A Democratic bill with no cosponsors
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
This bill requires the Secretary of Energy to set up a grant program to make the power grid more reliable and lower the risk of power lines causing wildfires. Electric utilities, including public, municipal, cooperative, investor-owned, and federal utilities, are eligible to apply for these grants. Utilities can use the grant money for things like putting power lines underground, upgrading equipment to resist fires, and managing vegetation. The program gives priority to projects that provide the greatest community benefit compared to their cost. At least 40 percent of the funds must go toward reducing wildfire risk, and at least 20 percent must go to small utilities. The bill authorizes $15,000,000,000 for each fiscal year from 2027 through 2036 to carry out the program.
Yes· 3 of 11
- Scored +5
Does this better protect air, water and wildlife?
Funding dedicated to vegetation management, undergrounding power lines, and reducing wildfire risk directly protects natural environments and wildlife habitats.
- Scored +4
Does this cut the pollution that drives climate change?
The program funds wildfire mitigation and grid modernization, which actively helps prevent catastrophic wildfires that release massive amounts of carbon.
- Scored +4
Does this invest in rural communities?
Specific set-asides and reduced matching requirements for smaller utilities directly benefit rural electric cooperatives and local communities.
The opposite
- Scored -4
Does this reduce what the federal government spends?
The bill authorizes significant appropriations of fifteen billion dollars for each fiscal year from 2027 through 2036.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
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Better Wildfire Prevention: Under Section 2(f)(1), at least 40 percent of the total grant money must be made available for projects that reduce the risk of wildfires caused by power lines. This can protect homes, communities, and lives from devastating fires.
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Help for Smaller Utilities: Under Section 2(f)(2) and Section 2(g)(2), at least 20 percent of the program funds are set aside for small utilities that sell 4,000,000 megawatt-hours of electricity or less per year, and these smaller utilities have a much lower matching funds requirement of one-third instead of 100 percent. This helps smaller, local providers make important safety upgrades without placing a heavy financial burden on their customers.
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Improved Power Grid Reliability: Under Section 2(d), grant funds can be used for various upgrades such as hardening overhead lines, installing fast-tripping protection systems, and constructing weather monitoring stations. These improvements help the power grid withstand natural disasters like storms and earthquakes, keeping the lights on for the people.
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Community Resilience During Outages: Under Section 2(d)(12), grants can be used to install electrical facilities and energy storage for targeted microgrid operations. This benefits community resilience by maintaining power after the main power grid suffers an outage.
Potential Negative Impacts for People
- Taxpayer Costs: Under Section 2(k), the bill authorizes $15,000,000,000 to be appropriated to the Secretary of Energy for each fiscal year from 2027 through 2036. This requires a massive amount of taxpayer money over ten years.
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.
- Environment Energy And Infrastructure
- Does this better protect air, water and wildlife? — Funding dedicated to vegetation management, undergrounding power lines, and reducing wildfire risk directly protects natural environments and wildlife habitats. Does this improve help for people hit by a disaster? — Proactive grid hardening and weather monitoring reduce the frequency and severity of weather-related power failures and destructive wildfires. Does this better protect public land such as parks and forests? — Mitigating power line wildfire risks helps protect public lands, forests, and parks from devastating ignitions. Does this invest in rural communities? — Specific set-asides and reduced matching requirements for smaller utilities directly benefit rural electric cooperatives and local communities. Does this cut the pollution that drives climate change? — The program funds wildfire mitigation and grid modernization, which actively helps prevent catastrophic wildfires that release massive amounts of carbon.
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Would people in rural areas be better off under this? — Rural residents benefit significantly from provisions specifically assisting smaller utilities that serve outlying and wildfire-prone areas. Would farmers be better off under this? — Rural electric utilities and agricultural regions benefit from targeted grant programs and reduced matching fund requirements for grid upgrades. Would households on low incomes be better off under this? — Reducing wildfire risks and improving grid reliability protects lower-income communities from disproportionate disaster impacts, though utility matching funds could pose rate pressures.
- Economy And Finance
- Does this make it easier to run a small business? — Smaller electric utilities receive dedicated set-asides and reduced matching fund requirements, helping local and rural providers upgrade their infrastructure. Is this likely to create jobs? — The bill authorizes grant funding for utilities to hire or retain personnel for grid reliability and wildfire mitigation planning and implementation. Is this likely to grow the economy? — Investing heavily in power grid reliability and hardening infrastructure helps protect regional economies from devastating natural disasters and outages. Does this reduce what the federal government spends? — The bill authorizes significant appropriations of fifteen billion dollars for each fiscal year from 2027 through 2036.
- 9/24/2026
- Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
- Introduced in House