Rail and Highway Transmission Planning Act
Sponsored By: Representative Mullin
Introduced
Summary
Co-locating high-voltage transmission within highway and rail rights-of-way is the bill’s main goal. The bill would direct the Department of Energy to study how placing new transmission lines in existing highway and rail corridors could relieve capacity constraints and support more affordable, reliable electricity for consumers.
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- Families and consumers: Households could benefit from reduced grid bottlenecks and potentially more reliable and affordable electricity if new transmission eases capacity limits.
- Utilities and grid planners: The study would create a public, machine-readable inventory of covered rights-of-way and recommend best practices for planning, permitting, financing, and technical configurations, including high-voltage alternating current and high-voltage direct current options.
- State and local agencies, railroad carriers, and nearby property owners: The bill would produce an interagency action plan, evaluate safety, environmental, and rail-operation impacts such as electromagnetic interference, and identify potential funding or financial benefits for stakeholders.
The study would be done in consultation with Transportation, FERC, and National Laboratories and must publish rolling results and a final report within three years.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Study power lines on highway and rail
If enacted, the Department of Energy would run a comprehensive study on building high-voltage power lines along highway and rail rights-of-way. The Secretary would consult the Transportation Department, FERC, and relevant National Laboratories. The study would identify suitable State highways, the National Highway System, rail rights-of-way (including abandoned railroads), and evaluate line types like HVAC, HVDC, overhead, and underground. It would compare costs and benefits, including land-acquisition and permitting savings, and identify funding and financing options. The study would analyze effects on grid reliability, interconnection queues, transmission capacity, consumer energy costs, highway and rail safety, and environmental and community impacts including electromagnetic interference risks. The Secretary would create an interagency action plan, publish each study element as completed, and deliver a final report and machine-readable data to Congress and the public within 3 years, with limited redactions for national security.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Mullin
CA • D
Cosponsors
Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7]
VA • D
Sponsored 3/18/2026
Schrier
WA • D
Sponsored 5/4/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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