H.R. 1148 — SMARTER Act

This section establishes the short title of the Act as the “Stop Misappropriating Ratepayer Tariffs for Excessive Resources Act” or the “SMARTER Act.”

This section repeals the existing smart grid ratemaking standard at 16 U.S.C. § 2621(d)(18)(B) and establishes a new standard prohibiting electric utilities from recovering from ratepayers any capital, operating, or other costs related to deploying a smart grid system. It also requires each State regulatory authority and each nonregulated utility to begin considering the new standard, or set a hearing date for that consideration, not later than 1 year after enactment, and to complete the consideration and make a determination not later than 2 years after enactment. For purposes of the existing failure-to-comply and prior-proceedings provisions, the date of enactment is tied to the enactment date of the new smart grid standard. The section further exempts a State utility from the new consideration and determination requirements if, before enactment, the State has already implemented the standard or a comparable standard, the relevant regulator or utility has already held a proceeding on the standard or a comparable standard, or the State legislature voted on the standard or a comparable standard during the 3-year period ending on enactment.