The Wildfire and Grid Reliability Act creates a new grant program administered by the Department of Energy to help electric utilities improve power grid safety and reduce wildfire risks. Eligible entities, including public, municipal, cooperative, and investor-owned utilities, can apply for funding to implement projects like undergrounding power lines, installing fire-resistant equipment, and deploying early detection technology. The bill requires recipients to match federal funds with their own contributions and mandates that at least 40% of grants go toward wildfire risk reduction, while 20% is reserved for smaller utilities serving fewer than 4 million megawatt-hours annually.
This bill creates a temporary tax credit for middle-income households earning between $80,000 and $160,000 to help offset rising costs for commuting, groceries, and utilities during a designated emergency period related to the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict. The credit is refundable and will automatically phase out once the conflict ends or energy prices return to normal levels for at least 180 consecutive days. It also establishes federal price gouging prohibitions on fuel, heating, and essential consumer staples, allowing the FTC and Department of Justice to enforce penalties against businesses that charge grossly excessive prices without justified cost increases. The bill includes a requirement for the FTC to study state and local price gouging laws during the emergency and report recommendations to Congress within 18 months. All provisions expire when the designated emergency period ends, though enforcement actions can continue after that date.
This bill, known as the Geo POWER Act, creates a new government program to fund geothermal energy projects in areas where such power has not been previously generated. It directs the Department of Energy to provide milestone-based financing to projects in low-permeability rock formations and regions with limited geothermal activity, including areas on or near Indian lands. The program requires projects to achieve specific technical and financial goals to receive funding, with a minimum of three projects awarded across at least three different states. Each funded project must have the potential to generate at least 30 megawatts of electricity or advance innovative drilling technologies that could enable larger-scale commercial geothermal power.
This bill creates a business tax credit for companies that purchase zero-emission electric lawn, garden, and landscaping equipment. The credit equals 40 percent of the equipment's cost, with annual limits of $25,000 and a ten-year aggregate cap of $100,000 per business. Eligible equipment includes electric-powered mowers, trimmers, and other landscaping tools powered by solar, batteries, fuel cells, or grid electricity, as well as batteries and generators used to power them. The credit applies to equipment placed in service after December 31, 2024, and expires five years after the bill is enacted.
This bill, known as the License to Drill Act, extends the deadline for collecting fees on new oil and gas drilling permit applications from 2026 to 2037 under the Mineral Leasing Act. It requires the Secretary of the Interior to continue collecting these fees for each new permit application throughout the extended period. The bill also directs that all fees collected between fiscal years 2027 and 2037 be transferred to the BLM Permit Processing Improvement Fund instead of being distributed as previously required. These changes affect the Bureau of Land Management's administrative process for managing oil and gas leasing on federal lands.
The Access to Consumer Energy Information Act requires electric and gas utilities to provide customers with easy access to their energy usage data and billing information in a standardized, machine-readable format. The bill directs the Department of Energy and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to create guidelines ensuring consumers can securely share this data with third-party apps and services to help manage energy consumption and costs. Utilities must allow customers to install software on their energy meters and cannot discriminate against third-party developers seeking access to this data. The legislation also authorizes funding to help states implement these data-sharing programs and requires a report on using meter data for wholesale electricity market settlements.
This joint resolution eliminates new, more stringent energy conservation standards for commercial refrigerators, freezers, and refrigerator-freezers. Under the joint resolution, such equipment is no longer required to comply with the new standards. Specifically, the joint resolution nullifies the rule titled Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Commercial Refrigerators, Freezers, and Refrigerator-Freezers and published by the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy on January 21, 2025. Under the rule, the office adopted new energy conservation standards for commercial refrigeration equipment to achieve the maximum improvement in energy efficiency that is technologically feasible and economically justified. The rule required the equipment to comply with the those standards by January 22, 2029.
This bill, titled the Protect American AI Act of 2026, aims to speed up the environmental approval process for data centers and related infrastructure by limiting how lawsuits can delay or stop projects. It applies to facilities that process, store, or transmit digital information and any supporting infrastructure needed to operate them. The law prevents courts from canceling permits or approvals even if a lawsuit finds environmental violations, instead requiring agencies to fix the issues while continuing to process applications. Additionally, it moves legal review of these projects to local courts of appeals, sets strict 90-day deadlines for filing lawsuits, and requires faster court processing of any challenges.
This bill, titled the Critical Minerals Investment Tax Modernization Act of 2026, changes how mining companies calculate tax deductions for extracting rare earth minerals. It directly affects businesses that mine rare earth elements by increasing their allowable percentage depletion rate from the current standard to 22 percent. The specific minerals covered include the 15 lanthanide elements and scandium, which are now added to the list of resources eligible for this higher tax deduction. The change applies to taxable years beginning after the bill is enacted, allowing companies to deduct a larger portion of their mining costs from their taxable income.
This bill, known as the Connect the Grid Act of 2026, would require the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to connect its power grid with neighboring regional grid operators. The legislation removes current exemptions that have kept ERCOT largely independent from federal oversight and mandates the construction of new transmission lines to increase power flow capacity between Texas and surrounding regions. Key provisions include setting specific minimum power transfer levels, prioritizing the use of existing land rights and degraded sites for new infrastructure, and requiring environmental reviews for all projects. The bill also expands funding for transmission projects and directs a study on the benefits of connecting U.S. power grids with Mexico.
