# 119-s-5159: STRONG GRID Act of 2026

119-s-5159, STRONG GRID Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT] (D-VT); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-18).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5159
- As of: 2026-10-18
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-5159
- Congress: 119
- Title: STRONG GRID Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-07-29
- Sponsor: Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT] (D-VT)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Energy
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-18

## Summary

**Advance microgrids and grid resilience** by setting national rules for interconnection and resilience valuation, funding state deployment programs, and backing federal technical help and demonstrations to speed real-world microgrid use. - States and utilities would have to adopt regulatory frameworks for microgrid interconnection and a method to quantify resilience benefits, with a 1-year start and a 2-year finish timeline. Military installations are exempt from the resilience standards. - State energy offices and low-income and rural communities would gain expanded eligibility under the State Energy Program and access to a new state-administered Electric Grid Resilience Program that would receive $500 million for 2027–2031 to fund planning, construction, cybersecurity, operations, and training. Administrative costs are capped at 10%. - Project developers, utilities, universities, tribes, and local governments would be eligible for federal technical assistance and a competitive pilot grant program focused on innovative microgrid designs, DER management, cybersecurity, and multi-microgrid coordination. The pilot pot is $200 million for 2027–2031 and federal shares can cover up to 90% of project costs. *Would increase federal spending by about $700 million for fiscal years 2027–2031.*

## Provisions PRIA read

- Federal pilot grants for microgrids: benefit, medium. This bill would require the Secretary to set up a competitive pilot grant program within 1 year to fund innovative microgrid demonstrations. The program would prioritize projects showing cybersecurity, virtual power plant aggregation, black-start capability, high renewable use, multi-microgrid coor…
- State microgrid grants and expansion: benefit, medium. This bill would require the Secretary to create a State-run Electric Grid Resilience Program within 1 year and allocate funds to State energy offices using the State Energy Program formula in effect on December 31, 2024. States would competitively award grants for needs assessments, engineering and…
- State microgrid rules and federal help: mixed, medium. This bill would add a federal definition of 'microgrid' and require each State regulatory authority and nonregulated electric utility to start considering interconnection and resilience valuation standards within 1 year and finish within 2 years of enactment. The standards would cover islanding, sc…

## Related bills

- 119-s-4668: Protect College Sports Act of 2026
- 119-s-5071: Children's Safe Welcome Act of 2026
- 119-s-5022: Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act
- 119-s-2819: Head Start for America's Children Act
- 119-s-5283: Momnibus Act
- 119-s-1507: Agriculture Resilience Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-s-5159 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/5159)

## Related
- [119-s-4668: Protect College Sports Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4668)
- [119-s-5071: Children's Safe Welcome Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5071)
- [119-s-5022: Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5022)
- [119-s-2819: Head Start for America's Children Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2819)
- [119-s-5283: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5283)
- [119-s-1507: Agriculture Resilience Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1507)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5159 (as of 2026-10-18).