H.R. 5964

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5964 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5964

To require the Secretary of Energy, acting through the Office of 
Electricity, to publish guidelines and best practices for integrated 
resource planning of the electricity system, provide technical 
assistance with respect to such guidelines and best practices, and 
develop a grant program for modernizing integrated resource planning, 
and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

November 7, 2025

Ms. Leger Fernandez (for herself, Mr. Case, and Mr. Thanedar) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To require the Secretary of Energy, acting through the Office of 
Electricity, to publish guidelines and best practices for integrated 
resource planning of the electricity system, provide technical 
assistance with respect to such guidelines and best practices, and 
develop a grant program for modernizing integrated resource planning, 
and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Integrated Resource Planning 
Modernization Act''.

SEC. 2. DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDELINES AND BEST PRACTICES FOR ELECTRIC 
UTILITY INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLANNING.

(a) In General.--The Secretary, in consultation with State public 
utility commissions, State energy offices, owners or operators of 
electric utilities (including investor-owned utilities, municipal 
utilities, and electric cooperatives), balancing area authorities, 
Transmission Organizations, and other relevant stakeholders, shall 
develop guidelines and best practices for integrated resource planning 
of the electricity system.
(b) Requirements.--
(1) Key issues.--The guidelines and best practices 
developed under subsection (a) shall address key issues related 
to integrated resource planning. In developing the guidelines 
and best practices, the Secretary shall consider, at a minimum, 
the following issues, while retaining discretion to incorporate 
additional considerations and to refine the scope, level of 
detail, and implementation approaches for each issue as 
appropriate:
(A) Developing capacity expansion modeling and 
resource adequacy analysis in an iterative manner to 
improve integrated resource planning by ensuring the 
expanded electricity system achieves resource adequacy 
while minimizing costs.
(B) The consideration of a wide range of 
alternatives for capacity expansion models to meet 
resource adequacy targets, including the traditional 
expansion of electricity generation and transmission 
capacity and the use of novel grid-enhancing 
technologies, small and large-scale storage, 
distributed energy resources, behind-the-meter 
interventions, and demand-side interventions.
(C) Explicit consideration of electric transmission 
in capacity expansion modeling and its contribution to 
resource adequacy and reliability of electricity 
systems.
(D) The use of an interregional planning approach 
in capacity expansion modeling to evaluate the resource 
adequacy benefits of capacity resource sharing across 
regions, including through collaboration between 
States, balancing area authorities, electric utilities, 
Transmission Organizations, and other relevant 
stakeholders.
(E) The integration of technical, financial, and 
regulatory information from other fuel supply systems, 
such as the natural gas network.
(F) The use of scenario analysis developed using 
capacity expansion modeling and transmission expansion 
modeling to represent a full range of future 
characteristics of the electricity system, including 
the availability of different electricity generating 
and storage resources, and transmission infrastructure.
(G) The use of probabilistic models in resource 
adequacy analysis to account for variability and 
uncertainty in the supply and demand of electricity, 
including the impact of extreme weather event 
scenarios, forecasting errors, fuel prices, and other 
uncertainties on such supply and demand.
(H) The use of historical weather data and forward-
looking meteorological projections, including with 
respect to extreme weather event scenarios, to account 
for the variability in electricity demand, electricity 
generation from individual or groups of electricity 
generators, and electricity system outages to assess 
resource adequacy.
(I) The use of multiple resource adequacy metrics 
for assessing resource adequacy to account for the 
magnitudes, frequencies, and durations of potential 
events that stress the electricity system.
(J) The use of scorecards that summarize the costs 
and a wide range of benefits of scenarios developed 
through the integrated resource planning process, 
including--
(i) costs of infrastructure investments;
(ii) environmental sustainability;
(iii) resource adequacy and reliability;
(iv) economic impacts; and
(v) other costs and benefits that are 
relevant to the decision-making objectives of 
States, electric utilities, balancing area 
authorities, Transmission Organizations, and 
other relevant stakeholders.
(K) The use of rigorous mechanisms for capacity 
accreditation to measure the capacity value of possible 
investments that support resource adequacy, including--
(i) capacity values for both conventional 
and emerging generation resources, including 
distributed energy resources and behind-the-
meter interventions;
(ii) capacity values for demand-side 
interventions; and
(iii) capacity values for transmission 
infrastructure upgrades and grid-enhancing 
technologies that enable the deliverability of 
generating capacity from remote or otherwise 
constrained generation resources.
(L) The use of probabilistic metrics to measure 
capacity values that account for probability 
distributions of the magnitudes, frequencies, and 
durations of potential events that affect the 
availability of--
(i) conventional and emerging generation 
resources, behind-the-meter interventions, and 
demand-side interventions; and
(ii) transmission infrastructure upgrades 
and grid-enhancing technologies that enable the 
deliverability of electricity from remote or 
otherwise constrained generation resources.
(2) State treatment of integrated resource plans.--In 
developing the guidelines and best practices under subsection 
(a), the Secretary shall consider providing guidance on how 
State public utility commissions and State energy offices may 
review and respond to integrated resource plans, including 
guidance on--
(A) opportunities for public engagement and 
comment, including well-designed stakeholder 
involvement processes with several opportunities for 
feedback and transparent access to data inputs, models, 
licenses, and other requirements for relevant 
stakeholders to replicate modeling outputs from 
integrated resource planning; and
(B) the connection between integrated resource 
planning outcomes and regulatory actions, such as 
procurement decisions, certificates of public 
convenience and necessity, and general rate cases.
(c) Publication of Guidelines and Best Practices.--Not later than 2 
years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
publish on a publicly accessible website of the Department of Energy 
the guidelines and best practices developed under subsection (a).
(d) Periodic Evaluations and Revisions.--The Secretary shall, not 
less frequently than once every 5 years--
(1) evaluate the guidelines and best practices published 
under this section; and
(2) revise such guidelines and best practices and publish 
such revised guidelines and best practices in accordance with 
this section.

SEC. 3. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

The Secretary shall provide to State public utility commissions, 
State energy offices, owners or operators of electric utilities, 
balancing area authorities, Transmission Organizations, and other 
relevant stakeholders training resources and technical assistance 
(including workshops, training sessions, and education materials) to 
increase understanding of the guidelines and best practices published 
under section 2.

SEC. 4. INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLANNING MODERNIZATION GRANTS PROGRAM.

(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a program, to be 
known as the ``Integrated Resource Planning Modernization Grants 
Program'', under which the Secretary shall, subject to the availability 
of appropriations, provide grants to States in accordance with this 
section.
(b) State Implementation Plans.--
(1) In general.--A State may apply for a grant under the 
Integrated Resource Planning Modernization Grants Program by 
submitting to the Secretary a plan describing how the State 
intends to use the grant in accordance with subsection (c).
(2) Progress report.--Not later than 2 years after a State 
receives a grant under the Integrated Resource Planning 
Modernization Grants Program, the State shall submit to the 
Secretary a report describing how the grant has been used and 
the progress the State has made--
(A) in the case of a vertically integrated State, 
developing or updating the integrated resource planning 
requirements, statutes, or regulations of the State; 
and
(B) in the case of a restructured State, 
coordinating with electric utilities, balancing area 
authorities, and Transmission Organizations to develop 
and implement a strategy to employ integrated resource 
planning in the State.
(c) Use of Grants.--
(1) Vertically integrated states.--A vertically integrated 
State that receives a grant under the Integrated Resource 
Planning Modernization Grants Program--
(A) shall use the grant to--
(i) develop or update integrated resource 
planning requirements, statutes, or regulations 
of the State to be partly or fully consistent 
with guidelines and best practices published 
under section 2;
(ii) support regulated electric utilities 
with complying with such requirements, 
statutes, or regulations; and
(iii) support non-regulated electric 
utilities (including municipal utilities and 
electric cooperatives) that choose to 
participate in integrated resource planning 
that complies with such requirements, statutes, 
or regulations; and
(B) may use the grant to--
(i) pay expenses associated with 
consultants (including private consultants and 
federally funded research and development 
centers), staffing, software and modeling, and 
stakeholder engagement activities necessary for 
the State public utility commission and State 
energy offices to develop or update integrated 
resource planning requirements, statutes, or 
regulations of the State as described in 
subparagraph (A)(i); and
(ii) provide amounts to electric utilities, 
balancing area authorities, and Transmission 
Organizations, which may be used to recover the 
costs of complying with such requirements, 
statutes, or regulations.
(2) Restructured states.--A restructured State that 
receives a grant under the Integrated Resource Planning 
Modernization Grants Program--
(A) shall use the grant to coordinate with electric 
utilities, balancing area authorities, and Transmission 
Organizations to develop and implement a strategy to 
employ integrated resource planning in the State that 
is partly or fully consistent with the guidelines and 
best practices published under section 2; and
(B) may use such grant to--
(i) pay expenses associated with 
consultants (including private consultants and 
federally funded research and development 
centers), staffing, software and modeling, and 
stakeholder engagement activities necessary for 
the State to develop and implement a strategy 
to employ integrated resource planning in the 
State as described in subparagraph (A); and
(ii) provide amounts to electric utilities, 
balancing area authorities, and Transmission 
Organizations, which may be used to recover the 
costs of implementing the strategy described in 
subparagraph (A).
(d) First Applications.--A State may apply for a grant provided 
under the Integrated Resource Planning Modernization Grants Program 
beginning not later than 6 months after the initial publication of the 
guidelines and best practices under section 2.
(e) Deadline To Use Grant.--A State that receives a grant provided 
under the Integrated Resource Planning Modernization Grants Program 
shall use such grant by not later than the date that is 5 years after 
the date on which the State received the grant.
(f) Grant Formula.--The Secretary shall determine the amount of a 
grant provided under the Integrated Resource Planning Modernization 
Grants Program based on--
(1) whether the State already requires electric utilities 
to employ integrated resource planning;
(2) the comprehensiveness of the State's implementation 
plan submitted under subsection (b), including the extent to 
which the implementation plan incorporates components of the 
guidelines and best practices published under section 2;
(3) the number of electricity consumers in the State;
(4) the capacity and mix of electric generating and 
transmitting infrastructure in the State;
(5) the number and diversity of electric utilities, 
balancing area authorities, and Transmission Organizations 
engaged in the electricity system planning and operation 
activities of the State; and
(6) any other factor the Secretary determines appropriate 
to support integrated resource planning.

SEC. 5. COORDINATION WITH OTHER FEDERAL PROGRAMS.

The Secretary may coordinate with other Federal programs related to 
energy resilience and modernization of the electricity system to--
(1) maximize the impact of grants provided under the 
Integrated Resource Planning Modernization Grants Program by 
aligning efforts and avoiding duplication; and
(2) ensure that the guidelines and best practices published 
under this Act complement and support other Federal initiatives 
aimed at enhancing the resilience and reliability of 
electricity systems.

SEC. 6. PERIODIC REPORTS.

Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and 
not less frequently than once every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary 
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that 
includes the following:
(1) A description of how vertically integrated States and 
restructured States used grants provided under the Integrated 
Resource Planning Modernization Grants Program.
(2) A breakdown of the expenses paid using such grants.
(3) An assessment of the effectiveness of the use of the 
grants in supporting the development of, and compliance with, 
integrated resource planning that is partly or fully consistent 
with the guidelines and best practices published under this 
Act, including examples of best practices and innovative 
approaches that were adopted.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
House of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 
of the Senate.
(2) Balancing area authority.--The term ``balancing area 
authority'' means the responsible entity that--
(A) integrates resource plans in advance of real-
time operations;
(B) maintains the balance between electricity 
demand, electricity supply, and scheduled interchange 
within the geographic area of the responsible entity; 
and
(C) supports interconnection frequency in real-
time.
(3) Behind-the-meter intervention.--The term ``behind-the-
meter intervention''--
(A) means an action or technology that reduces or 
shifts electricity demand or provides local electricity 
generation or storage capacity at the site of a 
customer; and
(B) includes--
(i) an energy efficiency upgrade, a 
residential solar panel, an energy storage 
system, and the actions taken under a demand 
response program; and
(ii) interventions that help to reduce 
strain on the electricity system and improve 
the reliability of the electricity system 
during peak demand periods or emergencies.
(4) Capacity accreditation.--The term ``capacity 
accreditation'' means the process of determining a capacity 
value.
(5) Capacity expansion modeling.--The term ``capacity 
expansion modeling'' means mathematical modeling to identify 
the least cost investments in generation, storage, behind-the-
meter interventions, distributed resource, and transmission 
infrastructure required to meet future electricity demand, 
subject to fuel prices, technology cost and performance, policy 
and regulation, and other constraints and conditions.
(6) Capacity value.--The term ``capacity value''--
(A) means a measure of the contribution to resource 
adequacy by--
(i) a conventional or emerging generating 
resource, behind-the-meter intervention, or 
demand-side intervention; or
(ii) a transmission infrastructure upgrade 
or grid-enhancing technology that enables the 
deliverability of electricity from remote or 
otherwise constrained generation resources; and
(B) includes probabilistic metrics such as 
effective load-carrying capacity, equivalent firm 
capacity, and equivalent conventional power.
(7) Distributed energy resource.--The term ``distributed 
energy resource'' means a small-scale electricity generation or 
storage system that is located close to the point of use, such 
as a rooftop solar panel, home energy storage system, or 
community wind power system.
(8) Electric cooperative.--The term ``electric 
cooperative'' means a not-for-profit entity that--
(A) provides electricity to members of the entity; 
and
(B) is owned and operated by such members.
(9) Grid-enhancing technology.--The term ``grid-enhancing 
technology''--
(A) means a technology designed to improve the 
reliability, efficiency, or flexibility of the 
electricity system; and
(B) includes a smart grid technology, an energy 
storage system, and an advanced grid management system.
(10) Integrated resource planning.--The term ``integrated 
resource planning'' has the meaning given such term in section 
3 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 
U.S.C. 2602).
(11) Municipal utility.--The term ``municipal utility'' 
means a municipal corporation that operates facilities used to 
generate, purchase, transmit, or distribute electricity to 
consumers.
(12) Resource adequacy.--The term ``resource adequacy'' 
means the ability of the electricity system to maintain 
sufficient, available generating, storage, and transmitting 
capacity and supporting infrastructure to meet forecasted 
electricity demand and system reliability requirements under a 
range of expected and adverse weather-sensitive conditions, 
including peak load events, generation availability, and 
unplanned outages.
(13) Resource adequacy metric.--The term ``resource 
adequacy metric''--
(A) means a quantitative measure of the resource 
adequacy of the electricity system; and
(B) includes metrics derived from probabilistic 
analysis, such as loss-of-load expectation, loss-of-
load hours, loss-of-load days, loss-of-load years, 
loss-of-load probability, loss-of-load events, expected 
unserved energy, and normalized expected unserved 
energy.
(14) Restructured state.--The term ``restructured State'' 
means a State in which the electricity system has been 
functionally separated such that independent power producers 
provide generation services, while Transmission Organizations 
operate electricity markets and the bulk transmission of 
electricity, and investor-owned utilities typically retain 
responsibility for distribution services and deliver 
electricity to retail customers.
(15) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
of Energy, acting through the head of the Office of Electricity 
of the Department of Energy.
(16) Transmission organization.--The term ``Transmission 
Organization'' has the meaning given such term in section 3 of 
the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796).
(17) Vertically integrated state.--The term ``vertically 
integrated State'' means a State in which the electricity 
system remains functionally aggregated such that a regulated 
electric utility owns and operates the assets used for 
generating, transmitting, and distributing electricity within a 
particular service area within the State.
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