October 5, 2026
Mr. Gallagher introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to require consideration of discounting rates for providing electric service to electric consumers in counties in which certain generation facilities are located, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Affordable Power for Host Communities Act
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Sec. 2. Discounted rates for host counties
(a) Federal standard
Section 111(d) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2621(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
(22) Discounted rates for host counties
(A) Discounted rates
Rates charged by any electric utility for providing electric service to a class of electric consumers shall be discounted by 20 percent for electric consumers in such class who are provided electric service in a host county compared to rates charged by such electric utility for providing electric service to electric consumers in such class who are provided electric service outside of a host county.
(B) Definitions
In this paragraph:
(i) Host county
The term host county means a county in which a covered generation facility is located.
(ii) Covered generation facility
The term covered generation facility—
(I)
means a facility that—
(aa)
generates electric energy that is delivered to local distribution facilities and sold;
(bb)
has a nameplate capacity of at least 5 megawatts; and
(cc)
imposes operational, environmental, or infrastructure burdens, including land use restrictions, water management constraints, wildfire risk associated with transmission infrastructure, environmental compliance obligations, on the county in which such facility is located; and
(II)
includes hydroelectric, geothermal, biomass, solar, and wind generation facilities and associated Federal or State-owned infrastructure.
(b) Obligations To consider and determine
(1) Time limitations
Section 112(b) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2622(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
(9)
(A)
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this paragraph, each State regulatory authority (with respect to each electric utility for which the State has ratemaking authority) and each nonregulated electric utility shall commence consideration under section 111, or set a hearing date for consideration, with respect to the standard established by paragraph (22) of section 111(d).
(B)
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this paragraph, each State regulatory authority (with respect to each electric utility for which the State has ratemaking authority), and each nonregulated electric utility shall complete the consideration and make the determination under section 111 with respect to the standard established by paragraph (22) of section 111(d).
(2) Failure to comply
Section 112(c) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2622(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following: In the case of the standard established by paragraph (22) of section 111(d), the reference contained in this subsection to the date of enactment of this Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the date of enactment of that paragraph (22).
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(3) Prior State actions
Section 112 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2622) is amended by adding at the end the following:
(i) Prior State actions
Subsections (b) and (c) shall not apply to the standard established by paragraph (22) of section 111(d) in the case of any electric utility in a State if, before the date of enactment of this subsection—
(1)
the State has implemented for the electric utility the standard (or a comparable standard);
(2)
the State regulatory authority for the State or the relevant nonregulated electric utility has conducted a proceeding to consider implementation of the standard (or a comparable standard) for the electric utility; or
(3)
the State legislature has voted on the implementation of the standard (or a comparable standard) for the electric utility during the 3-year period ending on that date of enactment.
(c) Prior and pending proceedings
Section 124 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2634) is amended by adding at the end the following: In the case of the standard established by paragraph (22) of section 111(d), the reference contained in this section to the date of enactment of this Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the date of enactment of that paragraph (22).
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