I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1148 
To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to require 
States to consider prohibiting cost recovery related to smart grid projects, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 7, 2025 
Mr. VAN DREW introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 
to require States to consider prohibiting cost recovery 
related to smart grid projects, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Misappropriating 
Ratepayer Tariffs for Excessive Resources Act’’ or the 
‘‘SMARTER Act’’. 
SEC. 2. SMART GRID COST RECOVERY. 
(a) CONSIDERATION AND DETERMINATION RESPECT-
ING CERTAIN RATEMAKING STANDARDS.— 
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(1) REPEAL.—Section 111(d)(18)(B) of the 
Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 
U.S.C. 2621(d)(18)(B)) is repealed. 
(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 111(d) of the 
Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 
U.S.C. 2621(d)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(22) PROHIBITION ON RATE RECOVERY FOR 
SMART GRID INVESTMENTS.—No electric utility may 
recover from ratepayers any capital, operating ex-
penditure, or other costs of the electric utility relat-
ing to the deployment of any smart grid system.’’. 
(b) OBLIGATIONS TO CONSIDER AND DETERMINE.— 
(1) TIME LIMITATIONS.—Section 112(b) of the 
Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 
U.S.C. 2622(b)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(8)(A) Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this paragraph, each State regulatory 
authority (with respect to each electric utility for 
which the State has ratemaking authority) and each 
nonregulated utility shall commence consideration 
under section 111, or set a hearing date for consid-
eration, with respect to the standard established by 
paragraph (22) of section 111(d). 
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‘‘(B) Not later than 2 years after the date of 
enactment of this paragraph, each State regulatory 
authority (with respect to each electric utility for 
which the State has ratemaking authority), and each 
nonregulated electric utility shall complete the con-
sideration and make the determination under section 
111 with respect to the standard established by 
paragraph (22) of section 111(d).’’. 
(2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Section 112(c) of 
the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 
(16 U.S.C. 2622(c)) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: ‘‘In the case of the standard es-
tablished by paragraph (22) of section 111(d), the 
reference contained in this subsection to the date of 
enactment of this Act shall be deemed to be a ref-
erence to the date of enactment of that paragraph 
(22).’’. 
(3) PRIOR STATE ACTIONS.—Section 112 of the 
Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 
U.S.C. 2622) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(i) PRIOR STATE ACTIONS.—Subsections (b) and 
(c) shall not apply to the standard established by para-
graph (22) of section 111(d) in the case of any electric 
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utility in a State if, before the date of enactment of this 
subsection— 
‘‘(1) the State has implemented for the electric 
utility the standard (or a comparable standard); 
‘‘(2) the State regulatory authority for the 
State or the relevant nonregulated electric utility has 
conducted a proceeding to consider implementation 
of the standard (or a comparable standard) for the 
electric utility; or 
‘‘(3) the State legislature has voted on the im-
plementation of the standard (or a comparable 
standard) for the electric utility during the 3-year 
period ending on that date of enactment.’’. 
(c) PRIOR
AND PENDING PROCEEDINGS.—Section 
124 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 
(16 U.S.C. 2634) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: ‘‘In the case of the standard established by 
paragraph (22) of section 111(d), the reference contained 
in this section to the date of enactment of this Act shall 
be deemed to be a reference to the date of enactment of 
that paragraph (22).’’. 
Æ 
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