[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8448 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8448

To establish an Office of Energy Affordability within the Department of 
                    Energy, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 22, 2026

 Mr. Lawler (for himself and Mr. Gottheimer) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish an Office of Energy Affordability within the Department of 
                    Energy, 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 ``Energy Affordability and Reliability 
Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF ENERGY AFFORDABILITY.

    (a) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall establish within 
the Office of Policy of the Department of Energy an office to be known 
as the Office of Energy Affordability (in this section referred to as 
the ``Office'').
    (b) Duties.--The duties of the Office shall be to--
            (1) review each proposed regulation or policy of the 
        Department of Energy that would require, or otherwise relates 
        to, a transition between types of energy or sources of energy, 
        to determine whether such regulation or policy--
                    (A) incorporates transparent and rigorous analysis 
                of the short-term and long-term effects of such 
                regulation or policy on energy affordability and on 
                related economic costs;
                    (B) includes strategies to ensure that such 
                regulation or policy does not negatively affect energy 
                affordability and that related economic costs are 
                mitigated; and
                    (C) supports reliable access to energy by consumers 
                and promotes cost-effective energy solutions; and
            (2) provide advice and guidance based on the results of 
        such review.
    (c) Timely Review; No Prevention of Issuance.--In carrying out the 
duties under subsection (b), the Office--
            (1) shall complete the review of each proposed regulation 
        or policy pursuant to such subsection by not later than 30 days 
        after the date on which the Office receives notice of such 
        proposed regulation or policy; and
            (2) may not prevent the issuance of any regulation or 
        policy.
    (d) Annual Reports.--On an annual basis, the Office shall submit to 
the appropriate congressional committees a report containing, with 
respect to any regulation or policy specified in subsection (b) 
proposed to be issued or issued during the year covered by such 
report--
            (1) an analysis of the effects specified in subsection 
        (b)(1)(A); and
            (2) recommendations for the strategies specified in 
        subsection (b)(1)(B).
    (e) Report on Effectiveness of Office.--Not later than 5 years 
after the date on which the Office is established under subsection (a), 
the Secretary of Energy shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees a report on the effectiveness of the Office.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 
                and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.
            (2) Energy affordability.--The term ``energy 
        affordability'' means the cost of energy transmitted to a 
        residential, commercial, or industrial consumer proportional to 
        the income or operational costs of such consumer.
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