A Democratic bill with 1 Republican cosponsor · See the cosponsor
Last activity — Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
In committee
Introduced and handed to a committee in the chamber it started in.
The committee holds it, and most bills are never heard from again. A hearing or a committee vote would be news; silence is the usual outcome, and it kills the bill without anyone voting against it.
Its path through Congress
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
The "Smart Meter Data Privacy Protection Act" limits how certain state regulated electric utilities use personal consumption data from smart meters. It prohibits these utilities from selling, licensing, or monetizing this data unless used for authorized operational purposes. Covered utilities must provide annual reports to the Federal Trade Commission regarding their data usage. The bill establishes penalties for violations, including credits to consumers' bills. Enforcement is handled by the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general.
Yes· 3 of 13
- Scored +9
Does this protect people from being watched or searched?
Protects individual consumers from the unauthorized commercial exploitation of their energy consumption data.
- Scored +9
Does this give people more control over their personal data?
Strictly limits the use, sale, and monetization of smart meter data by covered utilities.
- Scored +8
Does this give people more protection from unfair business practices?
Prohibits the monetization of personal smart meter data and provides financial restitution for violations.
The opposite
No question was scored the opposite.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
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Data Privacy: Covered utilities are prohibited from selling, licensing, or monetizing personal consumption data for commercial purposes, which protects consumer privacy (Section 2(a)).
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Financial Restitution: Consumers may receive a bill credit equal to 3 times the revenue generated if a utility violates the data use prohibitions (Section 2(c)(1)).
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Protection from Cost Recovery: Utilities are forbidden from recovering the costs of those violation credits from other electric consumers (Section 2(c)(2)).
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Increased Accountability: Utilities must submit annual reports to the Federal Trade Commission detailing what data was collected, how it was used, and who it was shared with (Section 2(b)).
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Stronger State Protections: The act does not stop states from keeping or creating laws that provide even stronger privacy protections for consumers (Section 2(g)).
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Data Security: The Federal Trade Commission is required to set reasonable standards for how personal consumption data is secured and retained (Section 2(f)).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
- Limited Scope: The protections only apply to "covered utilities," which are defined as state regulated electric utilities that are not wholly owned by United States persons (Section 2(h)(2)).
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Tap or hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Would billionaires be better off under this? — Protects personal data privacy and provides potential bill credits for violations. Would high-income households be better off under this? — Protects personal data privacy and provides potential bill credits for violations. Would people with substantial wealth be better off under this? — Protects personal data privacy and provides potential bill credits for violations. Would households on low incomes be better off under this? — Provides potential bill credits for victims of data privacy violations. Would middle-income households be better off under this? — Protects personal data privacy and provides potential bill credits for violations. Would the very wealthiest people be better off under this? — Protects personal data privacy and provides potential bill credits for violations.
- Governance And Ideology
- Does this protect people from being watched or searched? — Protects individual consumers from the unauthorized commercial exploitation of their energy consumption data. Does this make what the government does easier for the public to see? — Requires utilities to submit annual reports to the FTC on data collection and usage. Does this leave more decisions to the states? — Explicitly allows states to maintain or create stronger privacy protections than the federal baseline. Does this give the federal government more power? — Grants the FTC authority to set standards and enforce data privacy rules for electric utilities.
- Education And Technology
- Does this give people more control over their personal data? — Strictly limits the use, sale, and monetization of smart meter data by covered utilities.
- Economy And Finance
- Does this give people more protection from unfair business practices? — Prohibits the monetization of personal smart meter data and provides financial restitution for violations.
- National Security And Foreign Policy
- Does this better protect the country from computer attacks? — Requires the FTC to establish reasonable security standards for the retention of personal consumption data.
- 9/3/2026
- Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- Introduced in House
Mike KennedyRepublican · Utah