A bill to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to extend the time period during which licensees are required to commence construction of certain hydropower projects.

Key Points

• This bill allows the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to give hydropower companies more time to start building their projects. Usually, these companies have a strict deadline to begin construction, but this change lets them ask for extra time if they can show a good reason for the delay.
• The extension applies to hydropower projects that received their federal licenses before March 13, 2020. These projects can now receive up to six additional years to start construction, which is added on top of the eight years already allowed by current law.
• If a project's license expired after December 31, 2023, because they could not start building in time, the government can now restart that license. This ensures that projects that were close to starting do not have to go through the entire multi-year licensing process all over again.
• This policy helps protect investments in renewable energy. Building large water-power facilities is complicated and often faces unexpected delays; this extra time helps ensure these clean energy sources eventually make it onto the power grid to provide electricity for homes and businesses.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.