[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1221 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1221

     To amend the Federal Power Act to require periodic reports on 
  electricity reliability and reliability impact statements for rules 
       affecting the reliable operation of the bulk-power system.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 6, 2015

 Ms. Murkowski introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Federal Power Act to require periodic reports on 
  electricity reliability and reliability impact statements for rules 
       affecting the reliable operation of the bulk-power system.

    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 ``Bulk-Power System Reliability Impact 
Statement Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) no other electricity network in the world provides as 
        much power to as many people as reliably and affordably as the 
        electric grid in the United States, but keeping the lights on 
        in the United States is a highly complex undertaking;
            (2) according to the 2015 Quadrennial Energy Review, the 
        electric grid ``must handle a diverse and evolving mix of 
        energy sources and energy products; link sources, processors, 
        and users across immense distances; match demands that vary on 
        multiple time scales; co-exist with competing uses of the same 
        systems; and perform 24 hours a day, 365 days a year with high 
        reliability'';
            (3) diversity is the key characteristic of the electric 
        system in the United States as the electric grid in the United 
        States is immensely complicated due to the fact that--
                    (A) wholesale electric service and the bulk-power 
                system have evolved in many different regions of the 
                United States with a variety of ownership and 
                operational structures; and
                    (B) the electric grid must adapt to managing an 
                increasingly variable energy mix and addressing 
                retiring baseload capacity;
            (4) as set forth in Presidential Policy Directive 21 
        entitled the ``Presidential Policy Directive on Critical 
        Infrastructure Security and Resilience'', even within critical 
        infrastructure of the United States, energy systems are 
        ``uniquely critical due to the enabling functions they provide 
        across all critical infrastructure sectors'';
            (5) the wholesale electric service and the bulk-power 
        system of the United States should provide for the United 
        States electric service that is abundant, affordable, clean, 
        diverse, and secure;
            (6) Federal regulators empowered by Congress should be 
        directed to use their authority to enable and not impede, on 
        balance, the reliability and affordability of electric service; 
        and
            (7) just as the benefits of the electric grid accrue to 
        all, the burden of maintaining the electric grid must also be 
        fairly borne by all.

SEC. 3. RELIABILITY REPORTS.

    Section 215(g) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824o(g)) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``The ERO'' and inserting the following:
            ``(1) In general.--The ERO''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Reliability coordinators.--Not later than 180 days 
        after the date of enactment of this paragraph and not less than 
        every 3 years thereafter, each reliability coordinator 
        registered with the ERO shall submit to the appropriate 
        committees of Congress and the Commission a report that 
        describes, as of the date of the report--
                    ``(A) the state of and prospects for the 
                reliability and affordability of electricity within the 
                geographic area covered by the reliability coordinator; 
                and
                    ``(B) the most significant risks to the reliability 
                of the bulk-power system that might arise or need to be 
                monitored within the geographic area covered by the 
                coordinator, including risks from proposed or final 
                Federal regulations.''.

SEC. 4. RELIABILITY IMPACT STATEMENT.

    Section 215 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824o) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(l) Reliability Impact Statement.--
            ``(1) Solicitation by commission.--Not later than 15 days 
        after the date on which the head of a Federal agency proposes a 
        major rule (as defined in section 804 of title 5, United States 
        Code) that may significantly affect the reliable operation of 
        the bulk-power system, the Commission shall solicit from any 
        applicable reliability coordinator registered with the ERO 
        affected by the proposed rule a reliability impact statement 
        with respect to the proposed rule.
            ``(2) Voluntary submission by reliability coordinator.--A 
        reliability coordinator may prepare, on the initiative of the 
        reliability coordinator, a reliability impact statement for any 
        proposed major Federal rule that the reliability coordinator 
        determines would significantly affect the reliable operation of 
        the bulk-power system within the jurisdiction of the 
        reliability coordinator.
            ``(3) Multijurisdictional coordination.--If a proposed rule 
        subject to a reliability impact statement under paragraph (1) 
        or (2) affects an area broader than the jurisdiction of a 
        single reliability coordinator, the ERO shall convene a 
        committee of the affected reliability coordinators to produce a 
        single reliability impact statement that demonstrates for each 
        affected area the reliability impact of the proposed rule.
            ``(4) Requirements.--A reliability impact statement under 
        paragraph (1) or (2) shall include a detailed statement on--
                    ``(A) the impact of the proposed rule on the 
                reliable operation of the bulk-power system;
                    ``(B) any adverse effects on the reliable operation 
                of the bulk-power system if the proposed rule was 
                implemented; and
                    ``(C) alternatives to cure the identified adverse 
                reliability impacts, including, at the discretion of 
                the reliability coordinator, a no-action alternative.
            ``(5) Submission to commission.--On completion of a 
        reliability impact statement under paragraph (1) or (2), the 
        reliability coordinator or a committee of affected reliability 
        coordinators convened under paragraph (3) shall submit to the 
        Commission the reliability impact statement.
            ``(6) Transmittal to head of federal agency.--On receipt of 
        a reliability impact statement submitted to the Commission 
        under paragraph (5), the Commission shall transmit to the head 
        of the applicable Federal agency the reliability impact 
        statement prepared under this subsection for inclusion in the 
        public record.
            ``(7) Inclusion of detailed response in final rule.--In 
        issuing a proposed major rule subject to a reliability impact 
        statement prepared under paragraph (1) or (2), the head of the 
        Federal agency shall--
                    ``(A) consider the reliability impact statement in 
                issuing the proposed major rule; and
                    ``(B) include in the final rule a detailed response 
                to the reliability impact statement.''.
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