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To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to require States to consider prohibiting cost recovery related to smart grid projects, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to establish a new standard prohibiting electric utilities from recovering capital, operating, and other costs related to smart grid deployment from ratepayers. State regulatory authorities and nonregulated utilities must consider this standard and make determinations regarding its implementation within two years of enactment. The bill exempts states that have already implemented this standard or conducted proceedings on it prior to the bill's enactment. The prohibition applies to future smart grid investments and does not affect prior or pending proceedings in states that have already taken action on this matter.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Jefferson Van Drew’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $176,557
- ENTREPRENEUR $70,972
- PULSE VASCULAR $9,900
- ICONA RESORTS $9,900
- MONZO CATANESE HILLEGASS $9,000
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Jefferson Van Drew → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Feb 7, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. · house
- Feb 7, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 7, 2025
Mr. Van Drew introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to require States to consider prohibiting cost recovery related to smart grid projects, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Stop Misappropriating Ratepayer Tariffs for Excessive Resources Act” or the “SMARTER Act”.
SEC. 2. SMART GRID COST RECOVERY.
(a) Consideration and Determination Respecting Certain Ratemaking Standards.—
(1) Repeal.—Section 111(d)(18)(B) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2621(d)(18)(B)) is repealed.
(2) Establishment.—Section 111(d) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2621(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(22) Prohibition on rate recovery for smart grid investments.—No electric utility may recover from ratepayers any capital, operating expenditure, or other costs of the electric utility relating to the deployment of any smart grid system.”.
(b) Obligations To Consider and Determine.—
(1) Time limitations.—Section 112(b) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2622(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(8)(A) Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this paragraph, each State regulatory authority (with respect to each electric utility for which the State has ratemaking authority) and each nonregulated utility shall commence consideration under section 111, or set a hearing date for consideration, with respect to the standard established by paragraph (22) of section 111(d).
“(B) Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this paragraph, each State regulatory authority (with respect to each electric utility for which the State has ratemaking authority), and each nonregulated electric utility shall complete the consideration and make the determination under section 111 with respect to the standard established by paragraph (22) of section 111(d).”.
(2) Failure to comply.—Section 112(c) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2622(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following: “In the case of the standard established by paragraph (22) of section 111(d), the reference contained in this subsection to the date of enactment of this Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the date of enactment of that paragraph (22).”.
(3) Prior state actions.—Section 112 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2622) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(i) Prior State Actions.—Subsections (b) and (c) shall not apply to the standard established by paragraph (22) of section 111(d) in the case of any electric utility in a State if, before the date of enactment of this subsection—
“(1) the State has implemented for the electric utility the standard (or a comparable standard);
“(2) the State regulatory authority for the State or the relevant nonregulated electric utility has conducted a proceeding to consider implementation of the standard (or a comparable standard) for the electric utility; or
“(3) the State legislature has voted on the implementation of the standard (or a comparable standard) for the electric utility during the 3-year period ending on that date of enactment.”.
(c) Prior and Pending Proceedings.—Section 124 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2634) is amended by adding at the end the following: “In the case of the standard established by paragraph (22) of section 111(d), the reference contained in this section to the date of enactment of this Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the date of enactment of that paragraph
(22).”. <all>
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