid reliability and clean energy transition by addressing interconnection bottlenecks, which hinder renewables. Could influence debates on utility regulation and ratepayer protections, fostering accountability amid rising energy demands, but may face pushback from utilities over reporting burdens.

This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.

Sponsor

Rep. Casten, Sean [D-IL-6]

Cosponsors (12)

Rep. Levin, Mike [D-CA-49], Rep. Huffman, Jared [D-CA-2], Rep. Subramanyam, Suhas [D-VA-10], Rep. Quigley, Mike [D-IL-5], Rep. Garamendi, John [D-CA-8], Rep. Castor, Kathy [D-FL-14], Rep. Carson, André [D-IN-7], Rep. Moulton, Seth [D-MA-6], Rep. Foster, Bill [D-IL-11], Rep. Dean, Madeleine [D-PA-4], Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, Alexandria [D-NY-14], Rep. Magaziner, Seth [D-RI-2]

Recent Actions

• 2025-11-20: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
• 2025-11-20: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
• 2025-11-20: Introduced in House
• 2025-11-20: Introduced in House

Bill Versions

• Grid Research and Development Act — issued 2025-11-20 — PDF (18 pages)