I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1514 

To amend the Federal Power Act to increase transmission capacity for clean 

energy, reduce congestion, and increase grid resilience. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 2, 2021 

Mr. PETERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Power Act to increase transmission 

capacity for clean energy, reduce congestion, and increase 

grid resilience. 

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 ‘‘Prevent Outages With 

5 Energy Resilient Options Nationwide Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘POWER ON Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO FEDERAL POWER ACT. 

8 (a) DESIGNATION OF NATIONAL INTEREST ELEC9 TRIC TRANSMISSION CORRIDORS.—Section 216(a) of the 

10 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(a)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘capacity 

2 constraints and’’ before ‘‘congestion’’; 

3 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (A) by inserting ‘‘, not less often than once 

5 every 3 years,’’ after ‘‘Secretary shall’’; 

6 (B) by inserting ‘‘and Indian tribes’’ after 

7 ‘‘affected States’’; 

8 (C) by inserting ‘‘or other information 

9 about electric transmission capacity constraints 

10 or congestion’’ after ‘‘the study’’; and 

11 (D) by inserting ‘‘, or that is expected to 

12 experience such constraints or congestion,’’ 

13 after ‘‘consumers’’; 

14 (3) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘, not less 

15 often than once every 3 years,’’ after ‘‘Secretary 

16 shall’’; and 

17 (4) in paragraph (4)— 

18 (A) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘or 

19 energy security’’ after ‘‘independence’’; 

20 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 

21 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

22 (C) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘se23 curity.’’ and inserting ‘‘security;’’; and 

24 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(F) the designation would— 


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1 ‘‘(i) enhance the ability of facilities that 

2 generate or transmit renewable energy, low3 emission energy, or emission-free energy to con4 nect to the electric grid; 

5 ‘‘(ii) promote electrification of other sec6 tors, including the transportation sector; or 

7 ‘‘(iii) facilitate other public policies to 

8 decarbonize the grid; 

9 ‘‘(G) the designation— 

10 ‘‘(i) maximizes existing rights-of-way, in11 cluding along highways, brownfields, and rail12 ways; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) avoids, to the maximum extent prac14 ticable, sensitive environmental areas and cul15 tural heritage sites; and 

16 ‘‘(H) the designation would result in a reduc17 tion in the cost to purchase electric energy for con18 sumers.’’. 

19 (b) CONSTRUCTION PERMIT.—Section 216(b) of the 

20 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(b)) is amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

22 (A) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by inserting 

23 ‘‘or interregional benefits’’ after ‘‘interstate 

24 benefits’’; and 


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1 (B) by amending subparagraph (C) to read 

2 as follows: 

3 ‘‘(C) a State commission or other entity that 

4 has authority to approve the siting of the facilities 

5 has— 

6 ‘‘(i) not approved or denied an application 

7 seeking approval pursuant to applicable law by 

8 the date that is 1 year after the filing of the 

9 application or 1 year after the designation of 

10 the relevant national interest electric trans11 mission corridor, whichever is later; 

12 ‘‘(ii) conditioned its approval in such a 

13 manner that the proposed construction or modi14 fication will not significantly reduce trans15 mission congestion in interstate commerce or is 

16 not economically feasible; or 

17 ‘‘(iii) denied an application seeking ap18 proval pursuant to applicable law;’’. 

19 (c) RIGHTS-OF-WAY.—Section 216(e)(1) of the Fed20 eral Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(e)(1)) is amended by in21 serting ‘‘and the permit holder has made good faith efforts 

22 to engage landowners and other stakeholders early,’’ after 

23 ‘‘facilities,’’. 

24 (d) INTERSTATE COMPACTS.—Section 216(i) of the 

25 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘may’’ and in2 serting ‘‘shall’’; and 

3 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘the members 

4 of the compact are in disagreement and the Sec5 retary makes, after notice and an opportunity for a 

6 hearing, the finding described in subsection 

7 (b)(1)(C)’’ and inserting ‘‘the Secretary finds that 

8 the members of the compact are in disagreement 

9 after the date that is 1 year after the filing of an 

10 application for the facility or 1 year after the des11 ignation of the relevant national interest electric 

12 transmission corridor, whichever is later’’. 

Æ 


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