I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7786 
To amend the Federal Power Act to authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission to issue permits for the construction and modification of 
national interest high-impact transmission facilities, and for other pur-
poses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 21, 2024 
Mr. PETERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Power Act to authorize the Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission to issue permits for the 
construction and modification of national interest high- 
impact transmission facilities, 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 ‘‘Streamlining 
Powerlines Essential to Electric Demand and Reliability 
Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘SPEED and Reliability Act of 
2024’’. 
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SEC. 2. SITING OF NATIONAL INTEREST HIGH-IMPACT 
TRANSMISSION FACILITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 216 of the Federal Power 
Act (16 U.S.C. 824p) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(l) SITING OF NATIONAL INTEREST HIGH-IMPACT 
TRANSMISSION FACILITIES.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) BULK-POWER
SYSTEM.—The term 
‘bulk-power system’ has the meaning given the 
term in section 215(a). 
‘‘(B) LOCAL AUTHORITY.—The term ‘local 
authority’ means a unit of local government, in-
cluding a county, a municipality, a city, a town, 
a township, and any other political subdivision 
created by or pursuant to State law. 
‘‘(C) NATIONAL
INTEREST
HIGH-IMPACT 
TRANSMISSION FACILITY.—The term ‘national 
interest 
high-impact 
transmission 
facility’ 
means a transmission facility designated as a 
national interest high-impact transmission facil-
ity under paragraph (2). 
‘‘(D) OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.—The 
term ‘outer Continental Shelf’ has the meaning 
given the term in section 2 of the Outer Conti-
nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331). 
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‘‘(E) 
PROJECT
SPONSOR.—The 
term 
‘project sponsor’ means an entity seeking to 
construct, own, or operate a national interest 
high-impact transmission facility. 
‘‘(F) PROJECT STATE.—The term ‘project 
State’ means a State in which there is located 
or is proposed to be located any portion of a 
transmission facility designated or sought to be 
designated as a national interest high-impact 
transmission facility. 
‘‘(G) RELIABILITY STANDARD.—The term 
‘reliability standard’ has the meaning given the 
term in section 215(a). 
‘‘(2) DESIGNATION
OF
NATIONAL
INTEREST 
HIGH-IMPACT TRANSMISSION FACILITIES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A project sponsor or 
project State may submit to the Secretary an 
application to designate a transmission facility 
as a national interest high-impact transmission 
facility for purposes of paragraph (3). 
‘‘(B) CONTENTS
OF
APPLICATIONS.—An 
application submitted under subparagraph (A) 
shall provide information on— 
‘‘(i) a specific geographic area that is 
experiencing, or is expected to experience, 
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electric energy transmission capacity con-
straints or congestion that adversely af-
fects consumers; 
‘‘(ii) how the proposed transmission 
facility would alleviate the electric energy 
transmission capacity constraints or con-
gestion described in clause (i); 
‘‘(iii) the boundary of the proposed 
transmission facility and the rationale for 
that boundary; 
‘‘(iv) the voltage, transmission capac-
ity, and route of the proposed transmission 
facility; 
‘‘(v) how the proposed transmission 
facility is expected to affect costs to con-
sumers to purchase electricity; and 
‘‘(vi) any other matter that the Sec-
retary determines necessary to carry out 
subparagraph (C), including by providing 
any data that the Secretary determines 
necessary to carry out that subparagraph. 
‘‘(C) DEADLINE.—Not later than 90 days 
after receiving a complete application under 
subparagraph (A), the Secretary, after con-
sultation with affected States, local authorities, 
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and Indian Tribes, shall approve the application 
and designate the applicable transmission facil-
ity as a national interest high-impact trans-
mission facility if the Secretary determines 
that— 
‘‘(i) the proposed transmission facil-
ity— 
‘‘(I) is, or will be, in the national 
interest, based on the criteria other-
wise applicable to a national interest 
electric transmission corridor under 
subsection (a)(4); 
‘‘(II) is, or will be after construc-
tion or modification, capable of trans-
mitting electricity at a voltage of not 
less than 345 kilovolts; 
‘‘(III)(aa) adds not less than 750 
megawatts of new transmission capac-
ity within a single linear path or 
right-of-way; or 
‘‘(bb) would increase the existing 
transmission capacity within a single 
linear path or right-of-way by not less 
than 750 megawatts; 
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‘‘(IV) the proposed transmission 
facility crosses or will cross— 
‘‘(aa) the exterior boundary 
of not fewer than 2 States; or 
‘‘(bb) the exterior boundary 
of at least 1 State and the outer 
Continental Shelf; and 
‘‘(V) provides, or will provide 
after construction or modification, for 
the reliable operation of the bulk- 
power system, including through com-
pliance with any applicable reliability 
standard approved by the Commission 
under section 215(d); and 
‘‘(ii) the project sponsor has met mile-
stones, established by the Secretary under 
subparagraph (E), that demonstrate that 
the project sponsor is capable of com-
pleting the construction or modification of 
the proposed transmission facility. 
‘‘(D) APPLICABILITY
OF
THE
NATIONAL 
ENVIRONMENTAL
POLICY
ACT
OF
1969.—The 
designation of a transmission facility as a na-
tional interest high-impact transmission facility 
under this paragraph shall not be considered a 
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major Federal action under section 102(2)(C) 
of the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 
‘‘(E) RULEMAKING.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 
180 days after the date of enactment of 
this subsection, the Secretary shall promul-
gate a regulation establishing a process to 
evaluate applications submitted under sub-
paragraph (A), which shall include estab-
lishing milestones for purposes of subpara-
graph (C)(ii). 
‘‘(ii) MILESTONES.—In carrying out 
clause (i), the Secretary may establish 
milestones that are indicative of the real-
istic ability of a project sponsor to com-
plete the development process with respect 
to a transmission project and make the ap-
plicable transmission facility operational, 
such as development of a construction 
plan, the making of investment decisions, 
and other milestones that, in the deter-
mination of the Secretary, are pertinent to 
the ability of a project sponsor to success-
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fully make the applicable facility oper-
ational. 
‘‘(3) CONSTRUCTION PERMITS FOR NATIONAL 
INTEREST
HIGH-IMPACT
TRANSMISSION
FACILI-
TIES.— 
‘‘(A) PERMIT APPLICATIONS.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A project sponsor, 
or a project State on behalf of a project 
sponsor, may submit to the Commission an 
application for a permit to construct or 
modify a national interest high-impact 
transmission facility. 
‘‘(ii) FORM.—Permit applications sub-
mitted under clause (i) shall be made in 
writing to the Commission. 
‘‘(iii) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 
180 days after the date of enactment of 
this subsection, the Commission shall pro-
mulgate regulations specifying— 
‘‘(I) the form of, and information 
to be included in, an application sub-
mitted under clause (i); and 
‘‘(II) the manner of service of no-
tice of the application on interested 
persons. 
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‘‘(B) PREAPPLICATION DISCUSSIONS; COM-
MISSION
PROCEEDINGS.—With respect to an 
application 
submitted 
under 
subparagraph 
(A)(i), 
the 
Commission 
may 
carry 
out 
preapplication discussions with the project 
sponsor (and 1 or more project States, as appli-
cable) and initiate a Commission proceeding for 
purposes of subparagraph (C) at the same time 
that any State commission or other entity that 
has authority to approve the siting of the appli-
cable transmission facility considers an applica-
tion for a permit to construct or modify the 
transmission facility pursuant to applicable law. 
‘‘(C) CONSTRUCTION PERMIT.—Except as 
provided in subsection (i), the Commission may, 
after notice and an opportunity for a hearing 
on an application submitted under subpara-
graph (A)(i), issue a permit for the construction 
or modification of the national interest high-im-
pact transmission facility that is the subject of 
the application if the Commission finds that 
subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of subsection 
(b)(1) is satisfied with respect to the national 
interest high-impact transmission facility.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
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(1) SITING OF INTERSTATE ELECTRIC TRANS-
MISSION FACILITIES.—Section 216 of the Federal 
Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824p) is amended— 
(A) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘or 
(l)(3)(C)’’ after ‘‘subsection (b)’’; 
(B) in subsection (e)(1)— 
(i) by inserting ‘‘or (l)(3)(C)’’ after 
‘‘subsection (b)’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘or a State’’; and 
(C) in subsection (i)(3), by inserting ‘‘any 
national interest high-impact transmission fa-
cilities designated under subsection (l)(2) and 
any’’ after ‘‘including’’. 
(2) TRANSMISSION FACILITY FINANCING.—Sec-
tion 50151(b) of Public Law 117–169 (42 U.S.C. 
18715(b)) is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘facilities designated by the 
Secretary to be necessary in the national inter-
est under section 216(a) of the Federal Power 
Act (16 U.S.C. 824p(a)).’’ and inserting the 
following: ‘‘facilities— 
‘‘(1) located in an area designated as a national 
interest electric transmission corridor pursuant to 
subsection (a) of section 216 of the Federal Power 
Act (16 U.S.C. 824p); or 
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‘‘(2) designated by the Secretary as national in-
terest high-impact transmission facilities under sub-
section (l)(2) of that section.’’. 
(3) PUBLIC-PRIVATE
PARTNERSHIPS.—Section 
40106(h)(1) of the Infrastructure Investment and 
Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 18713(h)(1)) is amended— 
(A) in subparagraph (A)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘16 U.S.C. 824p(a)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘(16 U.S.C. 824p(a))’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 
(B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘or’’ 
after the semicolon at the end; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) is a national interest high-impact trans-
mission facility designated under subsection (l)(2) of 
section 216 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 
824p);’’. 
Æ 
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