PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7] · D–VA
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 20, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2026-08-10 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed No Utility Junk Fees Act would tie part of States’ federal energy assistance to protections for household electricity customers. States would risk losing 10% of that assistance unless they curb certain payment fees and require an option for paying without a fee or internet access. The proposal would operate through conditions on State assistance.
This Act may be cited as the No Utility Junk Fees Act.
the Secretary shall withhold 10 percent of the amount of State energy program financial assistance to be granted to a State in a fiscal year unless the Secretary determines the State— (1) prohibits electric utilities regulated by the State from imposing spurious charges on residential consumers;
(3) requires electric utilities regulated by the State to makes available to residential consumers at least one fee-free payment channel that is accessible without internet access;
The findings state Congress’s rationale that certain utility payment fees undermine affordability and that conditioning federal assistance could protect consumers. These are the proposal’s stated judgments, rather than demonstrated effects.
(3) Payment convenience fees and other junk fees directly increase the total cost of energy for residential consumers, making electricity less affordable and undermining efforts to expand access to reliable energy.
(5) Conditioning the granting of State energy program financial assistance on the elimination of spurious charges is a reasonable exercise of the spending power of Congress to ensure Federal energy efficiency investments benefit residential consumers rather than subsidize utility fee extraction.
The proposal covers individual people buying electricity for personal, family, or household use. Payment methods include mail, telephone, internet, automated bank transfers, and in-person office or kiosk services. The covered utilities are defined by reference to an existing federal statute.
(2) Payment channel The term payment channel means any mechanism by which a residential consumer may make a payment for electric energy consumed by the residential consumer and includes the mail, the telephone, the internet, automated clearing houses, and in-person services provided at an office or kiosk.
(3) Regulated electric utility The term regulated electric utility has the meaning given the term State regulated electric utility in section 3 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2602). (4) Residential consumer The term residential consumer means any individual that purchases electric energy for personal, family, or household purposes.
Payment-processing costs would mean direct, documented costs incurred by a utility or its payment provider. These could include transaction-processing fees, fraud-prevention charges, and directly attributable labor, but would exclude profit, general overhead, and unrelated operating costs.
(1) Cost of acceptance The term cost of acceptance— (A) means the direct, documented cost incurred by a regulated electric utility, or its third-party service provider, for processing a payment through a payment channel, including costs incurred from interchange fees, gateway or processor fees, payment fraud prevention charges, and labor costs directly attributable to processing the payment though the payment channel; and (B) does not include general overhead, profit margins, or operational costs incurred by the regulated electric utility, or its third-party service provider, that are not directly tied to payment processing.
A fee charged by a utility or its payment provider as a condition of accepting a household electricity payment would count as a “spurious charge” if it exceeds the larger of $3 or 150% of the utility’s documented processing cost. This is one of several independent grounds for treating a fee as prohibited under the funding conditions.
(6) Spurious charge The term spurious charge means any charge imposed by a regulated electric utility, or its third-party service provider, on a residential consumer as a condition of accepting a payment for electric energy made using a payment channel that— (A) exceeds the greater of— (i) the amount equal to 150 percent of the regulated electric utility’s documented cost of acceptance; or (ii) $3.00;
(B) is imposed on a residential consumer who used a payment channel though which the regulated electric utility incurred no documented cost of acceptance, including in-person payments at utility offices, automatic recurring payments, direct automated clearing house transfers, and mail payments; or (C) is imposed without affirmative, prior, and clear disclosure of—
A payment fee would also qualify as a spurious charge when the utility has no documented processing cost for the payment method. The definition lists office payments, automatic recurring payments, direct automated bank transfers, and mail payments in connection with that condition.
(B) is imposed on a residential consumer who used a payment channel though which the regulated electric utility incurred no documented cost of acceptance, including in-person payments at utility offices, automatic recurring payments, direct automated clearing house transfers, and mail payments;
Even a fee below the dollar threshold could qualify as a spurious charge if it lacks affirmative, clear advance disclosure. The disclosure would need to explain the fee amount and reason, the total due, and a payment method that avoids that charge.
or (C) is imposed without affirmative, prior, and clear disclosure of— (i) the amount of the charge; (ii) the reason for the charge; (iii) the total amount due, including the charge and any other amount due; and (iv) information about a payment channel that could be used by the residential consumer that does not include the charge.
Starting with the first full federal fiscal year after enactment, the Secretary of Energy would have to withhold 10% of a State’s annual State energy program assistance unless the State meets the bill’s conditions. The assistance at issue is the assistance granted under section 363 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act.
(5) Secretary The term Secretary means the Secretary of Energy.
(8) State energy program financial assistance The term State energy program financial assistance means the financial assistance granted to a State under section 363 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6323).
(a) In general Notwithstanding part D of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6321 et seq.), beginning with the first full fiscal year following the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall withhold 10 percent of the amount of State energy program financial assistance to be granted to a State in a fiscal year unless the Secretary determines the State—
To meet the funding conditions, a State would have to prohibit spurious charges and require regulated utilities’ bills to disclose payment-processing charges, their reasons, a method that avoids those charges, and the total amount due.
(1) prohibits electric utilities regulated by the State from imposing spurious charges on residential consumers; (2) requires electric utilities regulated by the State to, when billing a residential consumer for the electric energy consumed by the residential consumer, disclose to such consumer— (A) the amount of any charge applied that reflects a cost associated with processing the payment submitted by the residential consumer; (B) the reason for any such charge; (C) information about a payment channel that could be used by the residential consumer to pay the bill that would not incur such charge; and (D) the total amount due, including any such charge and any other amount due;
States would also have to require at least one payment method that is free and usable without internet access. Separately, they would have to ban fees on automatic recurring payments and electronic fund transfers by residential customers; that condition contains no processing-cost exception.
(3) requires electric utilities regulated by the State to makes available to residential consumers at least one fee-free payment channel that is accessible without internet access; (4) prohibits electric utilities regulated by the State from imposing fees on automatic recurring payments and electronic fund transfers (as such term is defined in section 903 of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693a)) by residential consumers;
States would have to enforce these protections, including investigating complaints, imposing penalties for violations, and allowing customers to seek repayment of unlawfully charged fees.
(5) enforces the prohibitions and requirements of paragraphs (1) through (4), including by investigating complaints, imposing penalties for noncompliance, and allowing residential consumers to seek recovery of unlawfully assessed fees.
Each State would have to submit evidence of compliance within 18 months after enactment and annually afterward. The Secretary would have 60 days after receiving complete documentation to determine whether the State complies.
(b) Compliance (1) Submission of documentation Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, each State shall submit to the Secretary documentation that demonstrates the State’s compliance with subsection (a). (2) Determination of compliance Not later than 60 days after receiving complete documentation submitted by a State under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall determine whether the State is in compliance with subsection (a).
A State found out of compliance would have 90 days to fix the problem before assistance is withheld. If money is withheld, the Secretary would have to grant it to the State in the following fiscal year if the State complies for that year.
(c) Restoration If the Secretary withholds from a State financial assistance under subsection (a), the Secretary shall grant to the State the withheld financial assistance in the following fiscal year if the State is in compliance for that fiscal year. (d) Cure period If the Secretary determines a State does not comply with subsection (a) for a fiscal year, the State shall have 90 days to remedy the noncompliance before the Secretary withholds financial assistance from the State under subsection (a).
States could comply through legislation, administrative rules, binding regulatory orders, or another legally binding State-law mechanism, provided it delivers the required consumer protections.
(e) Methods of compliance A State may comply with subsection (a) through any legally binding mechanism under State law, including legislation, administrative rulemaking, or binding orders of a State regulatory authority, provided such mechanism achieves the consumer protections required under such subsection.
The Secretary would have to establish submission procedures, maintain a public database of State compliance, provide technical help and interpretive guidance, create an appeal process for adverse compliance decisions, and report compliance rates to Congress annually.
(f) Administration (1) In general For purposes of carrying out this section, the Secretary shall— (A) establish procedures for States to submit compliance documentation under subsection (b); (B) maintain a public database that identifies the status of each State’s compliance with subsection (a); (C) provide technical assistance to States to comply with subsection (a); (D) issue guidance interpreting this section; (E) establish a process to appeal a determination by the Secretary that a State does not comply with subsection (a); and (F) annually report to Congress on State compliance rates.
The Secretary would have to issue implementing regulations within nine months after enactment.
(2) Deadline for initial regulations The Secretary shall promulgate regulations to carry out this section not later than 9 months after the date of enactment of this section.
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated August 20, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on August 10, 2026.
Source snapshot updated 2026-08-20T14:22:03Z. 2026-08-10: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. 2026-08-10: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2026-08-10. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish what appears in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for a particular recipient or place was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; formal earmark disclosures and accompanying materials were not supplied.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential treatment was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. Broad consumer protections do not by themselves constitute targeted benefits. This conclusion is limited to that version.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Aug 20, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI