Bill gives power plant builders more time to start work.
S. 1020 — A bill to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to extend the time period during which licensees are required to commence construction of certain hydropower projects. · Filed by Steve Daines (R-MT) · 7 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 13, 2025 · Signed
Your members of Congress
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What it does
The bill lets FERC give power plant builders up to 6 extra years to start work. Builders with permits issued before March 13, 2020 can get this extension. The bill also brings back permits that expired after December 31, 2023. This gives those projects a second chance.
Who it affects
Power plant builders and energy firms with permits to build dams are affected. Firms that hold permits but have not started building yet gain the most.
One thing to notice
Old projects can restart without the full review that new projects need. FERC can grant extensions based on loose rules, which may be used in uneven ways.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
7 cosponsors: 6 Republicans, 1 Democrats.
- Mar 13, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Mar 13, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources”
- Jul 29, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources discharged by Unanimous Consent”
- Jul 29, 2025 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S4797-4798; text: CR S4797-4798)”
- Apr 21, 2026 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 394 - 14…”
- Apr 21, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mrs. Harshbarger moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill”
- Apr 30, 2026 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
- May 11, 2026 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Became Public Law No: 119-90”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
6 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 10 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.
Those reports show $970,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 13 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.
More groups named this bill than 82% of bills with any report.
Steve Daines, who sponsored the bill, received $916,144 from PACs for the 2026 election.
- Corporate Energy Buyers Association — $590,000 in 3 reports
- National Hydropower Association — $220,000 in 2 reports
- Old Harbor Native Corporation — $80,000 in 2 reports
- Northwest Public Power Association (nwppa) — $40,000 in 1 report
- Agilitas Energy Inc. — $20,000 in 1 report
Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.
Words to know
- lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
- PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
- sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Mar 15, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,342 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 2026-09-18.
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