Power Plant Reliability Act of 2025

What this does

The bill rewrites Section 207 of the Federal Power Act to let the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission require power plants to keep running and to require years of advance notice before a plant retires. When a state commission or Transmission Organization complains that interstate service is inadequate, or likely to become inadequate within five years, the Commission must determine adequate service and may issue an order requiring an electric generating unit to continue operating. Such an order cannot compel building new generating facilities but must set a rate or charge to compensate the owner for the added costs of continued operation. Orders last no longer than five years and may be extended for up to another five years on request. An action taken to comply with such an order that causes noncompliance with a federal, state, or local environmental law is shielded from being treated as a violation and from civil, criminal, or citizen-suit liability under that environmental law. Separately, an owner or operator planning to retire a generating unit of at least 5 megawatts connected to the bulk-power system must notify the Commission and affected state commissions at least five years in advance, except for retirements caused by unplanned catastrophe or emergency; the Commission must make each notice public.