I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7348 

To interconnect the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to its neighbors, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2024 

Mr. CASAR (for himself, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. 

CLEAVER, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. FROST, Mr. 

ROBERT GARCIA of California, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. GREEN of 

Texas, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. NORTON, Mr. HUFFMAN, 

Ms. OMAR, Mrs. RAMIREZ, and Ms. TLAIB) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To interconnect the Electric Reliability Council of Texas 

to its neighbors, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Connect the Grid Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. JURISDICTION WITH RESPECT TO ERCOT. 

6 (a) APPLICATION OF PART.—Section 201(b)(2) of 

7 the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824(b)(2)) is amended 

8 by— 


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1 (1) striking ‘‘210, 211, 211A, 212’’ the second 

2 place it appears; and 

3 (2) striking ‘‘an electric utility or other entity’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘any entity that is otherwise exempt 

5 under section 201(f)’’. 

6 (b) PUBLIC UTILITY DEFINITION.—Section 201(e) of 

7 the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824(e)) is amended by 

8 striking ‘‘210, 211, 211A, 212,’’. 

9 (c) REPEAL OF ERCOT EXEMPTIONS.— 

10 (1) Section 212 of the Federal Power Act (16 

11 U.S.C. 824k) is amended by striking subsection (k). 

12 (2) Section 216 of the Federal Power Act (16 

13 U.S.C. 824p) is amended by striking subsection (k). 

14 (3) Section 217 of the Federal Power Act (16 

15 U.S.C. 824q) is amended by striking subsection (h). 

16 (4) Section 220 of the Federal Power Act (16 

17 U.S.C. 824t) is amended by striking subsection (f). 

18 (d) TECHNICAL CONFERENCE.—Not later than 6 

19 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Com20 mission shall convene a technical conference to assist enti21 ties affected by the amendments made by this section with 

22 compliance with any requirements pursuant to such 

23 amendments, including by publishing the steps necessary 

24 for such compliance. 


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1 SEC. 3. ELECTRIC RELIABILITY. 

2 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 215 of the Federal 

3 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824o) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘enlarge 

5 such facilities or to construct new transmission ca6 pacity or generation capacity’’ and inserting ‘‘con7 struct new generation capacity’’; and 

8 (2) in subsection (i)(2), by striking ‘‘or trans9 mission’’. 

10 (b) RELIABILITY STANDARD FOR TOTAL TRANSFER

11 CAPABILITY.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 

14 shall order the Electric Reliability Organization to 

15 submit to the Commission a proposed reliability 

16 standard that requires minimum total transfer capa17 bility of— 

18 (A) between 4.3 and 12.6 gigawatts be19 tween the area under functional control of 

20 ERCOT and the area under functional control 

21 of SPP; 

22 (B) between 2.5 and 16.2 gigawatts be23 tween the area under functional control of 

24 ERCOT and the area under functional control 

25 of MISO; and 


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1 (C) between 2.6 and 7.9 gigawatts between 

2 the area under functional control of ERCOT 

3 and the Western Interconnection. 

4 (2) CONTENTS.—The Commission may only ap5 prove a proposed reliability standard described in 

6 paragraph (1) if such reliability standard— 

7 (A) requires minimum total transfer capa8 bility as described in paragraph (1); and 

9 (B) requires each of ERCOT and SPP, 

10 ERCOT and MISO, and ERCOT and 1 or 

11 more neighboring balancing authorities in the 

12 Western Interconnection (as determined by the 

13 Electric Reliability Organization), to jointly 

14 submit, not later than 1 year after the date of 

15 enactment of this Act, a plan that— 

16 (i) designates 1 or more entities to 

17 site and construct new transmission facili18 ties, or modify existing transmission facili19 ties, to achieve the applicable minimum 

20 total transfer capability; and 

21 (ii) includes a timeline for such siting 

22 and construction or modification, which 

23 timeline shall include that such siting and 

24 construction or modification be completed 

25 by January 1, 2035. 


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1 (3) PRIORITY.—Any plan for the siting and 

2 construction or modification of transmission facili3 ties described in paragraph (2)(B) shall prioritize— 

4 (A) use of grid-enhancing technologies; 

5 (B) use of existing rights-of-ways, such as 

6 highways and railroads, to site and construct 

7 new transmission facilities; 

8 (C) siting and construction of new trans9 mission facilities on degraded land, including 

10 sites on the National Priorities List, brownfield 

11 sites, landfills, abandoned mine land, and con12 taminated or abandoned agricultural lands; 

13 (D) siting and construction of new trans14 mission facilities that expands access to renew15 able energy sources, including wind, solar, and 

16 geothermal sources; 

17 (E) providing meaningful community in18 volvement opportunities, including conducting 

19 outreach to— 

20 (i) environmental justice communities, 

21 including conducting planning meetings, 

22 set at times and places to maximize the 

23 number of community members who can 

24 conveniently attend, with appropriate serv25 ices, including translation and interpreting 


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1 services and virtual attendance, in such en2 vironmental justice communities; 

3 (ii) Tribal and Indigenous Commu4 nities; 

5 (iii) Tribal Governments; and 

6 (iv) relevant labor organizations; and 

7 (F) the use of registered apprenticeship 

8 programs and prevailing wages, as determined 

9 by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with 

10 subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United 

11 States Code. 

12 (4) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—Any project to 

13 site, construct, or modify transmission facilities that 

14 is conducted to comply with the reliability standard 

15 described in paragraph (1) shall be subject to the re16 quirements of the National Environmental Policy 

17 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the En18 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

19 seq.). 

20 (c) CONSIDERATION FOR NATIONAL INTEREST

21 ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION CORRIDOR.—In carrying out 

22 section 216 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p), 

23 the Secretary of Energy shall consider designating as a 

24 national interest electric transmission corridor any area 


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1 in which transmission facilities will be sited and con2 structed or modified pursuant to this section. 

3 SEC. 4. INCREASED BORROWING AUTHORITY UNDER THE 

4 TRANSMISSION FACILITATION PROGRAM. 

5 Section 40106(d)(2) of the Infrastructure Investment 

6 and Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 18713(d)(2)) is amended by 

7 striking ‘‘$2,500,000,000’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘$13,500,000,000’’. 

9 SEC. 5. STUDY ON BENEFITS OF INTERCONNECTION WITH 

10 MEXICO. 

11 Not later than one year after the date of enactment 

12 of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall conduct a study 

13 and submit to Congress a report on the reliability, climate, 

14 and cost benefits of interconnection of facilities for the 

15 generation, transmission, and sale of electric energy with 

16 such facilities in Mexico and the siting and construction, 

17 or modification, of such facilities that will bring the most 

18 cumulative benefits. 

19 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) ABANDONED MINE LAND.—The term 

22 ‘‘abandoned mine land’’ means land, water, or a wa23 tershed that is contaminated or scarred by extrac24 tion, beneficiation, or processing of ores or minerals 


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1 (which may include phosphate, but does not include 

2 coal). 

3 (2) BROWNFIELD SITE.—The term ‘‘brownfield 

4 site’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

5 101(39) of the Comprehensive Environmental Re6 sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 

7 U.S.C. 9601(39)). 

8 (3) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

9 means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 

10 (4) ELECTRIC RELIABILITY ORGANIZATION.— 

11 The term ‘‘Electric Reliability Organization’’ has the 

12 meaning given such term in section 215(a)(2) of the 

13 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824o(a)(2)). 

14 (5) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY.— 

15 The term ‘‘environmental justice community’’ means 

16 a community with significant representation of com17 munities of color, low-income communities, or Tribal 

18 and Indigenous communities that experiences, or is 

19 at risk of experiencing higher or more adverse 

20 human health or environmental effects. 

21 (6) ERCOT.—The term ‘‘ERCOT’’ means the 

22 Electric Reliability Council of Texas. 

23 (7) GRID-ENHANCING TECHNOLOGY.—The term 

24 ‘‘grid-enhancing technology’’ means a solution that 


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1 increases the transfer capability of high-voltage 

2 transmission facilities. 

3 (8) MISO.—The term ‘‘MISO’’ means the 

4 Midcontinent Independent System Operator trans5 mission organization. 

6 (9) NATIONAL PRIORITIES LIST.—The term 

7 ‘‘National Priorities List’’ means the National Prior8 ities List developed by the President in accordance 

9 with section 105(a)(8)(B) of the Comprehensive En10 vironmental Response, Compensation, and Liability 

11 Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9605(a)(8)(B)). 

12 (10) REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PRO13 GRAM.—The term ‘‘registered apprenticeship pro14 gram’’ means an apprenticeship registered under the 

15 National Apprenticeship Act that meets the stand16 ards of subpart A of part 29, and part 30, of title 

17 29, Code of Federal Regulations. 

18 (11) RELIABILITY STANDARD.—The term ‘‘reli19 ability standard’’ has the meaning given such term 

20 in section 215(a)(3) of the Federal Power Act (16 

21 U.S.C. 824o(a)(3)). 

22 (12) SPP.—The term ‘‘SPP’’ means the South23 west Power Pool transmission organization. 

24 (13) TOTAL TRANSFER CAPABILITY.—The term 

25 ‘‘total transfer capability’’ has the meaning given 


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1 such term in section 37.6(b)(1)(vi) of title 18, Code 

2 of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of 

3 enactment of this Act). 

4 (14) TRANSMISSION FACILITY.—The term 

5 ‘‘transmission facility’’ means a facility that is used 

6 for the transmission of electric energy in interstate 

7 commerce, including transmission lines. 

8 (15) TRANSMISSION ORGANIZATION.—The term 

9 ‘‘transmission organization’’ has the meaning given 

10 such term in section 215(a)(6) of the Federal Power 

11 Act (16 U.S.C. 824o(a)(6)). 

12 (16) TRIBAL AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY.— 

13 The term ‘‘Tribal and Indigenous community’’ 

14 means a population of people who are members of— 

15 (A) a federally recognized Indian Tribe; 

16 (B) a State-recognized Indian Tribe; 

17 (C) an Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian 

18 community or organization; or 

19 (D) any other community of Indigenous 

20 people located in a State. 

21 (17) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 

22 Government’’ means the governing body of an In23 dian Tribe. 

24 (18) WESTERN INTERCONNECTION.—The term 

25 ‘‘Western Interconnection’’ means the synchronously 


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1 operated electric transmission grid located in the 

2 western part of North America, including parts of 

3 Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, 

4 Texas, Wyoming and Mexico and all of Arizona, 

5 California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, 

6 Washington and the Canadian Provinces of British 

7 Columbia and Alberta. 

Æ 


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