SHIELD Act

Cost Recovery from Large Consumers: Under Section 2(a)(22)(B), electric utilities must recover all costs associated with grid upgrades—including generation, transmission, or distribution—directly from the large load facility class. This includes cases where the facility stops operating or uses less energy than expected, which ensures the costs of infrastructure upgrades are borne by the large consumer rather than other groups.

Prioritized Grid Reliability through Efficiency: Section 2(a)(23) allows utilities to prioritize service requests for large load facilities that agree to use features that reduce demand during peak times, such as energy efficiency, onsite storage, or demand response technologies.

Promotion of Zero-Emission Energy: Section 2(a)(23)(A) and (B) encourages the use of zero-emission electric energy, such as solar, wind, geothermal, fission, or fusion, which can be generated onsite or procured through a power purchase agreement to meet the facility's total demand.

Financial Burden on Large Load Facilities: According to Section 2(a)(22)(B), large load facilities are required to fully pay for any upgrades to the electric grid, even if the facility eventually ceases operations or fails to use the projected amount of energy, which could result in significant unrecovered costs for the facility owner.

Exclusion of Certain Existing Facilities: As defined in Section 2(b)(1)(B), the "large load facility" classification does not include existing facilities where increased demand is primarily caused by electrification or measures intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.