I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2196 
To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to provide 
for disclosure to consumers of the fuels and sources of electric energy 
purchased from electric utilities, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 7, 2007 
Mr. REYES (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. INSLEE, Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN, 
and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) 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 provide for disclosure to consumers of the fuels and 
sources of electric energy purchased from electric utili-
ties, 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 ‘‘Knowledge Is Power 
Act’’ . 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
20:37 May 08, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2196.IH
H2196
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF ELECTRIC ENERGY SOURCES BY 
ELECTRIC UTILITIES. 
(a) DISCLOSURE STANDARD.—Section 111(d) of the 
Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 
2621(d)) is amended by adding the following at the end: 
‘‘(16) DISCLOSURE
OF
ELECTRIC
ENERGY 
SOURCES.—Each electric utility shall disclose to con-
sumers on their periodic billing statement the per-
centage mix of energy technologies and fuels used to 
generate the electricity sold within the distribution 
utility’s distribution area. In describing such mix, 
each such utility shall disclose the percentage of 
electricity generated from coal, from gas, from nu-
clear, from any other fuel, and from any particular 
type (including solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas, 
ocean tidal, ocean wave, ocean current, ocean ther-
mal, geothermal, municipal solid waste, or hydro-
electric) of renewable energy (as defined in section 
203(b)(2) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005). Such 
disclosure shall be printed in such manner as to 
gives it prominence on the statement.’’. 
(b) COMPLIANCE.— 
(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: 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
20:37 May 08, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2196.IH
H2196
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
‘‘(6)(A) Not later than 1 year after the enact-
ment of this paragraph, each State regulatory au-
thority (with respect to each electric utility for which 
it has ratemaking authority) and each nonregulated 
utility shall commence the consideration referred to 
in section 111, or set a hearing date for consider-
ation, with respect to the standard established by 
paragraph (16) of section 111(d). 
‘‘(B) Not later than two years after the date of 
the enactment of the this paragraph, each State reg-
ulatory authority (with respect to each electric utility 
for which it has ratemaking authority), and each 
nonregulated electric utility, shall complete the con-
sideration, and shall make the determination, re-
ferred to in section 111 with respect to each stand-
ard established by paragraph (16) of section 
111(d).’’. 
(2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—ection 112(d) 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 estab-
lished by paragraph (16), the reference contained in 
this subsection to the date of enactment of this Act 
shall be deemed to be a reference to the date of en-
actment of paragraph (16).’’. 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
20:37 May 08, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2196.IH
H2196
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
(3) PRIOR STATE ACTIONS.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—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: 
‘‘(g) PRIOR STATE ACTIONS.—Subsections (b) and 
(c) of this section shall not apply to the standard estab-
lished by paragraph (16) of section 111(d) in the case of 
any electric utility in a State if, before the enactment of 
this subsection— 
‘‘(1) the State has implemented for such utility 
the standard concerned (or a comparable standard); 
‘‘(2) the State regulatory authority for such 
State or relevant nonregulated electric utility has 
conducted a proceeding to consider implementation 
of the standard concerned (or a comparable stand-
ard) for such utility; or 
‘‘(3) the State legislature has voted on the im-
plementation of such standard (or a comparable 
standard) for such utility.’’. 
(B) CROSS REFERENCE.—Section 124 of 
such Act (16 U.S.C. 2634) is amended by add-
ing the following at the end thereof: ‘‘In the 
case of each standard established by paragraph 
(16) of section 111(d), the reference contained 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
20:37 May 08, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2196.IH
H2196
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
in this subsection to the date of enactment of 
the Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the 
date of enactment of paragraph (16).’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
20:37 May 08, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H2196.IH
H2196
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS