Congress mandates coal and gas plants over cheaper renewables
H.R. 3628 — State Planning for Reliability and Affordability Act · Filed by Gabe Evans (R-CO) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced May 29, 2025 · Passed chamber
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill amends federal utility regulation to require states with integrated resource planning to ensure reliable electricity generation over a 10-year horizon by maintaining or procuring from 'reliable generation facilities'—defined as plants that can run continuously for 30+ days with on-site fuel or contracted supply, operate in emergencies, and provide grid support services. States must begin considering this standard within 1 year and complete their determination within 2 years; a GAO report will assess whether the requirement improves grid reliability and affordability.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a new federal standard requiring states to ensure reliable generation capacity, defined in a way that favors dispatchable thermal plants. While framed as reliability and affordability, the definition excludes variable renewables and effectively mandates procurement of a specific generation type.
What the text implies
- The 30-day fuel-reserve requirement effectively excludes wind, solar, and battery storage (which lack on-site fuel), creating a de facto mandate for coal, natural gas, or nuclear generation regardless of cost or state renewable-energy goals.
- States must 'commence consideration' within 1 year and 'complete determination' within 2 years, but the bill does not specify what 'determination' means—states could theoretically reject the standard, creating regulatory uncertainty and potential litigation.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
coal-fired power plants; natural gas utilities and generators; nuclear power operators