HR7080Referred to Committee

Waste Heat to Wattage Act of 2026

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Introduced
In Committee
3
Passed One Chamber
4
Passed Both
5
Signed into Law
119th
Congress
2026-01-14
Introduced
1
Cosponsors
HR
ⓘ
Type

Sponsor

Gabe Vasquez
Gabe Vasquez
Democrat · NM · Representative
Votes with party: 92.0% (548 recorded votes)

Full profile: /officials/V000136

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (1)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Referred to the Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development.

2026-05-20

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

Currently in

Plain-English Summary

The legislation would allow farmers and agricultural operations to capture waste heat from their equipment and facilities—such as from grain dryers, livestock operations, or food processing—and convert it into electricity for their own use or to sell back to the power grid. This would help reduce energy costs for farmers while creating a new revenue stream from energy that would otherwise be wasted. The bill affects agricultural producers and rural communities that could benefit from lower operating expenses and additional income opportunities.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

Subjects

Agriculture and Food

Full Bill Text

Verbatim text published on Congress.gov via GovInfo. Use Cmd+F / Ctrl+F to search within this excerpt.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 7080 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7080 To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to include waste energy recovery as a source of renewable energy, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 14, 2026 Mr. Vasquez (for himself and Mr. Baird) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to include waste energy recovery as a source of renewable energy, and for other purposes. 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 ``Waste Heat to Wattage Act of 2026''. SEC. 2. WASTE ENERGY RECOVERY AS A SOURCE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY. Section 9001 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8101) is amended-- (1) in paragraph (15)(A), by striking ``or hydroelectric'' and inserting ``hydroelectric, or waste energy recovery''; and (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: ``(18) Waste energy recovery.--The term `waste energy recovery' means heat or pressure that would otherwise be vented, released, throttled, or discharged from a commercial, residential, or industrial process that is recovered and used as the sole input for another purpose or process that generates electricity, including a waste heat to power or waste pressure to power system.''. <all>
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