[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3751 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3751
To prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
from enforcing a rule or regulation that restricts certain operations
of certain electric generating units, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 5, 2025
Mr. Burlison (for himself, Mr. Gill of Texas, and Ms. Hageman)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
from enforcing a rule or regulation that restricts certain operations
of certain electric generating units, 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 ``Reliable Grid Act''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) reliable, affordable electricity is a fundamental
prerequisite for a healthy human environment and must be a
central consideration in all regulations;
(2) the Administrator should prioritize the reliability of
the electric grid when considering new regulations and avoid
imposing any regulations that may compromise such reliability
by prematurely retiring essential electric generating units;
(3) NERC has already identified the threats of
``insufficient dispatchable resources'' and ``low capacity
reserves'' across the United States, at the same time as demand
increases from electrification, including the forced adoption
of electric vehicles and the decline of reliable capacity such
as natural gas, coal, petroleum, nuclear, and geothermal energy
in favor of unreliable solar and wind capacity;
(4) the operators of major regional power grids in the
United States notified former Administrator Regan in August
2023, in response to proposed rulemaking, that energy and
environmental policies ``could well exacerbate the disturbing
trends and growing risk wherein the pace of retirements of
generation with attributes needed to ensure grid reliability is
rapidly exceeding the commercialization of new resources
capable of providing those reliability attributes'';
(5) administrators under the Biden administration and
certain administrations preceding the Biden administration
imposed regulations that forced the premature retirement of
reliable power generation capacity, which was not replaced with
adequate new reliable capacity, primarily from coal and natural
gas electric generating units, causing increased shortages of
electricity and challenges to the reliable operation of the
power grid;
(6) such regulations included the--
(A) ``New Source Performance Standards for
Greenhouse Gas Emissions From New, Modified, and
Reconstructed Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating
Units; Emission Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions
From Existing Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating
Units; and Repeal of the Affordable Clean Energy Rule''
(89 Fed. Reg. 39798 (May 9, 2024));
(B) ``National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air
Pollutants: Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam
Generating Units Review of the Residual Risk and
Technology Review'' (89 Fed. Reg. 38508 (May 7, 2024));
and
(C) ``Supplemental Effluent Limitations Guidelines
and Standards for the Steam Electric Power Generating
Point Source Category'' (89 Fed. Reg. 40198 (May 9,
2024));
(7) such regulations have led to the retirement of reliable
electric generating units and major capacity inadequacies in
Texas, California, and other areas across the United States,
and regulations continue to threaten the reliability of the
grid in the United States;
(8) jeopardizing the reliability of the electric grid
through regulations that have the potential to prematurely
retire reliable electric generating units immediately endangers
the human environment, health, and life of all individuals in
the United States;
(9) such jeopardization runs counter to the mission of the
Environmental Protection Agency to ``protect human health and
the environment'';
(10) the desire of former Administrator Regan to rapidly
retire reliable coal and natural gas electric generating units
in favor of unreliable solar and wind electric generating units
has exacerbated the shortfall of reliable capacity beyond the
alarming projections noted by industry in 2023;
(11) the desire of former Administrator Regan to electrify
many energy uses, from cooking and heating to transportation,
across the United States has exacerbated the threat of capacity
inadequacy and reduced the reliability of the electric grid
during peak demand periods;
(12) the Administrator should, in coordination with public
utilities and operators of electric generating units--
(A) identify the electric generating units in
danger of premature retirement because of existing
regulations; and
(B) provide waivers, to the extent possible, to
prevent the premature shutdown of such electric
generating units due to such regulations and support
the supply of reliable electricity, especially given
the warnings from Chairman Christie of the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission that the United States is
``heading for a reliability crisis'';
(13) the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should
coordinate with NERC to develop new standards relating to the
reliability of the grid in the United States that acknowledge
that unreliable solar and wind electric generating units can
perform at near-zero capacity during peak demand and under
extreme weather conditions;
(14) the operators of regional power grids have assumed a
higher level of power generation from such solar and wind
electric generating units, which has caused such operators to
plan the electric generation resources and dispatchable
reserves of such operators poorly; and
(15) the Administrator should halt the implementation of
rules and regulations from former Administrator Regan related
to the electric power sector and ensure that any future rules
related to the electric power sector are proposed concurrently
with sufficient evidence that--
(A) such rules and regulations do not lead to any
further premature retirement of a reliable electric
generating unit; and
(B) the bulk-power system across all regional
transmission organizations and independent system
operators in the United States can reliably meet the
demand for electricity without frequent outages and
inadequately low capacity safety margins.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON ENFORCEMENT OF RULES AND REGULATIONS RELATING TO
CERTAIN ELECTRIC GENERATING UNITS.
The Administrator may not enforce a rule or regulation that
restricts the continuous, previously permitted operation of any
dispatchable electric generating unit unless and until NERC categorizes
all areas served by the bulk-power system as ``normal risk'', pursuant
to the assessment published by NERC in December 2023 entitled the
``2023 Long-Term Reliability Assessment''.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) Bulk-power system.--The term ``bulk-power system'' has
the meaning given such term in section 215(a)(1) of the Federal
Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824o(a)(1)).
(3) Dispatchable electric generating unit.--The term
``dispatchable electric generating unit'' means any steam
generating unit, integrated gasification combined cycle unit,
stationary combustion turbine, or other type of unit that
generates electricity that--
(A) is connected to the bulk-power system and
subject to rules and regulations of the Environmental
Protection Agency; and
(B) can, on demand, adjust the generation of such
generating unit, combined cycle unit, combustion
turbine, or other unit with precision to meet the
requirements of the bulk-power system.
(4) NERC.--The term ``NERC'' means the North American
Electric Reliability Corporation.
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