I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2897 
To amend the Small Business Act to make disaster loans available for 
damages caused by prolonged power outages, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 10, 2025 
Ms. STEVENS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Small Business 
A BILL 
To amend the Small Business Act to make disaster loans 
available for damages caused by prolonged power out-
ages, 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. SMALL BUSINESS DISASTER LOANS FOR PRO-
LONGED POWER OUTAGES. 
Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
636(b)) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating the second paragraph (16) 
(relating to statute of limitations) as paragraph 
(17); and 
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(2) by inserting after paragraph (17), as so re-
designated, the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(18) PROLONGED POWER OUTAGE.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of 
paragraphs (1)(A) and (2), the term ‘disaster’ 
includes prolonged power outages. 
‘‘(B) USE OF LOAN AMOUNTS.—In addi-
tion to any other allowable uses of a loan made 
under paragraph (1)(A) or (2), if a borrower 
receives such a loan pursuant to a disaster that 
is prolonged power outage, the borrower may 
use the proceeds of such loan to— 
‘‘(i) purchase energy resilience sys-
tems that enable the borrower to cope with 
and recover from disruptions to the com-
mercial availability of electrical power, in-
cluding generators, solar panels, wind tur-
bines, microgrids, fuel cells, batteries, and 
other technologies that provide electrical 
generation and storage capabilities, as de-
termined appropriate by the Administrator; 
and 
‘‘(ii) pay for the cost of replacing any 
food and drink of the borrower that was 
lost, destroyed, or rendered unfit for 
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human consumption as a result of such 
disaster. 
‘‘(C) PROLONGED
POWER
OUTAGE
DE-
FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘prolonged 
power outage’ means— 
‘‘(i) for the purposes of paragraph 
(1)(A), a loss of electrical power that 
causes not fewer than 25 homes or 25 
business concerns, or any combination of 
not fewer than 25 homes, business con-
cerns, or other eligible recipients of a loan 
under such paragraph, located in any 
county or smaller political subdivision of a 
State or territory or possession of the 
United States to each sustain uninsured 
losses of not less than 40 percent of the es-
timated fair replacement value or pre-dis-
aster fair market value of the damaged 
property, whichever is lower; and 
‘‘(ii) for the purposes of paragraph 
(2), not fewer than 25 homes or 25 busi-
ness concerns, or any combination of not 
fewer than 25 homes, business concerns, or 
other eligible recipients of a loan under 
such paragraph, located in any county or 
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smaller political subdivision of a State or 
territory or possession of the United States 
concurrently losing electrical power for not 
fewer than 48 hours.’’. 
Æ 
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