Big power companies can charge customers for new power lines.
H.R. 9843 — Enhancing Electric Grid Resilience Act · Filed by Kathy Castor (D-FL) · Introduced Jul 22, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill lets power companies build large new power lines. The lines cross state lines or go offshore. Companies can charge customers based on how much they benefit. Charges must be roughly equal to the benefits. Power companies file cost plans with FERC, a federal agency.
Who it affects
Customers will pay for new power lines their utilities build. Some customers may pay less if they benefit a lot. Other customers may pay more even if they do not benefit much.
One thing to notice
The bill does not clearly define what counts as a benefit. This gives power companies a lot of freedom to decide who pays.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Jul 22, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 22, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- FERC — The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the government agency that oversees power companies.
- benefit — A good thing a customer gets from a new power line, like better reliability.
- offshore — Located in the ocean, away from land.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,570 characters) on Aug 9, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 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.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
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