S. 1327 — Advancing GETs Act of 2025

This section defines key terms used in the Act: (1) "Commission" as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; (2) "grid-enhancing technology" as hardware or software that increases the capacity, efficiency, reliability, resilience, or safety of transmission facilities and technologies when installed in addition thereto to provide operators with greater situational awareness and control, improve efficiency, or increase transfer capacity; and (3) "Secretary" as the Secretary of Energy.

This section directs the Commission to promulgate, not later than 18 months after enactment, a final rule implementing section 219(b)(3) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824s(b)(3)) by establishing a shared savings incentive for developers (i.e., entities paying to install grid-enhancing technology) that returns 10-25% of savings attributable to the investment—determined consistently for all eligible grid-enhancing technologies, regardless of type—over a three-year period. The incentive applies to investments in any grid-enhancing technology related to new or existing transmission facilities installed as described in section 2(2)(B), subject to requirements that expected savings over three years equal at least four times the investment cost (including permitting, installation, or purchase costs), exclusion of technology already installed as of enactment, and Commission-determined consumer protections. (As background, section 219 requires incentive-based rate treatments to promote reliable, efficient transmission by encouraging capital investment, including in technologies to increase capacity and efficiency of existing facilities and reduce congestion.) Not earlier than seven years and not later than 10 years after establishment, the Commission must evaluate the incentive's necessity and efficacy—including alignment with Commission Order No. 1920 on long-term regional transmission planning (or successor), potential revisions for further alignment, and whether to maintain or suspend it—after providing opportunities for public comment including by stakeholders, and determine whether to maintain, revise, or suspend the incentive.

This section requires operators of transmission facilities or technologies to submit annual reports to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on congestion management costs—beginning one year after FERC promulgates a final rule (within 18 months of enactment) establishing a universal metric and protocol for such reporting—including identification of (1) each constraint causing more than $500,000 in costs, specifying its cause (e.g., physical infrastructure or transient disruptions) and the next limiting element type and rating limit; and (2) constraints to be addressed by planned infrastructure upgrades. The section further directs FERC and the Secretary of Energy to (1) conduct appropriate analyses of the data (with coordination permitted); (2) jointly create and update annually a map of transmission system congestion costs; and (3) publicly post the data and map on their respective websites. (Thus, the requirements aim to improve transparency into grid congestion—i.e., bottlenecks limiting power flows that raise electricity costs—which affects reliability and prices for consumers and utilities.)

This section directs the Secretary of Energy to establish, not later than 18 months after enactment, an application guide for utilities and developers (i.e., developers of transmission facilities or technologies, including those that pay to install grid-enhancing technologies) seeking to implement grid-enhancing technologies (i.e., technologies that increase the capacity, efficiency, or utilization of existing electric transmission lines), with annual reviews and updates thereafter. The section further requires the Secretary to provide technical assistance upon request—including through a clearinghouse of prior grid-enhancing technology projects to identify issues and solutions—and authorizes appropriations of $5 million for FY2025 and $1 million annually for FY2026 through FY2036.