Congress moves to end hidden fossil fuel bailouts buried in power bills
S. 4337 — No Big Fossil Bailouts on Your Power Bill Act · Filed by Ed Markey (D-MA) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 16, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill restricts the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) emergency powers under the Federal Power Act by requiring public hearings, environmental review, rate-impact analysis, and consultation with state/local agencies before issuing emergency orders that keep coal or fossil-fuel plants running. It prevents FERC from forcing plants to stay open or delaying retirements unless an emergency cannot be met any other way, and mandates public disclosure of costs and alternatives considered.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to restrict FERC's ability to issue emergency orders that keep coal and fossil plants online without public process, rate review, and environmental scrutiny—effectively limiting a hidden subsidy mechanism that forces ratepayers to bear the cost of keeping uneconomical plants running.
What the text implies
- FERC emergency orders have historically been used to keep aging coal plants operating during grid stress; this bill forces cost transparency, which may reveal that ratepayers have been subsidizing uneconomical fossil generation without knowing it.
- State and local environmental agencies gain veto-like consultation rights over federal emergency orders, shifting power from federal to state regulators and potentially slowing emergency response in some cases.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
renewable energy companies; natural gas utilities (lower-cost alternative to coal); energy efficiency and demand-response providers