Your utility data just became a public good—and utilities must share it
S. 3926 — E-Access Act · Filed by Peter Welch (D-VT) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Feb 26, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires the Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to develop guidelines ensuring that electric and gas utilities share consumer energy usage data with consumers and authorized third parties in standardized, machine-readable formats. It establishes rules for fair access to meter data, requires utilities to support open software platforms on smart meters, and authorizes $10 million to help states implement these data-sharing programs. The bill also directs a study on whether utilities should transmit individual meter data to wholesale electricity markets for price settlement.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is mandating utility data-sharing and open meter platforms to empower consumers and third-party service providers. While framed as competition and innovation, the operative effect is a regulatory requirement that utilities make consumer data accessible and interoperable, shifting power from utilities to consumers and competitive service providers.
What the text implies
- Utilities may face significant IT and compliance costs to reprogram meters and build data-sharing infrastructure, which could be recovered through rate increases affecting all ratepayers, not just those using third-party tools.
- The bill's requirement that meter software platforms disclose uptime, performance, and application evaluation timelines may expose utilities' proprietary systems and competitive strategies to public scrutiny.
- By enabling aggregation and transmission of individual meter data to wholesale markets, the bill could shift settlement risk and operational complexity from utilities to grid operators and third-party aggregators, with unclear cost allocation.
- The 'fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory' standard for meter platform terms is undefined and may generate regulatory disputes and litigation over what constitutes unfair self-preferencing or surveillance.
- Consumers' ability to authorize third parties to access detailed energy usage data creates privacy and cybersecurity risks if third-party designees are breached or misuse data, despite DataGuard privacy program references.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Ordinary consumers gain direct access to their own energy data, enabling them to shop for better rates, use third-party energy management tools, and participate in demand-response programs that can lower their bills. The bill imposes transparency and nondiscrimination requirements on utilities and meter platforms, reducing lock-in and vendor control. However, implementation depends on appropriations and regulatory follow-through, and utilities may face compliance costs that could be passed to ra
Who stands to gain
- Third-party energy management software and service providers
- Demand-response aggregators and energy efficiency companies
- Smart meter and grid-edge device manufacturers
- Data analytics and energy consulting firms
Named in the bill
Department of Energy (DOE), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Green Button Alliance, State energy offices, Electric utilities, Gas utilities, Independent System Operators (ISOs), Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), National Association of State Energy Officials
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Feb 26, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Feb 26, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,610,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 27 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 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Peter Welch, the sponsor, reported $44,000 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Honeywell International — $1,610,000 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 (19,346 characters) on Aug 18, 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 Jun 2026 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.
“Your utility data just became a public good—and utilities must share it” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s3926 Report an error
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