H.R. 6633 · Passed House · Energy
High-Capacity Grid Act
Sponsor: Julie Fedorchak (R-ND)
What it does
- Directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to presume that best-available transmission conductors are prudent and that their costs are just and reasonable in all filings and proceedings.
- Defines best-available transmission conductor as one that provides the greatest energy-carrying capacity, highest electrical efficiency, and mitigates thermal sag at maximum rated transmission capacity.
- Applies the presumption to all projects constructing new transmission facilities or modifying, upgrading, or replacing existing transmission lines.
- Establishes a presumption that non-best-available transmission conductors are not prudent and their costs are not just and reasonable.
Official summary
High-Capacity Grid Act This bill requires public electric utilities to use the best-available transmission conductor for certain interstate transmission lines (i.e., power lines) in order to recover the costs of the conductor through consumers' electric bills. Specifically, in any filing seeking to recover the costs of a transmission conductor for the transmission line and in any proceeding to determine if the costs may be recovered through rates, the bill directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to presume that (1) the use of a best-available transmission conductor is a prudent practice and that the associated costs are just and reasonable, and (2) the use of a transmission conductor that is not a best-available transmission conductor is not prudent and that the associated costs are not just and reasonable. A best-available transmission conductor is a conductor that (1) provides the greatest feasible and commercially available energy-carrying capacity at a given voltage level, (2) provides the highest feasible and commercially available electrical efficiency at that voltage level, and (3) mitigates thermal sag (drooping of power lines) at the maximum rated…
Latest action
Sep 16, 2026: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Committee: Senate Energy and Natural Resources