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HR3843119th CongressWALLET

Baseload Reliability Protection Act

Sponsored By: Representative Fedorchak

Introduced

Summary

Stops certain baseload power plants from retiring or switching fuel in regions the grid monitor rates as at elevated or high risk of electricity shortfalls, while creating a fast exemption process and a DOE grant and loan backstop. This bill targets dispatchable units of at least 25 megawatts that feed the bulk‑power system and are not primarily intermittent renewables.

Show full summary
  • Families and consumers: Keeps at‑risk power capacity online so regions served by an RTO or ISO face fewer near‑term supply shortfalls and outages.
  • Plant owners and operators: Would bar retirement or fuel conversion for covered units but lets owners petition for exemptions within 90 days and seeks final agency action quickly, with a 180‑day special timeline for claims based on unprofitability.
  • Grid planners and federal agencies: Requires the Electric Reliability Organization to set standardized risk criteria and a probabilistic method for long‑term reliability assessments, and directs DOE to offer grants or loans from specified unobligated funds to support continued operation or replacements.

*Would authorize DOE to use unobligated IIJA and related funds for grants or loans to keep covered units operating, and any loan interest would be paid into the Treasury.*

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

3 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

Pause plant retirements in at-risk grids

This bill would pause retirement or fuel conversion of certain big, dispatchable power plants in areas at higher grid risk. Covered areas are RTO/ISO regions the reliability group lists as elevated or high risk in its latest 10-year report. Covered units are dispatchable, 25 MW or larger, tied to the bulk-power system, and not mainly intermittent renewables. The ERO would publish a standard risk method within 60 days and use it in every report. Owners in those areas would be barred from retiring or changing fuels for covered units while that risk status applies.

Exemptions and appeals for plant owners

Owners could petition FERC for an exemption within 90 days after the risk report is published. FERC would decide in 90 days, or up to 180 if unprofitability and reliability are at stake, and would refer those cases to DOE. FERC must grant an exemption if operating would cause losses, sustained financial harm, or safety risks. After consulting the grid operator, FERC must also grant one if retirement will not hurt reliability, if replacement units with equal or better reliability will be in place, or if fuel conversion keeps the unit dispatchable at peak times. If replacement is approved, the old unit could not retire until the new unit is in service. FERC would not consider greenhouse gas emissions in final exemption decisions. Owners could seek court review within 60 days in the D.C. Circuit or their home circuit.

Loans and shields for covered plants

DOE could use unobligated funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Public Law 117-169 to give grants or loans to referred owners. Grants could cover prudent operating costs during the ban. Loans could keep a plant running, pay for upgrades, nuclear uprates, or life-extension work, and support operations under a 202(c) emergency order. Interest would go to the Treasury to reduce the deficit. If funding is received within 180 days after a petition, that petition would be treated as denied. Actions to follow the ban would be treated like obeying a 202(c) order, and required environmental spending is not allowed where performance is excused by the ban.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Fedorchak

ND • R

Cosponsors

  • Weber (TX)

    TX • R

    Sponsored 6/9/2025

  • Goldman (TX)

    TX • R

    Sponsored 6/9/2025

  • Pfluger

    TX • R

    Sponsored 6/9/2025

  • Rulli

    OH • R

    Sponsored 6/9/2025

  • Miller (WV)

    WV • R

    Sponsored 6/9/2025

  • Balderson

    OH • R

    Sponsored 6/9/2025

  • Downing

    MT • R

    Sponsored 6/10/2025

  • Shreve

    IN • R

    Sponsored 6/23/2025

  • Hill (AR)

    AR • R

    Sponsored 9/2/2025

  • Lawler

    NY • R

    Sponsored 9/2/2025

  • Miller (IL)

    IL • R

    Sponsored 9/18/2025

  • Lee (FL)

    FL • R

    Sponsored 10/8/2025

  • Baumgartner

    WA • R

    Sponsored 10/8/2025

  • Haridopolos

    FL • R

    Sponsored 10/8/2025

  • Evans (CO)

    CO • R

    Sponsored 10/8/2025

  • Houchin

    IN • R

    Sponsored 10/8/2025

  • Harrigan

    NC • R

    Sponsored 10/8/2025

  • Griffith

    VA • R

    Sponsored 10/8/2025

  • McDowell

    NC • R

    Sponsored 10/8/2025

  • Onder

    MO • R

    Sponsored 10/8/2025

  • Johnson (SD)

    SD • R

    Sponsored 10/8/2025

  • McGuire

    VA • R

    Sponsored 10/8/2025

  • Hamadeh (AZ)

    AZ • R

    Sponsored 11/12/2025

  • Barr

    KY • R

    Sponsored 1/9/2026

  • Allen

    GA • R

    Sponsored 2/3/2026

  • Bice

    OK • R

    Sponsored 3/26/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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