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 Inde-
pendent 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 Trans-
mission Organizations and Independent System Opera-
tors, to establish reliability markets, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Keeping the Lights 
On Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIABILITY MARKETS FOR 
THE BULK-POWER SYSTEM. 
The Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.) is 
amended by inserting after section 215A the following: 
‘‘SEC. 215B. RELIABILITY MARKETS. 
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en-
sure the reliability of the bulk-power system. 
‘‘(b) REPORTS ON GENERATION AND LOAD.—The 
Commission shall require, by rule or order, each RTO and 
ISO to submit to the Commission, not less frequently than 
once a year, a report that identifies, with respect to the 
public utilities that are part of the RTO or ISO— 
‘‘(1) the ten-year historical and ten-year pro-
jected gross peak load and net peak load for every 
fifteen minutes of each day of the year; 
‘‘(2) the impact of extreme weather on electric 
demand and generation resource availability; 
‘‘(3) reserve margins of generation resource ca-
pacity based on the generation resource types needed 
to meet demand for every fifteen minutes of each 
day; 
‘‘(4) each generation resource (and the net ca-
pacity factor of each generation resource), including 
each generation resource that is a dispatchable on 
demand continuous resource, a dispatchable on de-
mand short-term resource, an intermittent genera-
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tion resource, or an inverter based generation re-
source; 
‘‘(5) the energy source, such as coal, nuclear, 
natural gas, hydro, wind, or solar, of each genera-
tion resource identified under paragraph (4); 
‘‘(6) whether a generation resource identified 
under paragraph (4) relies on— 
‘‘(A) fuel deliveries, including the method 
by which such fuel is delivered (such as pipe-
line, rail, or barge); and 
‘‘(B) on-site fuel supplies (including how 
long the generation resource can operate on 
such fuel supplies); 
‘‘(7) whether each generation resource identi-
fied under paragraph (4) that is operated using nat-
ural gas is supplied by firm transportation on nat-
ural gas pipelines; 
‘‘(8) whether the energy source of a generation 
resources identified under paragraph (4) is depend-
ant on the time of day and weather; 
‘‘(9) projected shortfalls in generation needed to 
meet system needs for every fifteen minutes of the 
day each year and during extreme weather; and 
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‘‘(C) 
FORWARD
PROCUREMENT
AUC-
TION.—No public utility may accept an offer at 
a forward procurement auction for a price that 
is less than the marginal costs to operate the 
public utility. 
‘‘(d) COMMISSION
APPROVAL
OF
RATES
AND 
CHARGES.—For the purposes of cost allocation of trans-
mission services (including costs associated with inter-
connection, network upgrades, and the construction and 
expansion of new transmission lines), no rate or charge 
shall be considered just and reasonable under section 
205— 
‘‘(1) if such rate or charge— 
‘‘(A) socializes costs of transmission serv-
ice to electric consuming customers who do not 
receive direct and quantifiable all-in costs of de-
livered electric service or to meet reliability 
standards from the transmission service; or 
‘‘(B) allocates costs of transmission service 
to the electric customers of one State for trans-
mission service that will primarily serve electric 
customers of another State or region; and 
‘‘(2) direct benefits may include the energy and 
transmission cost benefits (but must consider the 
cost of generation, transmission reliability com-
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bined); direct benefits shall not include environ-
mental or health benefits; reduction of greenhouse 
gas emissions; or environmental leakage between 
States or regions; however the generating resource 
that causes the need for transmission service may be 
permitted or required to pay directly for the costs of 
transmission such service. 
‘‘(e) EXPANSION TO OTHER STATES.—The Commis-
sion may not require any public utility or generation re-
source within a State or region to join an RTO or ISO 
unless the applicable State or State regulatory authority 
agrees to join the RTO or ISO. 
‘‘(f) NO
ENVIRONMENTAL
REQUIREMENTS.—The 
Commission and each RTO and ISO may not impose envi-
ronmental requirements, adjust rates to account for State 
environmental policies (including environmental leakage 
adjustments), or mandate environmental performance 
standards of any kind. 
‘‘(g) PROHIBITION ON CONFISCATING ENERGY.— 
‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Each RTO and ISO 
shall honor its contractual commitments to wheel 
power outside its service area and may not divert 
such power deliveries to serve its own load. 
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‘‘(2) PENALTIES; DAMAGES.—If an RTO or 
ISO diverts power from a utility to serve its own 
load, the RTO or ISO— 
‘‘(A) shall be subject to penalties deter-
mined by the Commission; and 
‘‘(B) may be liable for damages pursuant 
to a proceeding brought in a Federal district 
court. 
‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) 
BULK-POWER
SYSTEM; 
RELIABILITY 
STANDARD.—The terms ‘bulk-power system’ and ‘re-
liability standard’ have the meanings given such 
terms in section 215(a). 
‘‘(2) DISPATCHABLE ON DEMAND CONTINUOUS 
RESOURCE.—The term ‘dispatchable on demand con-
tinuous resource’ means an electricity generating re-
source— 
‘‘(A) that can generate electricity as need-
ed as directed by the operator and not be de-
pendent on the time of day or the weather; 
‘‘(B) that can maintain the requested gen-
eration capacity for a minimum of 72 hours 
continuously; and 
‘‘(C) the power output of which can be ad-
justed according to the needs of the power grid. 
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‘‘(3) DISPATCHABLE ON DEMAND SHORT-TERM 
RESOURCE.—The term ‘dispatchable on demand 
short-term resource’ means an electricity generating 
resource— 
‘‘(A) that can generate electricity as need-
ed as directed by the operator and not be de-
pendent on the time of day or the weather; 
‘‘(B) that can be operational within three 
hours or less of being called on to generate elec-
tricity; 
‘‘(C) that has the capability to continually 
operate for a minimum of 72 hours; and 
‘‘(D) the power output of which can be ad-
justed according to the needs of the power grid. 
‘‘(4) ENVIRONMENTAL
LEAKAGE.—The term 
‘environmental leakage’ means where one State or 
region imposes certain environmental limits or goals 
on electric generation and another State or region 
does not and such differences allow a generating re-
source without such environmental restrictions or 
goals to generate and sell power cheaper than a gen-
eration resource from another State or region. 
‘‘(5) EXTREME WEATHER.—The term ‘extreme 
weather’— 
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‘‘(A) means a weather event that is at the 
extremes of the historical distribution; and 
‘‘(B) includes unexpected, unusual, severe, 
or unseasonal weather. 
‘‘(6) FIRM.—The term ‘firm’ means the electric 
generator has priority transportation rights to a fuel 
supply. Storage batteries that have three days of 
continuous discharge may be considered firm. 
‘‘(7) GROSS PEAK LOAD.—The term ‘gross peak 
load’ means the total energy required to serve de-
mand at its highest level for each 15 minutes of 
every day of the year. 
‘‘(8) INTERMITTENT
RESOURCE.—The term 
‘intermittent resource’ means an electric generation 
resource that depends on the weather or time of day 
for its fuel source, such as wind or solar. 
‘‘(9) NET CAPACITY FACTOR.—The net capacity 
factor of an electric generator is the ratio of its ac-
tual output over two consecutive calendar years, to 
its potential output if it were possible for it to oper-
ate at full nameplate capacity during the same two 
consecutive calendar years. To calculate the capacity 
factor, take the total amount of energy the plant 
produced during a period of time and divide by the 
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