I 
119TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7066 
To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to add a 
standard relating to the consideration of large load facilities as a class 
of electric consumers, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 14, 2026 
Mr. LEVIN
(for himself, Ms. CASTOR
of Florida, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. 
LANDSMAN, Mr. GOLDMAN of New York, Mr. LATIMER, Mr. CASTEN, 
and Ms. PINGREE) 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 add a standard relating to the consideration of large 
load facilities as a class of electric consumers, 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 ‘‘Stopping Hikes In 
Electricity from Large Load Demands Act’’ or the 
‘‘SHIELD Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PURPA STANDARDS FOR LARGE LOAD FACILITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 111(d) of the Public Util-
ity Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2621(d)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(22) LARGE LOAD FACILITY CLASS.— 
‘‘(A) CLASSIFICATION.—Large load facili-
ties shall be considered a class of electric con-
sumers. 
‘‘(B) 
COST
RECOVERY
RELATING
TO 
LARGE
LOAD
FACILITY
CLASS.—Each electric 
utility that provides electric service to a class of 
electric consumers described in subparagraph 
(A) shall fully recover from such class all costs 
associated with any upgrade made to the gen-
eration, transmission, or distribution facilities 
of the electric grid, including local facilities, in 
order to meet the demand for electric energy 
from such class, including in the event that a 
large load facility ceases operations or uses less 
electric energy than projected at the time of 
such upgrade. 
‘‘(23) GRID RELIABILITY FOR LARGE LOAD FA-
CILITIES.—Each electric utility shall prioritize, 
among requests from owners or operators of large 
load facilities for electric service, such a request 
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under which the owner or operator agrees to em-
ploy— 
‘‘(A) features that reduce the demand for 
electric energy from the electric grid during 
times of peak demand, including— 
‘‘(i) energy efficiency or energy con-
servation measures; 
‘‘(ii) onsite energy storage; or 
‘‘(iii) demand response or load flexi-
bility technologies; and 
‘‘(B) zero-emission electric energy gen-
erated onsite or procured within the same bal-
ancing authority through a power purchase 
agreement to meet all of the demand of the 
large load facility for electric energy.’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 111 of the Public Utility 
Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2621) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of subsection 
(d): 
‘‘(1) LARGE LOAD FACILITY.—The term ‘large 
load facility’— 
‘‘(A) means a facility, or an aggregation of 
facilities at a single site, with respect to which 
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the peak demand of such facility or such aggre-
gation of facilities exceeds 75 megawatts; and 
‘‘(B) does not include an existing facility 
with respect to which any increased demand is 
predominantly caused by electrification or 
measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 
‘‘(2) ZERO-EMISSION ELECTRIC ENERGY.—The 
term ‘zero-emission electric energy’ means electric 
energy generated without emitting greenhouse gases, 
including from solar, wind, geothermal, hydro-
electric, tidal, fission, or fusion.’’. 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) OBLIGATIONS TO CONSIDER AND DETER-
MINE.—Section 112 of the Public Utility Regulatory 
Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2622) is amended— 
(A) in subsection (b), by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(9)(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 each standard established by 
paragraphs (22) and (23) of section 111(d). 
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parable standard) for the electric utility during the 
3-year period ending on that date of enactment.’’. 
(2) PRIOR AND PENDING PROCEEDINGS.—Sec-
tion 124 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies 
Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2634) is amended by insert-
ing ‘‘In the case of each standard established by 
paragraphs (22) and (23) of section 111(d), the ref-
erence contained in this section to the date of enact-
ment of this Act shall be deemed to be a reference 
to the date of enactment of such paragraphs (22) 
and (23).’’ after ‘‘paragraph (21).’’. 
Æ 
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