HouseH.R. 10854119th Congress
Public Safety Power Shutoff Data Transparency Act
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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10854 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10854
To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish and carry out a Public
Safety Power Shutoff Event Reporting Program.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 19, 2026
Mr. Whitesides introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish and carry out a Public
Safety Power Shutoff Event Reporting Program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Public Safety Power Shutoff Data
Transparency Act''.
SEC. 2. PUBLIC SAFETY POWER SHUTOFF EVENT REPORTING PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Energy shall establish and
carry out a program, to be known as the ``Public Safety Power Shutoff
Event Reporting Program'', within the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy
Security, and Emergency Response.
(b) Reporting Requirements.--In carrying out the program, the
Secretary shall require each covered electric utility to, not later
than 7 days after initiating, and not later than 7 days after ending, a
public safety power shutoff event, report information regarding the
public safety power shutoff event to the Secretary, including--
(1) the geographic extent (county or census-tract scale) of
the public safety power shutoff event;
(2) the start or end time, as applicable, for the public
safety power shutoff event;
(3) the estimated number of customers and the critical
services affected by the public safety power shutoff event;
(4) the hazard conditions prompting the public safety power
shutoff event;
(5) a summary of public communications made to customers
regarding the public safety power shutoff event;
(6) a summary of any coordination regarding the public
safety power shutoff event with State, local, Tribal, and
emergency-response entities;
(7) a summary of advance notifications provided to, and
consultation conducted with, hospitals and other critical
health infrastructure within the impacted area prior to and
during the public safety power shutoff event; and
(8) where practicable, the estimated impact of the public
safety power shutoff event on underserved or infrastructure-
vulnerable communities, including rural, low-income, and Tribal
communities.
(c) Format and Integration.--In carrying out the program, the
Secretary may incorporate fields for public safety power shutoff events
into existing outage-reporting mechanisms (such as Form OE-417) to
avoid duplication and reduce reporting burden.
(d) Aggregated Transparency and Community Access.--
(1) Summaries available to the public.--In carrying out the
program, the Secretary shall, subject to paragraph (4),
publish, on a quarterly basis, on a publicly accessible website
of the Department of Energy, anonymized, aggregated summaries
of the information reported to the Secretary under this
section.
(2) Inclusions.--Summaries published under paragraph (1)
shall include--
(A) information on frequency, duration, and
regional trends for public safety power shutoff events;
and
(B) where available, include data on effects of
public safety power shutoff events in rural, low-
income, and Tribal areas.
(3) Community notification integration.--The Secretary
shall make summaries published under paragraph (1) available,
in a machine-readable format, to State and local emergency-
management agencies for use in improving public alerting and
preparedness.
(4) Delay in publication.--The Secretary may delay or
withhold publication of summaries under this subsection as the
Secretary determines necessary to protect security or other
sensitive information.
(5) Community reporting.--The Secretary shall provide a
mechanism for local governments and Tribal entities to submit
verified feedback or supplemental data on the impacts of public
safety power shutoff events to inform summaries published under
paragraph (1) and best practices and nonbinding guidance issued
under paragraph (6).
(6) Voluntary risk analysis.--The Secretary may review and
analyze the information reported and feedback submitted under
this section to identify emerging patterns and best practices
and issue nonbinding guidance on reducing the impacts of public
safety power shutoff events through planning, backup power, and
coordination.
(e) Interagency and State Coordination.--In carrying out the
program, the Secretary shall, subject to subsection (f), share public
safety power shutoff information reported to the Secretary, and
summaries published, under this section with relevant Federal and State
entities, including--
(1) the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency;
(2) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;
(3) the Chair of the Federal Communications Commission;
(4) the National Interagency Fire Center; and
(5) State regulatory authorities, State energy offices, and
State emergency management or public safety authorities,
hospitals, and emergency medical services networks.
(f) Protection of Information.--
(1) Safe harbor.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, and subject to paragraph (2), information reported to the
Secretary under subsection (a)--
(A) shall be exempt from disclosure under section
552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred
to as the Freedom of Information Act);
(B) shall not, without the written consent of the
covered electric utility submitting such information,
be used directly by the Secretary, any other Federal,
State, or local authority, or any third party, in any
civil action arising under Federal or State law if such
information is submitted in good faith;
(C) shall not, without the written consent of the
covered electric utility submitting such information,
be used or disclosed by any officer or employee of the
United States for purposes other than for emergency
preparedness or public safety coordination purposes,
except--
(i) in furtherance of an investigation or
the prosecution of a criminal act; or
(ii) when disclosure of the information
would be--
(I) to either House of Congress, or
to the extent of matter within its
jurisdiction, any committee or
subcommittee thereof, any joint
committee thereof or subcommittee of
any such joint committee; or
(II) to the Comptroller General, or
any authorized representative of the
Comptroller General, in the course of
the performance of the duties of the
General Accounting Office;
(D) shall not, if provided to a State or local
government or government agency--
(i) be made available pursuant to any State
or local law requiring disclosure of
information or records;
(ii) otherwise be disclosed or distributed
to any party by said State or local government
or government agency without the written
consent of the covered electric utility
submitting such information; or
(iii) be used other than for emergency
preparedness or public safety coordination
purposes; and
(E) does not constitute a waiver of any applicable
privilege or protection provided under law, such as
trade secret protection.
(2) Applicability.--Paragraph (1) does not apply with
respect to summaries published under subsection (d).
(g) Enforcement.--Any failure to report information under this
section shall be considered a failure to make information available
under subsection (b) of section 13 of the Federal Energy Administration
Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 772(b)).
(h) Implementation.--Not later than 12 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue regulations to carry
out this section. Such regulations shall include requirements and
guidance relating to digital-submission protocols, reporting
thresholds, and privacy standards.
(i) Definitions.--In this Act:
(1) Covered electric utility.--The term ``covered electric
utility'' means--
(A) an electric utility that serves 25,000 or more
customers (as determined by the Secretary using data
reported to the Energy Information Administration);
(B) an electric utility that serves less than
25,000 customers (as determined by the Secretary using
data reported to the Energy Information Administration)
and conducts a public safety power shutoff event within
an area designated by the Secretary as high-risk for
wildfire or related natural-hazard conditions,
consistent with existing Federal hazard mitigation maps
and other relevant Federal or State data sources; or
(C) any other entity that owns or operates electric
distribution facilities and conducts a public safety
power shutoff event.
(2) Electric utility.--The term ``electric utility'' has
the meaning given such term in section 3 of the Federal Power
Act (16 U.S.C. 796).
(3) Program.--The term ``program'' means the Public Safety
Power Shutoff Event Reporting Program established under
subsection (a).
(4) Public safety power shutoff event.--The term ``public
safety power shutoff event'' means a temporary de-energization
of electric service to specific areas, initiated by a covered
electric utility, and undertaken as a preventive measure to
reduce the risk of wildfire, including during extreme weather,
or other imminent public safety hazards arising from electric
infrastructure.
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Energy.
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