Congress·In Committee·H.R. 3843

House Bill Would Block Power Plant Closures in High-Risk Grid Regions

Baseload Reliability Protection Act

10 months ago·View on Congress.gov

Part of: Federal Legislation Aims to Prevent Power Plant Closures for Grid Stability

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Stalled

No legislative action in over 90 days.

Legislative Progress

House

Senate

President

Law

Key Points

Would block owners from closing certain “always-available” power plants, or switching their fuel, in grid regions flagged as high risk for power shortages.
Applies only in regions run by big grid operators, and only to dispatchable plants 25 megawatts or larger that are not mainly powered by intermittent renewables.
Lets plant owners ask the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for an exemption within 90 days after a risk report, with decisions generally due in 90 days (or 180 days for money-loss claims).
If a plant is losing money but is needed for reliability, the Energy Department could give a loan or grant to keep it running; taking that help means the exemption request is treated as denied.
Tells regulators not to consider a plant’s greenhouse gas emissions when deciding exemptions, and provides some protection from certain environmental-law spending while the ban is in place.

EnergyEnvironmentInfrastructure

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

How this policy affects specific groups of people

Negative Impacts(2)

Chronic Illness

Hurts

Child Tax Credit

Hurts

Mixed Impacts(4)

Housing Assistance

Neutral

Homeowner

Neutral

Renter

Neutral

Union Member

Neutral

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Jun 9, 2025House

Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Jun 9, 2025

Introduced in House

What Happens Next

Projected impacts based on AI analysis

Within 60 days after the bill becomes law

Risk-scoring rules get standardized for labeling areas “high,” “elevated,” or “normal” risk of electricity shortfalls

Which regions face the retirement/fuel-switching ban could change based on the new standardized method, affecting local reliability planning and bills

As soon as the bill becomes law, for covered areas in the latest assessment

Retirement and fuel-switching ban begins in any RTO/ISO area labeled high or elevated risk in the most recent long-term assessment

Some big power plants that planned to close or change fuels may have to keep running unless they win an exemption

After FERC refers qualifying petitions; assistance must land within 180 days of the petition date to trigger the bill’s “deemed denied” rule

Energy Department provides loans or grants to keep certain money-losing plants operating when reliability would suffer

Some plants could stay open with federal support instead of closing, which may reduce blackout risk but can shift costs to federal spending

Related News

2 articles

Politico·10 months ago

ME FIRST — COVERING YOUR BASELOAD

Rep. Julie Fedorchak (R-N.D.) is introducing the Baseload Reliability Protection Act to prevent the premature retirement of baseload sources like coal, nuclear and natural gas plants in regions identified by NERC as being at elevated or high risk of electricity supply shortfalls.

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Nuclear Newswire·9 months ago

Federal Power Act amendments focus on grid reliability

The Baseload Reliability Protection Act aims to prohibit retirements of baseload electric generating units in areas served by RTOs or ISOs that NERC categorizes as at high risk of supply shortfalls. It provides exemptions when continued operation poses safety risks or is not economically viable.