H.R. 6185 would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), in consultation with the Electric Reliability Organization (ERO), to review standards and regulations proposed by other federal agencies that could negatively affect the reliability of the bulk-power system in North America. Agencies could not finalize those actions until they respond to any concerns raised by FERC as part of that review. Using information from FERC, CBO expects that the agency would need additional staff and would need to acquire new data to fulfill the bill’s requirements. CBO estimates that implementing those requirements would cost FERC less than $10 million each year. However, because FERC is authorized to recover 100 percent of its costs through user fees, any change in agency costs (which are controlled through annual appropriation acts) would be offset by an equal change in fees that the commission charges. Accordingly, CBO estimates that implementing those provisions would result in no net change in discretionary spending for FERC. CBO further estimates that the costs for other agencies (primarily the Department of Energy) to coordinate with FERC on those reviews would total $1 million over the 2024 2029 period; that spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
