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(2) By inserting ‘‘, transmitting utility,’’ after 
‘‘licensee’’ each place it appears. 
(b) REVIEW
OF
COMMISSION
ORDERS.—Section 
313(a) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 8251) is 
amended by inserting ‘‘electric utility,’’ after ‘‘person,’’ in 
the first 2 places it appears and by striking ‘‘any person 
unless such person’’ and inserting ‘‘any entity unless such 
entity’’. 
(c) INVESTIGATIONS.—Section 307(a) of the Federal 
Power Act (16 U.S.C. 825f(a)) is amended as follows: 
(1) By inserting ‘‘, electric utility, transmitting 
utility, or other entity’’ after ‘‘person’’ each time it 
appears. 
(2) By striking the period at the end of the 
first sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘or in ob-
taining information about the sale of electric energy 
at wholesale in interstate commerce and the trans-
mission of electric energy in interstate commerce.’’. 
(d) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Section 316 of the Fed-
eral Power Act (16 U.S.C. 825o) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ and 
inserting ‘‘$1,000,000’’, and by striking ‘‘two years’’ 
and inserting ‘‘5 years’’; 
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘$500’’ and 
inserting ‘‘$25,000’’; and
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(3) by striking subsection (c). 
(e) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 316A of the Federal 
Power Act (16 U.S.C. 825o–1) is amended as follows: 
(1) In subsections (a) and (b), by striking ‘‘sec-
tion 211, 212, 213, or 214’’ each place it appears 
and inserting ‘‘Part II’’. 
(2) In subsection (b), by striking ‘‘$10,000’’ 
and inserting ‘‘$1,000,000’’. 
SEC. 1284. REFUND EFFECTIVE DATE. 
Section 206(b) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 
824e(b)) is amended as follows: 
(1) By striking ‘‘the date 60 days after the fil-
ing of such complaint nor later than 5 months after 
the expiration of such 60-day period’’ in the second 
sentence and inserting ‘‘the date of the filing of such 
complaint nor later than 5 months after the filing of 
such complaint’’. 
(2) By striking ‘‘60 days after’’ in the third 
sentence and inserting ‘‘of’’. 
(3) By striking ‘‘expiration of such 60-day pe-
riod’’ in the third sentence and inserting ‘‘publica-
tion date’’. 
(4) By striking the fifth sentence and inserting 
the following: ‘‘If no final decision is rendered by the 
conclusion of the 180-day period commencing upon
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initiation of a proceeding pursuant to this section, 
the Commission shall state the reasons why it has 
failed to do so and shall state its best estimate as 
to when it reasonably expects to make such deci-
sion.’’. 
SEC. 1285. REFUND AUTHORITY. 
Section 206 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 
824e) is amended by adding the following new subsection 
at the end thereof: 
‘‘(e)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), if an 
entity described in section 201(f) voluntarily makes a 
short-term sale of electric energy and the sale violates 
Commission rules in effect at the time of the sale, such 
entity shall be subject to the Commission’s refund author-
ity under this section with respect to such violation. 
‘‘(2) This section shall not apply to—
‘‘(A) any entity that sells less than 8,000,000 
megawatt hours of electricity per year; or 
‘‘(B) any electric cooperative. 
‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘short-
term sale’ means an agreement for the sale of electric en-
ergy at wholesale in interstate commerce that is for a pe-
riod of 31 days or less (excluding monthly contracts sub-
ject to automatic renewal).
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‘‘(4) The Commission shall have refund authority 
under subsection (e)(1) with respect to a voluntary short-
term sale of electric energy by the Bonneville Power Ad-
ministration (in this section ‘Bonneville’) only if the sale 
is at an unjust and unreasonable rate and, in that event, 
may order a refund only for short-term sales made by 
Bonneville at rates that are higher than the highest just 
and reasonable rate charged by any other entity for a 
short-term sale of electric energy in the same geographic 
market for the same, or most nearly comparable, period 
as the sale by Bonneville. 
‘‘(5) With respect to any Federal power marketing 
agency or the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Commission 
shall not assert or exercise any regulatory authority or 
powers under subsection (e)(1) other than the ordering of 
refunds to achieve a just and reasonable rate.’’. 
SEC. 1286. SANCTITY OF CONTRACT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission (in this section, ‘‘the Commission’’) shall have 
no authority to abrogate or modify any provision of an 
executed contract or executed contract amendment de-
scribed in subsection (b) that has been entered into or 
taken effect, except upon a finding that failure to take 
such action would be contrary to the public interest.
607
(b) LIMITATION.—Except as provided in subsection 
(c), this section shall apply only to a contract or contract 
amendment—
(1) executed on or after the date of enactment 
of this Act; and 
(2) entered into—
(A) for the purchase or sale of electric en-
ergy under section 205 of the Federal Power 
Act (16 U.S.C. 824d) where the seller has been 
authorized by the Commission to charge mar-
ket-based rates; or 
(B) under section 4 of the Natural Gas 
Act (15 U.S.C. 717c) where the natural gas 
company has been authorized by the Commis-
sion to charge market-based rates for the serv-
ice described in the contract. 
(c) EXCLUSION.—This section shall not apply to an 
executed contract or executed contract amendment that 
expressly provides for a standard of review other than the 
public interest standard. 
(d) SAVINGS PROVISION.—With respect to contracts 
to which this section does not apply, nothing in this sec-
tion alters existing law regarding the applicable standard 
of review for a contract subject to the jurisdiction of the 
Commission.
608
SEC. 1287. CONSUMER PRIVACY AND UNFAIR TRADE PRAC-
TICES. 
(a) PRIVACY.—The Federal Trade Commission may 
issue rules protecting the privacy of electric consumers 
from the disclosure of consumer information obtained in 
connection with the sale or delivery of electric energy to 
electric consumers. 
(b) SLAMMING.—The Federal Trade Commission 
may issue rules prohibiting the change of selection of an 
electric utility except with the informed consent of the 
electric consumer or if approved by the appropriate State 
regulatory authority. 
(c) CRAMMING.—The Federal Trade Commission 
may issue rules prohibiting the sale of goods and services 
to an electric consumer unless expressly authorized by law 
or the electric consumer. 
(d) RULEMAKING.—The Federal Trade Commission 
shall proceed in accordance with section 553 of title 5, 
United States Code, when prescribing a rule under this 
section. 
(e) STATE AUTHORITY.—If the Federal Trade Com-
mission determines that a State’s regulations provide 
equivalent or greater protection than the provisions of this 
section, such State regulations shall apply in that State 
in lieu of the regulations issued by the Commission under 
this section.
609
(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
(1) STATE
REGULATORY
AUTHORITY.—The 
term ‘‘State regulatory authority’’ has the meaning 
given that term in section 3(21) of the Federal 
Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796(21)). 
(2) ELECTRIC CONSUMER AND ELECTRIC UTIL-
ITY.—The terms ‘‘electric consumer’’ and ‘‘electric 
utility’’ have the meanings given those terms in sec-
tion 3 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act 
of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2602). 
Subtitle H—Merger Reform 
SEC. 1291. MERGER REVIEW REFORM AND ACCOUNT-
ABILITY. 
(a) MERGER REVIEW REFORM.—Within 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Energy, in consultation with the Federal Energy Regu-
latory Commission and the Attorney General of the United 
States, shall prepare, and transmit to Congress each of 
the following: 
(1) A study of the extent to which the authori-
ties vested in the Federal Energy Regulatory Com-
mission under section 203 of the Federal Power Act 
are duplicative of authorities vested in—
(A) other agencies of Federal and State 
Government; and
610
(B) the Federal Energy Regulatory Com-
mission, including under sections 205 and 206 
of the Federal Power Act. 
(2) Recommendations on reforms to the Fed-
eral Power Act that would eliminate any unneces-
sary duplication in the exercise of regulatory author-
ity or unnecessary delays in the approval (or dis-
approval) of applications for the sale, lease, or other 
disposition of public utility facilities. 
(b) MERGER REVIEW ACCOUNTABILITY.—Not later 
than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act and 
annually thereafter, with respect to all orders issued with-
in the preceding year that impose a condition on a sale, 
lease, or other disposition of public utility facilities under 
section 203(b) of the Federal Power Act, the Federal En-
ergy Regulatory Commission shall transmit a report to 
Congress explaining each of the following: 
(1) The condition imposed. 
(2) Whether the Commission could have im-
posed such condition by exercising its authority 
under any provision of the Federal Power Act other 
than under section 203(b). 
(3) If the Commission could not have imposed 
such condition other than under section 203(b), why
611
the Commission determined that such condition was 
consistent with the public interest. 
SEC. 1292. ELECTRIC UTILITY MERGERS. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Section 203(a) of the Federal 
Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824b(a)) is amended to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(a)(1) No public utility shall, without first having 
secured an order of the Commission authorizing it to do 
so—
‘‘(A) sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of the 
whole of its facilities subject to the jurisdiction of 
the Commission, or any part thereof of a value in 
excess of $10,000,000; 
‘‘(B) merge or consolidate, directly or indi-
rectly, such facilities or any part thereof with those 
of any other person, by any means whatsoever; or 
‘‘(C) purchase, acquire, or take any security 
with a value in excess of $10,000,000 of any other 
public utility. 
‘‘(2) No holding company in a holding company sys-
tem that includes a public utility shall purchase, acquire, 
or take any security with a value in excess of $10,000,000 
of, or, by any means whatsoever, directly or indirectly, 
merge or consolidate with, a public utility or a holding 
company in a holding company system that includes a
612
public utility with a value in excess of $10,000,000 with-
out first having secured an order of the Commission au-
thorizing it to do so. 
‘‘(3) Upon receipt of an application for such approval 
the Commission shall give reasonable notice in writing to 
the Governor and State commission of each of the States 
in which the physical property affected, or any part there-
of, is situated, and to such other persons as it may deem 
advisable. 
‘‘(4) After notice and opportunity for hearing, the 
Commission shall approve the proposed disposition, con-
solidation, acquisition, or change in control, if it finds that 
the proposed transaction will be consistent with the public 
interest. In evaluating whether a transaction will be con-
sistent with the public interest, the Commission shall con-
sider whether the proposed transaction—
‘‘(A) will adequately protect consumer interests; 
‘‘(B) will be consistent with competitive whole-
sale markets; 
‘‘(C) will impair the financial integrity of any 
public utility that is a party to the transaction or an 
associate company of any party to the transaction; 
and 
‘‘(D) satisfies such other criteria as the Com-
mission considers consistent with the public interest.
613
‘‘(5) The Commission shall, by rule, adopt procedures 
for the expeditious consideration of applications for the 
approval of dispositions, consolidations, or acquisitions 
under this section. Such rules shall identify classes of 
transactions, or specify criteria for transactions, that nor-
mally meet the standards established in paragraph (4). 
The Commission shall provide expedited review for such 
transactions. The Commission shall grant or deny any 
other application for approval of a transaction not later 
than 180 days after the application is filed. If the Com-
mission does not act within 180 days, such application 
shall be deemed granted unless the Commission finds, 
based on good cause, that further consideration is required 
to determine whether the proposed transaction meets the 
standards of paragraph (4) and issues an order tolling the 
time for acting on the application for not more than 180 
days, at the end of which additional period the Commis-
sion shall grant or deny the application. 
‘‘(6) For purposes of this subsection, the terms ‘asso-
ciate company’, ‘holding company’, and ‘holding company 
system’ have the meaning given those terms in the Public 
Utility Holding Company Act of 2005.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect 12 months after the date of 
enactment of this section.