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.*
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
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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