Congressman Eric Burlison has reintroduced the Reliable Grid Act, legislation aimed at halting the implementation of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that, he argues, threaten the stability of America’s power grid.
The bill would prohibit the EPA Administrator from enforcing any regulation that reduces dispatchable power capacity or restricts power plant operations unless the agency can prove such actions will not compromise grid reliability or national energy security. Burlison said the measure is a response to what he calls “radical EPA overreach” under Democratic administrations.
Citing the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) 2023 Long-Term Reliability Assessment, which found much of the U.S. at high risk of energy shortfalls, the bill mandates that no new EPA rules affecting power generation be imposed unless affected regions are classified at “normal risk” by NERC.
The legislation has garnered support from energy advocates, including Alex Epstein, president of the Center for Industrial Progress. Epstein praised the bill for addressing what he described as a “rapidly worsening crisis” in energy reliability, worsened by increased electrification demands and power plant retirements.
