[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7926 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7926

To establish requirements for when the Secretary of Energy may provide 
 financial assistance to regulated investor owned electric utilities, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 12, 2026

 Ms. Stevens introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish requirements for when the Secretary of Energy may provide 
 financial assistance to regulated investor owned electric utilities, 
                        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 ``Stop Unfair Electricity Prices 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PRESERVING ENERGY AFFORDABILITY.

    (a) One Year Moratorium on Providing Financial Assistance to 
Certain Investor Owned Electric Utilities.--
            (1) Requirement.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law relating to the provision of financial assistance by the 
        Secretary, during the period of 1 year that begins on the date 
        of enactment of this section, the Secretary may not provide any 
        financial assistance to a regulated investor owned electric 
        utility that, after the date of enactment of this section, 
        charges residential electric consumers a rate for electricity 
        above the rate for electricity charged by the utility to 
        residential electric consumers on January 1, 2026.
            (2) Termination of financial assistance.--A regulated 
        investor owned electric utility to which the Secretary provides 
        financial assistance during the period of 1 year that begins on 
        the date of enactment of this section may not charge 
        residential electric consumers a rate for electricity above the 
        rate for electricity charged by the utility to residential 
        electric consumers on January 1, 2026 during the period of 1 
        year that begins on the date of the enactment of this section. 
        If the Secretary determines that a regulated investor owned 
        electric utility violates the prohibition in the preceding 
        sentence, the Secretary shall terminate the financial 
        assistance provided by the Secretary to the utility.
    (b) Requirement for Subsequent Period of 2 Years.--
            (1) Requirement.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law relating to the provision of financial assistance by the 
        Secretary, during the period of 2 years that begins after the 
        period of 1 year described in subsection (a), the Secretary may 
        not provide any financial assistance to a regulated investor 
        owned electric utility that, after the date of enactment of 
        this section, charges residential electric consumers a rate for 
        electricity above the rate for electricity charged by the 
        utility to residential electric consumers on January 1, 2026, 
        unless the regulated investor owned electric utility--
                    (A) during such period of 2 years, does not provide 
                to the 5 highest compensated employees of the utility 
                an amount of total compensation that exceeds the amount 
                of total compensation of the 5 highest compensated 
                employees of the utility on January 1, 2026;
                    (B) during such period of 2 years, at the time of 
                increasing such rate, reduces the total compensation of 
                the 5 highest compensated employees of the utility by 
                the amount that is twice the amount of the percentage 
                point increase from the rate that was in effect on 
                January 1, 2026, to the new rate; and
                    (C) submits to the Secretary a report that 
                identifies--
                            (i) the amount of total compensation of the 
                        5 highest compensated employees of the utility 
                        on January 1, 2026; and
                            (ii) the amount of total compensation of 
                        the 5 highest compensated employees of the 
                        utility as a result of the reduction in total 
                        compensation described in subparagraph (B).
            (2) Termination of financial assistance.--If the Secretary 
        determines that a regulated investor owned electric utility to 
        which the Secretary provided financial assistance compensated 
        the 5 highest compensated employees of the utility in violation 
        of subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1), the Secretary 
        shall terminate the financial assistance provided by the 
        Secretary to the utility.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Electric consumer; rate; state regulatory authority; 
        state regulated electric utility.--The terms ``electric 
        consumer'', ``rate'', ``State regulatory authority'', and 
        ``State regulated electric utility'' have the meanings given 
        such terms, respectively, in section 3 of the Public Utility 
        Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2602).
            (2) Regulated investor owned electric utility.--The term 
        ``regulated investor owned electric utility'' means a State 
        regulated electric utility that is an investor owned electric 
        utility.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy.
            (4) Total compensation.--The term ``total compensation'' 
        includes any salary, bonuses, stock awards, stock options, and 
        any other financial remuneration.
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