H.R. 3157, State Energy Accountability Act

H.R. 3157 would amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to require state regulatory authorities, within one year of enactment, to decide whether to evaluate policies related to intermittent energy—such as solar- and wind-generated power. The evaluation would need to address criteria specified in the bill, and the regulatory agency would need to make those findings publicly available. The evaluation would apply to states that require some portion of electricity used in the state to come from facilities that cannot generate or procure power without interruption for at least 30 consecutive days, including during extreme weather conditions.

Enacting the bill would not change federal responsibilities; thus, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3157 would not affect the federal budget.

H.R. 3157 would impose an intergovernmental mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by requiring state utility commissions to decide whether to evaluate the extent to which policies concerning intermittent energy affect the reliability of the electrical power system in their state. The requirement would expand an existing intergovernmental mandate by increasing those entities’ responsibilities under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act. CBO estimates that the mandate would result in a small incremental increase in administrative costs that would not exceed the threshold established in UMRA for intergovernmental mandates ($103 million in 2025, adjusted annually for inflation).

The bill would not impose private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA.

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Emilia Oliva (for federal costs) and Brandon Lever (for mandates). The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.