Energy Cost Fairness and Reliability Act of 2026

Protection of Electricity Rates: The bill aims to prevent electricity price increases for residential consumers by requiring large load customers to pay 100 percent of interconnection study costs and assigned network upgrades (Section 2, Section 3(b)(1), Section 3(d)(1)).

Grid Reliability and Security: By requiring large load customers to demonstrate demand flexibility and undergo strict interconnection processes, the bill seeks to address challenges to grid resource adequacy and reliability (Section 2, Section 3(b)(4)).

Support for High-Quality Jobs: The bill allows for the prioritization of interconnection requests for customers who use laborers and mechanics paid at prevailing wages and utilize registered apprenticeship programs (Section 3(b)(5)(A)(ii)).

Technological Innovation: The establishment of an artificial intelligence testbed at a National Laboratory is intended to allow researchers to develop energy-efficient algorithms and hardware (Section 3(j)(1), Section 3(j)(2)).

Prevention of Cost Shifting: The Commission is directed to review cost allocation to ensure that the costs of network upgrades necessitated by large loads are not shifted to other customers (Section 3(d)(3)).

Increased Costs for Large Load Customers: Large load customers are required to pay 100 percent of interconnection study costs and all assigned network upgrades, which are nonrefundable (Section 3(b)(1), Section 3(d)(1)).

Operational Restrictions for Large Loads: To interconnect, large load customers must enter into binding agreements to be "curtailable," meaning they may have to reduce or shift their electrical demand upon request from a transmission provider (Section 3(a)(3), Section 3(b)(4)(A)(i)).

Financial Risks in the Interconnection Process: Transmission providers are required to impose study deposits, readiness payments, and withdrawal penalties on large load facilities (Section 3(g)(1)).