Restoring Renewable Energy Parity Act
Sponsored By: Senator Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]
Introduced
Summary
Restore renewable energy parity by overturning a set of federal orders, guidance, and a trade probe the bill says are blocking wind, solar, geothermal, and storage projects.
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- Developers and project owners would face fewer federal roadblocks. The bill would stop the Section 232 wind turbine imports investigation and void a list of executive and secretarial orders and guidance, and it would require the Department of Defense to sign mitigation agreements for projects started before January 1, 2026.
- Federal agencies would face new limits on issuing policy. Agencies could not reissue similar executive documents without a new law and the Fish and Wildlife Service could not ban use of the IPaC planning portal for wind, solar, geothermal, or storage permit requests.
- Recipients of multi-year federal awards would get faster funding certainty. Agencies would have 60 days to grant or deny continuation applications or they would be deemed granted, and rescissions of amounts in FY2026 and FY2027 would be barred unless made through an appropriation act.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
End Commerce probe on wind imports
If enacted, the bill would direct the Commerce Department to stop the Section 232 national security investigation into imports of wind turbines and their parts that began with the August 25, 2025 notice. If enacted, this would remove the near‑term threat of import restrictions or tariffs tied to that investigation.
Protect federal funding for 2026–27
If enacted, agencies could not rescind money that was provided by any appropriation Act for fiscal years 2026 or 2027 unless Congress passes a new appropriation Act to do so. If enacted, the bill would also require agencies to approve or deny continuation applications for multi‑year federal awards within 60 days. If an agency does not respond in 60 days, the continuation would be treated as granted and would use the original award terms.
Remove executive limits on renewables
If enacted, the bill would declare several named 2025 executive and agency energy documents to have no force or effect and bar federal funds from being used to carry them out. If enacted, it would also stop the President and agency heads from reissuing substantially similar orders or guidance unless Congress later authorizes them. If enacted, the bill would bar the HHS Secretary from taking actions that hinder wind, solar, or geothermal development and would require the Fish and Wildlife Service to allow use of its IPaC portal for project permitting.
Fast DoD approvals for energy projects
If enacted, the bill would require the Secretary of Defense to approve and sign any mitigation agreement for a wind or solar facility, transmission line, or distribution line that was started before January 1, 2026. If enacted, the Secretary would have to act not later than 30 days after enactment. This would help developers with pending DoD mitigation agreements get final signoffs faster.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]
OR • D
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov