Bulk-Power System Reliability Impact Statement Act

Bulk-Power System Reliability Impact Statement Act

This bill amends the Federal Power Act to require reliability coordinators registered with the Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) to report to certain congressional committees and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regarding:

• the state of and prospects for the reliability and affordability of electricity within their respective geographic areas, and
• the most significant risks to the reliability of the bulk-power system that might arise or need to be monitored within such geographic areas, including risks from proposed or final federal regulations.

FERC must:

• solicit a reliability impact statement from the affected reliability coordinator within 15 days after a federal agency proposes a major rule that may significantly affect the reliable operation of the bulk-power system, and
• transmit the coordinator's reliability impact statement to the head of the federal agency for inclusion in the public record.

A reliability coordinator may also submit voluntarily a reliability impact statement for any proposed major federal rule that the coordinator determines would significantly affect the reliable operation of the bulk-power system within the coordinator's jurisdiction.

If a proposed rule subject to a reliability impact statement affects an area broader than the jurisdiction of a single reliability coordinator, the ERO must convene a committee of the affected reliability coordinators in order to produce a single statement that demonstrates for each affected area the reliability impact of the proposed rule.

When issuing a proposed major rule subject to a reliability impact statement, the head of the federal agency must:

• consider the reliability impact statement in issuing the proposed rule, and
• include in the final rule a detailed response to the reliability impact statement.