DATA Act of 2026

This bill creates a new category called a "consumer-regulated electric utility" (CREU): a new power system built after the law passes to serve only new electricity customers, and kept fully separate from the national power grid and other utilities. A CREU would be exempt from the Federal Power Act, including rate rules, reliability standards, interconnection requirements, and merger approval, and from other rules under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Secretary of Energy. If a CREU connects to the grid or another power system, it would lose its exemption right away. The bill also exempts CREUs from certain requirements under two other federal utility laws (PURPA and PUHCA). It allows CREUs to build facilities in existing public rights-of-way, with review of applications limited to right-of-way restoration and storm-response planning.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Tom Cotton Republican sponsor
• 0 cosponsors