H.R. 7926

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7926 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7926

To establish requirements for when the Secretary of Energy may provide 
financial assistance to regulated investor owned electric utilities, 
and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 12, 2026

Ms. Stevens introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To establish requirements for when the Secretary of Energy may provide 
financial assistance to regulated investor owned electric utilities, 
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 ``Stop Unfair Electricity Prices 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PRESERVING ENERGY AFFORDABILITY.

(a) One Year Moratorium on Providing Financial Assistance to 
Certain Investor Owned Electric Utilities.--
(1) Requirement.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law relating to the provision of financial assistance by the 
Secretary, during the period of 1 year that begins on the date 
of enactment of this section, the Secretary may not provide any 
financial assistance to a regulated investor owned electric 
utility that, after the date of enactment of this section, 
charges residential electric consumers a rate for electricity 
above the rate for electricity charged by the utility to 
residential electric consumers on January 1, 2026.
(2) Termination of financial assistance.--A regulated 
investor owned electric utility to which the Secretary provides 
financial assistance during the period of 1 year that begins on 
the date of enactment of this section may not charge 
residential electric consumers a rate for electricity above the 
rate for electricity charged by the utility to residential 
electric consumers on January 1, 2026 during the period of 1 
year that begins on the date of the enactment of this section. 
If the Secretary determines that a regulated investor owned 
electric utility violates the prohibition in the preceding 
sentence, the Secretary shall terminate the financial 
assistance provided by the Secretary to the utility.
(b) Requirement for Subsequent Period of 2 Years.--
(1) Requirement.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law relating to the provision of financial assistance by the 
Secretary, during the period of 2 years that begins after the 
period of 1 year described in subsection (a), the Secretary may 
not provide any financial assistance to a regulated investor 
owned electric utility that, after the date of enactment of 
this section, charges residential electric consumers a rate for 
electricity above the rate for electricity charged by the 
utility to residential electric consumers on January 1, 2026, 
unless the regulated investor owned electric utility--
(A) during such period of 2 years, does not provide 
to the 5 highest compensated employees of the utility 
an amount of total compensation that exceeds the amount 
of total compensation of the 5 highest compensated 
employees of the utility on January 1, 2026;
(B) during such period of 2 years, at the time of 
increasing such rate, reduces the total compensation of 
the 5 highest compensated employees of the utility by 
the amount that is twice the amount of the percentage 
point increase from the rate that was in effect on 
January 1, 2026, to the new rate; and
(C) submits to the Secretary a report that 
identifies--
(i) the amount of total compensation of the 
5 highest compensated employees of the utility 
on January 1, 2026; and
(ii) the amount of total compensation of 
the 5 highest compensated employees of the 
utility as a result of the reduction in total 
compensation described in subparagraph (B).
(2) Termination of financial assistance.--If the Secretary 
determines that a regulated investor owned electric utility to 
which the Secretary provided financial assistance compensated 
the 5 highest compensated employees of the utility in violation 
of subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1), the Secretary 
shall terminate the financial assistance provided by the 
Secretary to the utility.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Electric consumer; rate; state regulatory authority; 
state regulated electric utility.--The terms ``electric 
consumer'', ``rate'', ``State regulatory authority'', and 
``State regulated electric utility'' have the meanings given 
such terms, respectively, in section 3 of the Public Utility 
Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2602).
(2) Regulated investor owned electric utility.--The term 
``regulated investor owned electric utility'' means a State 
regulated electric utility that is an investor owned electric 
utility.
(3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
of Energy.
(4) Total compensation.--The term ``total compensation'' 
includes any salary, bonuses, stock awards, stock options, and 
any other financial remuneration.
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