If Federal Regulators Don't Act, Should Consumers be Able to Appeal a Proposed Utility Rate Hike? (H.R. 587)

What is H.R. 587?

(Updated March 19, 2020)

This bill would give consumers, cities, states, and utility companies the ability to appeal a proposed rate increase for electricity within 30 days if inaction by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) allows the increase to occur.

Public utilities would be required to notify FERC and the general public 60 days before making changes to its rate, charge, or classification structure. Even if FERC allows the 60-day notice period to expire without taking action, that inaction would treated as if FERC approved the ruling to allow consumers, cities, utilities, states, or state commissions to request rehearing within 30 days.

Argument in favor

People shouldn’t face higher utility bills simply because federal regulators fail to make a decision. This bill gives consumers, cities and states an opportunity to appeal and prevent a rate increase and bring transparency to the process.

Argument opposed

Regulators should be acting in a manner that balances the needs of stakeholders, and if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chooses to do nothing about a proposed rate hike that should be the end of the matter.

Impact

People who pay electricity bills, cities, states, utility companies, and state energy commissions; and FERC.

Cost of H.R. 587

The CBO estimated that enacting this bill during the 114th Congress would have had an insignificant impact on FERC’s spending.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) also introduced this legislation during the 114th Congress in order to protect consumers against unreasonable energy rate increases while making federal energy regulators more accountable for their rulings:

“As energy rates and electric bills continue to skyrocket across New England, it is more critical than ever that consumers have a voice in this process. By increasing transparency throughout the system, the Fair RATES Act will allow consumers to hold federal regulators accountable and ensure the prices being set are truly just and reasonable.”

During the 114th Congress, this legislation was approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on a voice vote, and had the support of 20 bipartisan cosponsors in the House — including 15 Democrats and five Republicans. It passed the House on a voice vote in March 2016, but was not considered in the Senate before the 114th Congress ended.

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) Press Release (Previous Version)
• CBO Cost Estimate (Previous Version)
• The Herald News (Previous Version)