I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8968 

To amend the Federal Power Act to require annual reports on generation 

and load capacity by Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators, to establish reliability markets, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 9, 2024 

Mrs. LESKO (for herself and Mr. LATTA) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Power Act to require annual reports 

on generation and load capacity by Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators, to establish reliability markets, 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 ‘‘Keeping the Lights 

5 On Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIABILITY MARKETS FOR 

2 THE BULK-POWER SYSTEM. 

3 The Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.) is 

4 amended by inserting after section 215A the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 215B. RELIABILITY MARKETS. 

6 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en7 sure the reliability of the bulk-power system. 

8 ‘‘(b) REPORTS ON GENERATION AND LOAD.—The 

9 Commission shall require, by rule or order, each RTO and 

10 ISO to submit to the Commission, not less frequently than 

11 once a year, a report that identifies, with respect to the 

12 public utilities that are part of the RTO or ISO— 

13 ‘‘(1) the ten-year historical and ten-year pro14 jected gross peak load and net peak load for every 

15 fifteen minutes of each day of the year; 

16 ‘‘(2) the impact of extreme weather on electric 

17 demand and generation resource availability; 

18 ‘‘(3) reserve margins of generation resource ca19 pacity based on the generation resource types needed 

20 to meet demand for every fifteen minutes of each 

21 day; 

22 ‘‘(4) each generation resource (and the net ca23 pacity factor of each generation resource), including 

24 each generation resource that is a dispatchable on 

25 demand continuous resource, a dispatchable on de26 mand short-term resource, an intermittent generaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Aug 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8968.IH H8968

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1 tion resource, or an inverter based generation re2 source; 

3 ‘‘(5) the energy source, such as coal, nuclear, 

4 natural gas, hydro, wind, or solar, of each genera5 tion resource identified under paragraph (4); 

6 ‘‘(6) whether a generation resource identified 

7 under paragraph (4) relies on— 

8 ‘‘(A) fuel deliveries, including the method 

9 by which such fuel is delivered (such as pipe10 line, rail, or barge); and 

11 ‘‘(B) on-site fuel supplies (including how 

12 long the generation resource can operate on 

13 such fuel supplies); 

14 ‘‘(7) whether each generation resource identi15 fied under paragraph (4) that is operated using nat16 ural gas is supplied by firm transportation on nat17 ural gas pipelines; 

18 ‘‘(8) whether the energy source of a generation 

19 resources identified under paragraph (4) is depend20 ant on the time of day and weather; 

21 ‘‘(9) projected shortfalls in generation needed to 

22 meet system needs for every fifteen minutes of the 

23 day each year and during extreme weather; and 


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1 ‘‘(10) other factors identified by the Commis2 sion as important for the reliability of the bulk3 power system. 

4 ‘‘(c) RELIABILITY MARKETS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) NEW SCHEDULES.—Each RTO and ISO 

6 shall file under section 205 a new schedule which 

7 shall ensure that dispatchable on demand continuous 

8 resources are available when intermittent generation 

9 resources are not available to meet net peak load for 

10 every 15 minutes of each day of the year. A schedule 

11 filed under section 205 pursuant to this paragraph 

12 that differentiates between the operating characteris13 tics of generation resources for purposes of sup14 porting the reliability of the bulk-power system shall 

15 not be considered unjust, unreasonable, or unduly 

16 preferential under section 205. 

17 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In approving a sched19 ule filed pursuant to paragraph (1), the Com20 mission shall consider one of the following: 

21 ‘‘(i) Establishing at least one reli22 ability market where only dispatchable on 

23 demand continuous resources and 

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1 tablished separately or combined for such 

2 dispatchable on demand continuous re3 sources and dispatchable on demand short4 term resources. 

5 ‘‘(ii) Establishing a reliability market 

6 or modifying existing capacity markets to 

7 require intermittent resources to purchase 

8 electricity generated by a dispatchable on 

9 demand continuous resource when the 

10 intermittent resource is not available to 

11 generate electricity. 

12 ‘‘(iii) Establishing another mechanism 

13 that will support the availability of 

14 dispatchable on demand continuous re15 sources and dispatchable on demand short16 term resources to support the reliability of 

17 the bulk-power systems at all times 

18 through the year (measured every 15 min19 utes of each day). 

20 ‘‘(B) CHARGE FOR DELIVERY FAILURE.— 

21 The Commission shall establish penalties for 

22 each generation resource that fails to generate 

23 electricity in accordance with the requirements 

24 of a market or mechanism established under 

25 subparagraph (A). 


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1 ‘‘(C) FORWARD PROCUREMENT AUC2 TION.—No public utility may accept an offer at 

3 a forward procurement auction for a price that 

4 is less than the marginal costs to operate the 

5 public utility. 

6 ‘‘(d) COMMISSION APPROVAL OF RATES AND

7 CHARGES.—For the purposes of cost allocation of trans8 mission services (including costs associated with inter9 connection, network upgrades, and the construction and 

10 expansion of new transmission lines), no rate or charge 

11 shall be considered just and reasonable under section 

12 205— 

13 ‘‘(1) if such rate or charge— 

14 ‘‘(A) socializes costs of transmission serv15 ice to electric consuming customers who do not 

16 receive direct and quantifiable all-in costs of de17 livered electric service or to meet reliability 

18 standards from the transmission service; or 

19 ‘‘(B) allocates costs of transmission service 

20 to the electric customers of one State for trans21 mission service that will primarily serve electric 

22 customers of another State or region; and 

23 ‘‘(2) direct benefits may include the energy and 

24 transmission cost benefits (but must consider the 

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1 bined); direct benefits shall not include environ2 mental or health benefits; reduction of greenhouse 

3 gas emissions; or environmental leakage between 

4 States or regions; however the generating resource 

5 that causes the need for transmission service may be 

6 permitted or required to pay directly for the costs of 

7 transmission such service. 

8 ‘‘(e) EXPANSION TO OTHER STATES.—The Commis9 sion may not require any public utility or generation re10 source within a State or region to join an RTO or ISO 

11 unless the applicable State or State regulatory authority 

12 agrees to join the RTO or ISO. 

13 ‘‘(f) NO ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS.—The 

14 Commission and each RTO and ISO may not impose envi15 ronmental requirements, adjust rates to account for State 

16 environmental policies (including environmental leakage 

17 adjustments), or mandate environmental performance 

18 standards of any kind. 

19 ‘‘(g) PROHIBITION ON CONFISCATING ENERGY.— 

20 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Each RTO and ISO 

21 shall honor its contractual commitments to wheel 

22 power outside its service area and may not divert 

23 such power deliveries to serve its own load. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PENALTIES; DAMAGES.—If an RTO or 

2 ISO diverts power from a utility to serve its own 

3 load, the RTO or ISO— 

4 ‘‘(A) shall be subject to penalties deter5 mined by the Commission; and 

6 ‘‘(B) may be liable for damages pursuant 

7 to a proceeding brought in a Federal district 

8 court. 

9 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) BULK-POWER SYSTEM; RELIABILITY

11 STANDARD.—The terms ‘bulk-power system’ and ‘re12 liability standard’ have the meanings given such 

13 terms in section 215(a). 

14 ‘‘(2) DISPATCHABLE ON DEMAND CONTINUOUS

15 RESOURCE.—The term ‘dispatchable on demand con16 tinuous resource’ means an electricity generating re17 source— 

18 ‘‘(A) that can generate electricity as need19 ed as directed by the operator and not be de20 pendent on the time of day or the weather; 

21 ‘‘(B) that can maintain the requested gen22 eration capacity for a minimum of 72 hours 

23 continuously; and 

24 ‘‘(C) the power output of which can be ad25 justed according to the needs of the power grid. 


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1 ‘‘(3) DISPATCHABLE ON DEMAND SHORT-TERM

2 RESOURCE.—The term ‘dispatchable on demand 

3 short-term resource’ means an electricity generating 

4 resource— 

5 ‘‘(A) that can generate electricity as need6 ed as directed by the operator and not be de7 pendent on the time of day or the weather; 

8 ‘‘(B) that can be operational within three 

9 hours or less of being called on to generate elec10 tricity; 

11 ‘‘(C) that has the capability to continually 

12 operate for a minimum of 72 hours; and 

13 ‘‘(D) the power output of which can be ad14 justed according to the needs of the power grid. 

15 ‘‘(4) ENVIRONMENTAL LEAKAGE.—The term 

16 ‘environmental leakage’ means where one State or 

17 region imposes certain environmental limits or goals 

18 on electric generation and another State or region 

19 does not and such differences allow a generating re20 source without such environmental restrictions or 

21 goals to generate and sell power cheaper than a gen22 eration resource from another State or region. 

23 ‘‘(5) EXTREME WEATHER.—The term ‘extreme 

24 weather’— 


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1 ‘‘(A) means a weather event that is at the 

2 extremes of the historical distribution; and 

3 ‘‘(B) includes unexpected, unusual, severe, 

4 or unseasonal weather. 

5 ‘‘(6) FIRM.—The term ‘firm’ means the electric 

6 generator has priority transportation rights to a fuel 

7 supply. Storage batteries that have three days of 

8 continuous discharge may be considered firm. 

9 ‘‘(7) GROSS PEAK LOAD.—The term ‘gross peak 

10 load’ means the total energy required to serve de11 mand at its highest level for each 15 minutes of 

12 every day of the year. 

13 ‘‘(8) INTERMITTENT RESOURCE.—The term 

14 ‘intermittent resource’ means an electric generation 

15 resource that depends on the weather or time of day 

16 for its fuel source, such as wind or solar. 

17 ‘‘(9) NET CAPACITY FACTOR.—The net capacity 

18 factor of an electric generator is the ratio of its ac19 tual output over two consecutive calendar years, to 

20 its potential output if it were possible for it to oper21 ate at full nameplate capacity during the same two 

22 consecutive calendar years. To calculate the capacity 

23 factor, take the total amount of energy the plant 

24 produced during a period of time and divide by the 


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1 amount of energy the plant would have produced at 

2 full capacity. 

3 ‘‘(10) NET PEAK LOAD.—The term ‘net peak 

4 load’ means the difference of— 

5 ‘‘(A) gross peak load, minus 

6 ‘‘(B) intermittent generation resources 

7 used to serve load for each 15 minutes of each 

8 day of the year.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. COGENERATION AND SMALL, POWER PRODUCTION 

10 UNDER THE PUBLIC UTILITY REGULATORY 

11 POLICIES ACT OF 1978. 

12 (a) REPEAL.—Section 210 of the Public Utility Reg13 ulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 824a–3) is re14 pealed. 

15 (b) EXISTING CONTRACTS.—The repeal of section 

16 210 by subsection (a) shall not affect any contract or obli17 gation in effect before the date of enactment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 4. REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION FOR CERTAIN CER19 TIFICATES ISSUED UNDER THE NATURAL GAS 

20 ACT. 

21 Section 7(e) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 

22 717f(e)) is amended by inserting the following at the end: 

23 ‘‘When considering an application for a certificate of pub24 lic convenience and necessity under this subsection for a 

25 facility that will serve in whole or in part an electric genVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Aug 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8968.IH H8968

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1 eration facility, it shall be a rebuttable presumption that 

2 the certificate is in the public interest and is or will be 

3 required by the present or future public convenience and 

4 necessity.’’. 

Æ 


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