[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4785 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4785
To direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to prohibit covered
utilities from recovering covered expenses from ratepayers, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 29, 2025
Ms. Castor of Florida (for herself, Ms. Matsui, Ms. McClellan, Ms.
Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Thanedar, and Ms. Tlaib) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to prohibit covered
utilities from recovering covered expenses from ratepayers, 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 ``Ethics in Energy Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Centralized service company.--The term ``centralized
service company'' has the meaning given the term in section
367.1(a) of title 18, Code of Federal Regulations (or a
successor regulation).
(2) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission.
(3) Covered expense.--The term ``covered expense'' means a
direct or indirect expense paid by a covered utility to--
(A) an external entity to perform political
influence activities;
(B) a centralized service company, parent company,
or other corporate affiliate--
(i) to perform a political influence
activity; and
(ii) that invoices that covered utility for
the expenses related to that political
influence activity; or
(C) an employee of that covered utility, in the
form of a salary, that performs a political influence
activity.
(4) Covered utility.--The term ``covered utility'' means--
(A) an electric utility company (as defined in
section 367.1(a) of title 18, Code of Federal
Regulations (or a successor regulation)) that had, in
each of the 3 previous calendar years, sales or
transmission services that exceeded--
(i) 1,000,000 megawatt-hours of total
annual sales;
(ii) 100 megawatt-hours of annual sales for
resale;
(iii) 500 megawatt-hours of annual power
exchanges delivered; or
(iv) 500 megawatt-hours of annual wheeling;
(B) a major natural gas company; and
(C) a centralized service company.
(5) Major natural gas company.--The term ``major natural
gas company'' means a natural-gas company (as defined in
section 2 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717a)) whose
combined gas transported or stored for a fee exceed 50,000,000
Dth in each of the 3 previous calendar years.
(6) Political influence activity.--The term ``political
influence activity'' includes--
(A) any expense for the purpose of directly or
indirectly influencing the possible--
(i) adoption of Federal, State, or local
regulations, legislation, or ordinances; or
(ii) repeal or modification of existing
Federal, State, or local regulations,
legislation, or ordinances;
(B) any expense for the purpose of directly or
indirectly influencing elections or appointments of
public officials or referenda;
(C) any expense for the purpose of directly or
indirectly influencing the approval, modification, or
revocation of utility franchises;
(D) any expense for the purpose of directly or
indirectly influencing the public opinion with respect
to Federal, State, or local--
(i) regulations, legislation, or
ordinances;
(ii) elections;
(iii) referenda; or
(iv) utility rate setting;
(E) any expense for the purpose of directly or
indirectly influencing the decisions of Federal, State,
or local government officials;
(F) any expense relating to attendance or
participation in, preparation for, or appeal of any
formal proceeding before a regulatory commission;
(G) dues or fees paid to trade associations or
industry associations;
(H) any contributions or other payments to an
organization described in paragraph (3) or (4) of
section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
and
(I) advertising, marketing, or public relations
expenses designed for the purpose of--
(i) influencing public opinion;
(ii) increasing goodwill toward a covered
utility from the public or from public
officials;
(iii) improving the reputation of a covered
utility; or
(iv) promoting or retaining the service
provided by a covered utility.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION AGAINST RECOVERING POLITICAL ACTIVITY EXPENSES FROM
RATEPAYERS.
(a) Regulations.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall promulgate regulations--
(1) to prohibit covered utilities from recovering covered
expenses from ratepayers in proceedings before the Commission,
in accordance with this section; and
(2) to amend the applicable Uniform System of Accounts in
title 18, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor
regulations), to instruct covered utilities to place covered
expenses in accounts that are presumptively not recoverable
from ratepayers, in accordance with this section.
(b) Report.--
(1) In general.--The Commission shall require that, not
later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act,
and annually thereafter, each covered utility shall submit to
the Commission a report containing--
(A) an itemized list of expenses of the preceding
year recorded in accounts relating to--
(i) covered expenses;
(ii) outside services or vendors; and
(iii) the operations of the covered utility
with respect to administrative and general
expenses; and
(B) for each expense or cost described in clauses
(i) through (iii) of subparagraph (A), unredacted
information with respect to each of the matters
described in paragraph (2) that are applicable to that
expense or cost.
(2) Matters described.--The matters referred to in
paragraph (1)(B) for the expenses and costs described in
clauses (i) through (iii) of paragraph (1)(A) are the
following:
(A) Billing amounts.
(B) Billing dates.
(C) The identity of each payee for any external
consultants or contracts.
(D) In the case of a payment made to a third-party
vendor by a centralized service company, parent
company, or other corporate affiliate of the covered
utility, the identity of that third-party vendor.
(E) The job title, portion of salaries, and
expenses, and all Uniform System of Account codes to
which compensation was recorded for the employee, of
covered utility staff with respect to any work
performed relating to a covered expense.
(F) An explanation of the expense or cost that is
sufficient to describe the purpose of the expense or
cost.
(3) Reporting minimum removed.--With respect to any annual
form that a covered utility submits to the Commission having a
reporting threshold of $250,0000, the Commission shall remove
that reporting threshold for the reporting of transactions with
associated or affiliated companies on that annual form.
(c) Enforcement.--
(1) In general.--The Commission shall monitor and
investigate compliance and noncompliance with the regulations
promulgated under this section.
(2) Penalty.--
(A) In general.--In addition to any refunds that
the Commission orders a covered utility to pay
ratepayers, the Commission shall assess a penalty in
accordance with subparagraph (B) against a covered
utility that violates or fails or refuses to comply
with the regulations promulgated under this section by
charging a ratepayer a covered expense.
(B) Amount of penalty.--
(i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii), a
penalty assessed under subparagraph (A) shall
be--
(I) for a covered expense charged
to ratepayers in an amount less than
$1,000,000, not less than the amount of
that covered expense;
(II) for a covered expense charged
to ratepayers in an amount not less
than $1,000,000 and not more than
$10,000,000, not less than double the
amount of that covered expense; and
(III) for a covered expense charged
to ratepayers in an amount more than
$10,000,000, not less than triple the
amount of that covered expense.
(ii) Limitation.--The amount of a penalty
assessed under subparagraph (A) shall be not
more than 20 times the amount of the applicable
covered expense.
(3) No recovery from ratepayers.--Covered utilities that
are subject to a penalty under this subsection may not recover
that penalty from ratepayers.
(4) Penalty distribution.--With respect to each penalty
assessed and collected under this subsection--
(A) \1/2\ of that penalty shall be distributed to
ratepayers, through a rebate; and
(B) \1/2\ of that penalty shall be distributed to
the Commission for the purpose of increasing resources
for enforcing this section.
(5) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this Act prevents the
Commission from issuing refunds or rebates to ratepayers for a
covered expense that was recovered by a covered utility on a
date before the date of enactment of this Act.
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