# 119-hr-2074: POWER Act

119-hr-2074, POWER Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Newhouse, Dan [R-WA-4] (R-WA); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2074
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-2074
- Congress: 119
- Title: POWER Act
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2025-03-11
- Sponsor: Rep. Newhouse, Dan [R-WA-4] (R-WA)
- Cosponsors: 3
- Policy area: Water Resources Development
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Blocking harmful breaching and retirement of federally operated hydropower dams.** The bill bars breaching or retiring a federal dam that would raise carbon emissions, hurt navigation, increase shipping or product prices, raise electricity rates, or reduce grid reliability beyond set thresholds. - Power customers in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and California: the bill blocks retirement if it would raise retail electricity rates by more than 5 percent or reduce energy reliability by more than 5 percent as measured by the Bonneville Power Administration. If retirement happens, the Secretary must ensure 100 percent of the retired baseload is replaced within 30 days. - Commercial shippers and agricultural producers using affected waterways: breaching is prohibited if it would make the water body less navigable for commercial interests or raise product shipping prices by at least 5 percent. The Secretary must consult the Secretaries of Transportation, Agriculture, and Commerce and relevant state agencies when assessing impacts. - Climate and land-use checks: breaching is barred if it would increase carbon emissions by more than 5 percent or if the replacement energy would occupy 5 percent or more additional land. The Secretary must consult the Secretary of Energy and, when considering acres, coordinate a study with the Secretary of the Interior.

## Cosponsors (3)

- Rep. Baumgartner, Michael [R-WA-5] (R-WA), 2025-03-11T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Fulcher, Russ [R-ID-1] (R-ID), 2025-03-11T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bentz, Cliff [R-OR-2] (R-OR), 2025-03-11T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Western dam retirements face limits, fast replacement: benefit, medium. If enacted, the government could not retire a federal hydropower dam if it would raise customer electric bills by more than 5%. It also could not retire a dam if reliability would drop by more than 5% in any part of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, or California. The Bonneville Power Ad…
- Tighter rules on breaching federal dams: benefit, medium. If enacted, the Secretary of the Army could not breach a federal dam if emissions would rise by more than 5%. A breach would also be barred if it would make the waterway less usable for commercial shipping. Or if prices of goods moved on that water would rise by at least 5%. A breach would be barre…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act
- 119-hr-1383: Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025
- 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act
- 119-hr-979: AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act of 2025
- 119-hr-649: Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025
- 119-hr-626: Northwest Energy Security Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-2074 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2074)

## Related
- [119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9237)
- [119-hr-1383: Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1383)
- [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842)
- [119-hr-979: AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-979)
- [119-hr-649: Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-649)
- [119-hr-626: Northwest Energy Security Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-626)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2074 (as of 2026-04-21).