[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2596 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2596

 To prohibit natural gas price gouging after a disaster, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 13, 2023

   Mr. Harder of California introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To prohibit natural gas price gouging after a disaster, 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 PG&E Price Gouging During 
Emergencies Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON UNCONSCIONABLE PRICING OF NATURAL GAS DURING A 
              MAJOR DISASTER DECLARATION.

    For the duration of a major disaster declared under section 401 of 
the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 5170), and for 1 year after the end of such major disaster, it 
shall be unlawful for any utility company to charge a rate for the sale 
of natural gas, at wholesale or at retail, in any county to which the 
declaration applies that, as determined by the Federal Trade 
Commission, in collaboration with the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission--
            (1) is unconscionably excessive; and
            (2) indicates that the utility company is taking unfair 
        advantage of the circumstances related to the declaration of a 
        major disaster to increase prices unreasonably.

SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION.

    (a) Enforcement by FTC.--A violation of section 2 shall be treated 
as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or 
practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade 
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). The Federal Trade Commission 
shall enforce a violation of section 2 in the same manner, by the same 
means, and with the same jurisdiction as though all applicable terms 
and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act were incorporated 
into and made a part of this Act. In enforcing section 2 of this Act, 
the Commission shall give priority to enforcement actions concerning 
utility companies with total United States wholesale or retail sales of 
natural gas in excess of $2,000,000,000 per year.
    (b) Civil Penalties.--
            (1) In general.--Notwithstanding the penalties set forth 
        under the Federal Trade Commission Act, any utility company 
        that knowingly violates section 2 shall be subject to--
                    (A) a civil penalty of not more than 3 times the 
                amount of profits gained by such utility company 
                through such violation; or
                    (B) a civil penalty of not more than $100,000,000 
                total.
            (2) Method.--The penalties under paragraph (1) shall be 
        obtained in the same manner as civil penalties obtained under 
        section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45).
            (3) Multiple offenses; mitigating factors.--In assessing 
        the penalty provided by paragraph (1)--
                    (A) each day of a continuing violation shall be 
                considered a separate violation; and
                    (B) the court shall take into consideration, among 
                other factors, the seriousness of the violation and the 
                efforts of the utility company committing the violation 
                to remedy the harm caused by the violation in a timely 
                manner.

SEC. 4. CRIMINAL PENALTIES.

    (a) In General.--In addition to any penalty applicable under 
section 3, any utility company that violates section 2 shall be fined 
under title 18, United States Code, in an amount not to exceed 
$500,000,000.
    (b) Enforcement.--The criminal penalty provided by subsection (a) 
may be imposed only pursuant to a criminal action brought by the 
Attorney General.

SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT AT RETAIL LEVEL BY STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL.

    (a) In General.--An attorney general of a State, as parens patriae, 
may bring a civil action on behalf of its residents in an appropriate 
district court of the United States to enforce the provisions of 
section 2 of this Act, or to impose the civil penalties authorized by 
section 3(b)(1)(B), whenever the attorney general of the State has 
reason to believe that the interests of the residents of the State have 
been or are being threatened or adversely affected by a violation of 
this Act, involving a retail sale.
    (b) Notice.--The attorney general of a State shall serve written 
notice to the Federal Trade Commission of any civil action under 
subsection (a) prior to initiating such civil action. The notice shall 
include a copy of the complaint to be filed to initiate such civil 
action, except that if it is not feasible for the State to provide such 
prior notice, the State shall provide such notice immediately upon 
instituting such civil action.
    (c) Limitation on State Action While Federal Action Is Pending.--If 
the Federal Trade Commission or the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission has initiated a civil action or an administrative action for 
violation of this Act, no State attorney general, or official or agency 
of a State, may bring an action under this section during the pendency 
of that action against any defendant named in the complaint of the 
Federal Trade Commission or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
for any violation of this Act alleged in the complaint.
    (d) Rules of Construction.--
            (1) Civil action.--For purposes of bringing any civil 
        action under subsection (a), nothing in this section shall be 
        construed to prevent the attorney general of a State from 
        exercising the powers conferred on the attorney general by the 
        laws of such State to conduct investigations, administer oaths 
        or affirmations, or compel the attendance of witnesses or the 
        production of documentary and other evidence.
            (2) Enforcement of state law.--Nothing in this section 
        shall be construed to prohibit an authorized State official 
        from proceeding in State court to enforce a civil or criminal 
        statute of such State.

SEC. 6. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.

    (a) Other Authority of Federal Trade Commission.--Nothing in this 
Act shall be construed to limit or affect in any way the Federal Trade 
Commission's authority to bring enforcement actions or take any other 
measure under the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) 
or any other provision of law.
    (b) State Law.--Nothing in this Act preempts any State law.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Natural gas.--The term ``natural gas'' has the meaning 
        given that term in section 2 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 
        717a).
            (2) Utility company.--The term ``utility company'' means a 
        gas utility company or a public-utility company, as such terms 
        are defined in section 1262(7) of the Public Utility Holding 
        Company Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16451).
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