October 22, 2026
Ms. Stevens introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to provide for individual and household assistance in the event of a prolonged power outage, 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 Power Outage Family Assistance Act
.
Sec. 2. Prolonged power outage
(a) In general
Title IV of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
431. Prolonged power outage
(a) Designation
The President may, upon request of the Governor of a State or Chief Executive of an Indian tribal government, designate a prolonged power outage for purposes of providing assistance described in subsection (b) for the duration of such power outage.
(b) Assistance to individuals and households
The President may, in any area affected by a prolonged power outage designated under subsection (a), provide assistance to individuals and households in accordance with section 408, regardless of whether a major disaster is declared under section 401, for—
(1)
serious needs;
(2)
medical and dental costs;
(3)
displacement costs;
(4)
lodging expense reimbursements;
(5)
miscellaneous item costs; and
(6)
personal property costs.
(c) Applicability
This section shall not apply to any power outage that is—
(1)
planned, scheduled, or pre-announced, including for maintenance, load management, or system upgrades; or
(2)
primarily attributable to negligence, failure to maintain, or failure to comply with applicable reliability or safety standards by an electric utility or grid operator.
(d) Definitions
In this section:
(1) Prolonged power outage
The term ‘prolonged power outage’ means a loss of electrical power caused by a covered event that affects not fewer than 10 percent of consumers in a political subdivision of a State for not fewer than 72 hours.
(2) Covered event
The term
covered eventmeans—(A)
any natural catastrophe, including hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, high water, earthquakes, or volcanic eruptions;
(B)
a terrorism or cybersecurity event; or
(C)
regardless of cause, any fire, flood, or explosion.
(b) Recovery of assistance
Section 317 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5160) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (a)—
(A)
by inserting , or prolonged power outage designated under section 431,
before shall be liable
; and
(B)
by striking such disaster or emergency
and inserting such disaster, emergency, or power outage
; and
(2)
in subsection (b) by striking or emergency
and inserting , emergency, or prolonged power outage designated under section 431
.
(c) Rules and regulations
The President shall prescribe such rules and regulations as are necessary to carry out the amendments made by this Act.