WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL-14) and 122 House Democrats, led by House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Clean Energy Deployment Task Force Co-Chairs U.S. Reps. Sean Casten (IL-06) and Mike Levin (CA-49) introduced the Energy Bills Relief Act, a family- and consumer-focused approach to United States energy policy that ensures Americans have access to the most reliable and low-cost source of power available – renewable energy.

The SEEC Energy Bills Relief Act incorporates legislative priorities to lower energy costs for hardworking American families that U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor has championed in Congress, including policies to connect more clean energy to the grid, deploy advanced technologies, and protect families and small businesses from rising power demand.

“Trump and Congressional Republicans are making electric bills unaffordable for our neighbors back home,” said Castor. “American families deserve better than a constant struggle with the high cost of living. Clean energy is the fastest, lowest-cost resource we can add to our electric grid to help lower bills. I’m thankful for Reps. Casten and Levin’s leadership, and I’m proud to support legislation that lowers costs and commits to clean energy innovation.”

Text of the legislation can be found here.

A section-by-section can be found here.

A one-page summary can be found here. A three-page summary can be found here.

Statements of support from key issues advocacy organizations and industry leaders can be found here.

The Energy Bills Relief Act prioritizes consumers and ensures access to low-cost energy for our homes, businesses, and economy by:

• Reinstating tax credits for home and system-wide energy improvements that were ended by President Trump and Congressional Republicans
• Incentivizing utility companies to save consumers’ money by rewarding them for making their systems more efficient, thereby lowering bills 
• Providing financial assistance to American families to make sure their power isn’t shut off
• Cracking down on price gouging, so energy companies can’t take advantage of you to boost their profits
• Ensuring that facilities like data centers are paying for their own costs because it’s not fair for their expenses to be pushed onto your household if one opens in your area
• Giving a voice to the American people so they can benefit from energy projects in their community

Electricity rates are surging nationwide, and millions of households are struggling to pay their rising energy bills. The most effective way to lower utility costs for American households is to expand access to renewable energy — the most reliable and low-cost energy source.

We have the tools to power America with abundant, reliable, American-made clean energy. The missing link between those tools and expanded access to that low-cost and efficient energy is a consumer-first energy policy. 

For too long, U.S. energy policy has boosted the profits of energy producers at the expense of energy consumers. The Energy Bills Relief Act shifts our focus to lowering costs and increasing reliability for American homes and businesses by deploying more renewable energy. It is firmly rooted in the American values of choice and competition. It prioritizes consumers and ensures access to low-cost energy for our homes, businesses, and economy.

The Energy Bills Relief Act is what American families need to see costs go down, reliability go up, and ensure our electric grid can meet rising demand.

Last September, Reps. Casten and Levin released a discussion draft of the legislation under the name of the Cheap Energy Act.