Congress demands annual transparency on stalled hydropower licenses
H.R. 3657 — Hydropower Licensing Transparency Act · Filed by Kim Schrier (D-WA) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced May 29, 2025 · Signed
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What it does
This bill requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to submit an annual report to Congress detailing the status of pending hydropower license applications—both renewals of existing licenses and new license applications. The report must include application dates, docket numbers, filing status, anticipated issuance dates, upcoming proceedings, and actions required of all parties. Hydropower operators, prospective applicants, and Congress gain transparency into licensing timelines and bottlenecks.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a mandatory annual reporting requirement imposed on FERC. It does not change substantive licensing standards, timelines, or approval criteria—only the disclosure of status information to Congress. This is a transparency/accountability measure, not a deregulation or subsidy.
What the text implies
- Annual reporting may create political pressure on FERC to accelerate licensing decisions, potentially affecting the rigor of environmental and stakeholder review.
- Disaggregated reporting by license type (new vs. renewal vs. original) may reveal disparities in processing times that could trigger legislative scrutiny or intervention.
- Transparency into pending applications and timelines may advantage well-resourced applicants (utilities, large operators) who can monitor and respond to disclosed information faster than smaller or community-based applicants.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill creates transparency into a regulatory process that directly affects energy infrastructure, environmental review, and public participation in licensing decisions. Citizens and their representatives gain visibility into licensing timelines and potential bottlenecks, enabling informed oversight and advocacy. No restrictions on citizen rights or remedies are imposed.
Who stands to gain
- hydroelectric utilities and operators (visibility into licensing timelines aids planning)
- prospective hydropower license applicants (transparency into process status)
Named in the bill
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Congress, Federal Power Act, hydroelectric utilities, fish and wildlife agencies, States, Indian Tribes, municipalities
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 2 Republicans, 1 Democrats.
- May 29, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- May 29, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce and Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”
- Jun 5, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Jun 25, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 47 - 0”
- Jul 14, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H3221-3222)”
- Jul 14, 2025 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Latta moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”
- Sep 16, 2026 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent”
- Sep 17, 2026 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
- Sep 25, 2026 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Signed by President”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
16 lobbying clients named this bill on 22 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $13,028,610 in lobbying spend. A filing names 38 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 95% of bills with at least one filing.
Kim Schrier, the sponsor, reported $984,999 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle. $2,000 of that came from 2 PACs tied to these lobbying clients.
- Edison Electric Institute — $4,248,610 on 2 filings
- Pacific Gas and Electric Company — $3,530,000 on 1 filing
- Duke Energy Corporation — $2,280,000 on 1 filing
- Puget Sound Energy — $750,000 on 2 filings
- American Electric Power Company, Inc. and Affiliated Corporations — $380,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,852 characters) on Jun 8, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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