H.R. 3616 — Reliable Power Act

This section amends subsection (g) of Section 215 of the Federal Power Act to require the Electric Reliability Organization (ERO)—certified by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to establish and enforce bulk-power system reliability standards—to conduct annual long-term assessments of the bulk-power system's ability to supply sufficient electric energy for reliability. (As background, the bulk-power system includes interconnected high-voltage transmission facilities and associated generation needed for reliability, excluding local distribution; these assessments must analyze generation resource mix, transmission development, demand trends, and risks of supply shortfalls under normal and extreme weather conditions in each region, including whether additional generation resources are needed.) If the ERO determines a risk of inadequate generation resources, it must publicly notify FERC of a state of generation inadequacy and may collect relevant data from system users, owners, and operators. This section also inserts new subsection (h), which requires FERC—upon ERO notice of generation inadequacy—to notify the Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, and other relevant federal agencies (i.e., Executive departments or cabinet-level Executive agencies) and review any "covered agency action" (i.e., regulations under development relating to or directly affecting bulk-power system generation resources). Agencies must submit such actions to FERC for comment upon Office of Management and Budget review or, if none, no later than 90 days before Federal Register publication or public comment; FERC must provide comments (in consultation with the ERO and transmission organizations), including on effects to FERC-jurisdictional rates, terms, and conditions, plus modification recommendations to avoid significant negative reliability impacts. Agencies may not finalize covered actions until responding in writing to FERC comments and FERC determines no significant negative reliability impact, with all comments, recommendations, and responses publicly available. This section redesignates existing subsections (h) through (k) as (i) through (l).