H.R. 8947

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8947 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8947

To require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to establish and 
maintain the National Utility Rate Change Tracker, and for other 
purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 20, 2026

Mr. Vindman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to establish and 
maintain the National Utility Rate Change Tracker, 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 ``Utility Hikes Transparency Act''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL UTILITY RATE CHANGE TRACKER.

(a) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall establish and maintain 
online a publicly accessible, searchable database, to be known as the 
National Utility Rate Change Tracker, containing information on 
approved and effective covered utility rate changes.
(b) Data Points.--The National Utility Rate Change Tracker 
established under subsection (a) shall contain, with respect to each 
approved or effective rate change for a covered utility, the following 
information:
(1) The name of the covered utility.
(2) The services provided by the covered utility.
(3) The State in which the rate change is applicable.
(4) The impact of the rate change--
(A) in dollar and percentage change, to the average 
residential monthly bill; and
(B) on total revenue of the covered utility.
(5) The total number of customers impacted by the rate 
change.
(6) The date the rate change was approved.
(7) A link to the relevant docket for the rate change.
(8) The primary reason or reasons provided for the rate 
change.
(9) The effective date of the rate change.
(c) Quarterly Updates.--The Commission shall update information on 
the National Utility Rate Change Tracker on each date that is the last 
day of a calendar year quarter.
(d) Data Sources.--In updating information on the National Utility 
Rate Change Tracker, the Commission shall, to the extent practicable--
(1) use publicly available information; and
(2) enter into data-sharing agreements with State 
regulatory authorities.
(e) Searchability.--The National Utility Rate Change Tracker shall 
be searchable by ZIP Code, address, State, and city.
(f) Methodology Document.--The Commission shall publish and 
maintain with National Utility Rate Change Tracker a plain-language 
methodology explaining how information contained in the National 
Utility Rate Change Tracker is collected, standardized, and labeled, 
including how gaps or conflicts in information are handled.
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission.
(2) Covered utility.--The term ``covered utility'' means a 
gas utility (as defined in section 302 of the Public Utility 
Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (15 U.S.C. 3202)) or electric 
utility that sells electric energy to electric consumers (as 
defined in section 3 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies 
Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2602)).
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