Conditions on DOE funding and FERC annual report

(a) Funding conditions Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a State regulatory authority may not receive funds provided by the Secretary for administrative or technical assistance unless the State regulatory authority submits to the Secretary, with respect to that fiscal year, a certification that— (1) costs associated with covered data centers, including costs for any upgrade made to the generation, transmission, or distribution facilities of the electric grid in order to meet the demand for electric energy from covered data centers, will not be recovered through increased rates for residential or small business electric consumers; and (2) the State regulatory authority has required each owner or operator of a covered data center that claimed in its permit applications or other statements regarding construction and operation of the covered data center that the operation of the covered data center would decrease utility bills of residential and small business electric consumers in the applicable community to provide such State regulatory authority an annual report on the actual cost savings for residential and small business electric consumers in the applicable community. (b) Report Not later than September 30 of the fiscal year in which this Act is enacted, and every September 30 thereafter, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shall submit to Congress a report on the impact of covered data center demands on residential and small business electricity rates and grid reliability. (c) Definitions In this section: (1) Electric consumer The term electric consumer has the meaning given such term in section 3 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2602). (2) Covered data center The term covered data center means a facility, or an aggregation of facilities at a single site, with respect to which the peak demand of such facility or such aggregation of facilities exceeds 75 megawatts, that primarily contain electronic equipment used to process, store, transmit, or host digital information and the electrical, mechanical, and environmental control equipment to maintain the proper conditions for the operation of electronic equipment. (3) Secretary The term Secretary means the Secretary of Energy. (4) State regulatory authority The term State regulatory authority has the meaning given such term in section 3 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2602).